The phenomenon industry analysts are calling “Schillermania” has taken Macworld New York by storm. Despite the continued controversy over Apple’s termination of iTools and introduction of the $100 per year .Mac, fans of Apple Senior Vice President for Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller remain undaunted.
8 X 10 glossy photos of the Apple executive have been the hotest selling item on the showroom floor.
“I bought the casual photo when I first got here, explained 17-year-old Tiffany Porter, “But then I had to go back and get the formal shot, too. Now I want to get him to sign them.”
At an Apple-sponsored “Phil Schiller” session, Schiller spoke to a packed room of impressionable youngsters and told them to “shoot for their dreams”.
“He’s like, totally smart and everything!” 16-year-old Jason Greenlee said. “He knows a lot about Macs and stuff! He’s just super-cool!”
According to analysts, Schiller’s appeal goes beyond the “teenybopper” set.
“Pre-teens, teens, young adults, it doesn’t matter,” the New York Times’ David Pogue said. “These people want Phil Schiller and they want him in big heaping spoonfuls.”
Indeed, Schiller was mobbed trying to get from his session to the limosine waiting to wisk him away for some much needed rest. One unidentified young woman screamed “I love you, Phil!” while a group of college-age men stood in a line, shirtless, each with a letter of “S-C-H-I-L-L-E-R” painted on his chest.
“It’s not about me, it’s not about the Mac!” Steve Jobs said over the roar of the crowd, “It’s about Phil Schiller! This guy is dynamite!”
Schiller himself is typically modest about his popularity.
“I just thank the good Lord for the fortunes I found in life,” a quote from Schiller’s press packet reads.
To his fans, Schiller offers these words of advice: “Keep on a-rockin’.”