That’s a great line, "…but someone who commits crimes in his mind." But your column today reminded me of something you said awhile back.

You talked about how Apple is filled with believers the way Tower used to be. No doubt. Even working there has analogies to working at Tower in the ’70s. My son Patrick is working there now and you can’t believe the excitement in his eyes, the commitment. Unlike his past jobs, he goes in a half-hour early, just to see the bulletin from headquarters about what’s going on — what’s new, etc. But it’s a lot different, too. The place is really organized, unlike the way we did business, at least in the ’70s. No deals for friends except for a modest friends and family discount, no taking home stuff at night. And, needless to say, no drinking at lunch, which was practically a requirement in those days.

The store has quotas that every employee takes very seriously. They also think very seriously about floor sales, create ad hoc programs that try to put the unique temperaments of individual employees to work productively and generally keep employees on their toes. In our day, we’d have rebelled at that kind of top-down command. But today, the kids eat it up. They are part of something.

What is interesting is that, unlike those days at Tower when you had passion for the music first and the company second, the Apple store kids have passion for Apple, not computing per se. Sure, it comes from the products and especially for that next thing that’s coming down the pike. But it’s really about the company and what it stands for.

My son wasn’t even born when Apple was created. But, like you, he knows every detail of Apple’s history, every product, every glorious screw-up and can be even counted on to defend the thinking behind the failures. He masterfully uses all the tools, knows where they came from and always has an educated guess where they’re going next. And he enthusiastically shares it with everyone, including his prospects when he’s on the sales floor. It’s much more sophisticated than working at a record store. I’m not sure which job would be more fun if you could compare them, which, of course, you can’t.

One similarity is that each of those two companies have, or had, one person at the top, a source of inspiration and a driver of their respective values. I like the idea that my kid has found a place that makes him feel like I felt back then, a company he can believe in.

Mike