We Are Apple

Ah, this song still gets me. Not the music, no. I know the music is terrible! But it's the ideology behind it. This was an Apple corporate song from the 80s that was played before the introduction of the Macintosh. I love this song because it shows a few different elements of Apple and why it such a respectable name in business.

Vision
Clearly Apple's, or Steve Jobs' dream of changing people's lives is portrayed in the song. In the early days, the sole person that drove Apple's vision was Steve. He just had a vision of doing something remarkable and taking down the big guys like IBM. And they did pretty much take down IBM. Though not in size, but they did in terms of the social impact they've had. Oh, and they did do something amazingly remarkable. They brought us the personal computer despite criticisms. ("There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home" -Ken Olsen, then-CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation)

Culture
Apple has always been known for being different, especially in the early days. They show in this song that they're bringing something different to consumers, something better. Their internal company culture was something different too. Steve Jobs was born to take down IBM, the big guys in suits who didn't bring class into their products. He tried to be the opposite of them, walking around the headquarters barefoot and creating quality products people can care about.

Leading the Way
Apple is leading the way. They always have (at least with Steve) and always will. They led many industries into the future. They led the computer revolution with the Macintosh, the music revolution with the iPod. And now the mobile revolution with the iPhone. The rest of the competitors seem to follow after them.

If you want have a great company, be like Apple. Have vision, values, and lead the way.