Found this on Time online…
The actual survey itself comes (unfortunately) from financial infotainment broadcaster, CNBC. Myself, I own far too many Apple products (at least 12 of this writing, all of which are in actual use). The article makes a good point though about how Apple haters tend to refer to those of us who sit on the opposite side of the fence from them, as being kool-aid drinkers.
I’ve personally always found that sort of classification derogatory and offensive because I’ve been one of those who looked at their products as tools (the best one for my needs to get the job done) as opposed to objects of worship or a status symbol. I rarely agree with the tactics which hardcore Apple zealots tended to use (attacking the competition and agreeing with/rationalizing every decision made by Apple Inc), which made being lumped into that group all the more annoying.
I’ve never subscribed to blind faith in anything. In the context of the above, there are many decisions made by Apple which I don’t agree with (and have posted about here and elsewhere). Platform wars however tend to turn normal rational people into foam at the mouth zealots, defending/rationalizing their choices. The noise in the online tech world amounts to a huge waste of time and bandwidth. My response has usually been, “what part of use what you prefer best don’t you understand?” The incessant virtual whining also made me create the following a few years ago (a play on the way Apple did their marketing with the introduction of the Intel-based Mac’s in 2006).
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| iPacifier Pro |
As mentioned in some previous posting, there was a time prior to 2005 when using an Apple product out in public (like a PowerBook), would get you some weird looks like you had a disease. Or if you mentioned you were a Mac user, would often times bring about condescending remarks with an underlying tone belittling your choice. Being asian, I was already used to this level of ignorance. But when well educated people were doing the former, lets just say this partly explains why I developed this strong sense of having very little respect for the status quo (i.e. what most people consider as normal). The irony of course is how things are turning out.
In some regards, I also think this is partially why Apple is usually singled out (and seemingly held to different standards) when it comes to the issue of corporate governance matters, labor practices with its overseas suppliers, whether or not they can continue to grow at torrid pace they’ve been doing, etc. Apple has always been this outlier and now that it has turned into the 800 pound gorilla, this makes a certain segment uncomfortable with the notion of company known for taking a vertical integration approach (which now encompasses a vast ecosystem), having so much influence in so many areas.
