Mendoza School of Business

The religious imagination of Steve Jobs: An interview with Brett Robinson

Published: August 27, 2013 / Author: Jonathan Merritt



Ashton Kutcher’s two-dimensional portrayal of the Steve Jobs may not have spawned a box office hit, but masses of Americans continue to be fascinated with the late Apple executive. While many aspects of Jobs’ life have been probed in books and films, few portrayals have centered on Jobs’ faith.

Until now.

Brett T. Robinson, visiting professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame, has just published a new book that details how Jobs intermingled the technological and the transcendent. In Appletopia: Media Technology and the Religious Imagination of Steve Jobs, Robinson argues that religion–from Zen Buddhism to Catholicism to mystical futurism–defined Jobs’ design methodology and approach to business. I first encountered Robinson’s work in his article for WIRED entitled, “How Steve Jobs Turned Technology – And Apple – Into Religion” and shortly after was sucked into his book. Here we talk about Jobs’ Buddhist beliefs, how religion influenced his approach to business, and why Jobs thought computers were “spiritual liberators.”

To read the interview with Brett Robinson visit: The religious imagination of Steve Jobs

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Topics: Mendoza