There is a power in the Apple Empire nearly as strong as the Force. Our critics are baffled by it. Our supporters mindlessly obey it. Our master, Emperor Jobs, carefully manipulates it. What could possibly be so powerful? The Economics of Cool.

Economics 101

As Lord of the Apple Empire I have mastered many subjects, including economics. Many of you have also studied economics and therefore are very familiar with the concept of supply and demand. Both have an associated curve and the intersection of these curves predicts the price of a product. Therefore, if a company wants to earn a higher price for a product they must either limit supply or increase demand.

In most markets limiting supply is impractical unless you have a monopoly and increasing demand benefits your competitors as well as yourself. So if you don’t have a traditional monopoly that allows you to control supply nor the desire to increase demand, what is one to do? This was the very situation Emperor Steve found himself in upon returning to lead the Apple Empire in 1996.

How Apple Got a Monopoly on Cool

Beginning with the iPod we began our intergalactic quest to monopolize the cool market. We used packaging that was plain and contained virtually no sales copy. We designed our products to look sleek and simple. We made them easy to use. We used revolutionary advertising. We focused all our efforts on conveying this simple message: Apple IS Cool!


Once we convinced the galaxy that Apple was the epitome of cool, that’s when the money started pouring in for us. We set our price and consumers had an easy decision: Do you want to be cool or not? Before Apple products, being cool was out of reach for the vast majority of humanity. Something only acquired through genetics or luck. Definitely not something easily obtained at a store. Until Apple.

Since Apple was the definition of cool and Apple products were available for purchase by anyone, being cool was now obtainable by anyone willing to fork over a few hundred dollars for an iPod, iMac or MacBook. Yes you, the geek, could be cool with a simple purchase. We created a monopoly on cool and damn does it feel good to be cool.