What's with the Apple Haters?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I am bewildered at the amount of Apple-hating on forums like this, and in web news posts. Why is it that so many people get so angry when people like Apple and their products (and their CEO)?



I have used PCs and Macs for the past 18 years. We still have two working PCs in the house, but have pretty much given up on them due to the amount of maintenance it takes to keep them virus free and unclogged. The kids just can't handle it, and I just don't have the patience.



We have a 27" iMac i5, a MacBook Pro, a Mac Mini, an Apple TV, 2 iPads, an old PowerBook G4 (still runs great, but OS X 10.3 just doesn't do it anymore), an iPod Classic, an iPod touch first gen, an iPhone 3G, and an iPhone 4.



These products have not been 100% perfect. After four months, the iMac i5 hard drive is "failing" (says failing, but still working and haven't taken it in yet for warranty service). The Apple TV completely failed in its first year, and I brought it in to the Apple Store for an exchange with a refurb unit under warranty. The iPod touch 1st gen and the iPod Classic are refurb replacement units ($80) because their batteries died after more than a year. The iPhone 3G is an Applecare refurb replacement after its battery died in 18 months. The PowerBook G4 was very funtional for more than four years - but did require a new battery and a new power chord after a couple of years.



On the PC side, we have a Dell Laptop that has been trouble ever since I got it eight years ago - so it hasn't been used much. Whenever I tried to get help fixing it, I would have Norton telling me to call Dell, and Dell telling me it is a Windows problem....etc., and I have reloaded the System on it several times. As long as we just use it for email in the kitchen, it is ok.



We also have a mini HP that, despite diligently paying the expensive Norton subscription fees since its purchase, still gets regularly bogged down with who knows what, and it takes two days to use various programs to clean it up, and then it still does't work right until a System reinstall. Just reinstalled the System two months ago, and already bogged down again.



Hmm, so why do I still like Apple products so much???? Maybe part of it is how reasonable it is to get them fixed / replaced / repaired when they don't perform.



But the bigger thing is, even though they aren't perfect (my iPhone 4 does seem to have some antenna issues), they are still far superior to the alternatives. Albeit, more expensive too, but just the ease of use and how Apple stands behind their products is what gets me buying more.



So, instead of a cop out Fanboy comment, or unsupported comments about how inferior Apple products are -- how about some real experiences from people who have used both Apple Products and PCs and have gone the PC route. Do you have kids? How much time to you dedicate to keeping the PCs running well? How easy is it to get PCs repaired? What kinds of problems have you had with your Apple products that make you not like them?



Is it possible that the majority of Apple-haters are people who have never even used Apple products? If so, why do they get so angry and need to express that on any positive article posted about an Apple product?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aquabella View Post


    After four months, the iMac i5 hard drive is "failing" (says failing, but still working and haven't taken it in yet for warranty service).



    Better make an excellent backup set before you do anything else. That HD will likely crash any minute now.



    BTW, I've worked on Macs for 25 years, but I got me a Nexus One. Because it's better than the iPhone 3GS

    (and the iPhone 4 won't be available for another couple months at least to be even considered).
  • Reply 2 of 20
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aquabella View Post


    ...Is it possible that the majority of Apple-haters are people who have never even used Apple products? If so, why do they get so angry and need to express that on any positive article posted about an Apple product?



    Aquabella, it is indeed bewildering at first how some people can dedicate so much emotions over something as unimportant as consumer technology brands. I have thought about this much, and I come to the conclusion that it is due to the coincidence of two trends: first, we use a lot more electronics today than only 10 years ago -- practically every adult has cell phone and internet subscriptions -- so we care more about it now. Second, the economy downturn has led to people buying less often new cars or homes -- as a result, savings are directed towards gadgets as the more affordable signs of status.



    As to why the hate is directed towards Apple more often that other brands, well very likely it is because Apple products are less accessible than comparable products from competitors -- call it "sour grapes", if you like. Those who see the technical superiority of a MacBook Pro over a low-end Dell, but can only afford the Dell, are likely to try to justify the only available choice they have. This doesn't necessarily have to turn into a MacOS vs Windows argument, but that distinction is the easiest for most people.



    My own experience is from extensive use of both Mac and Windows computers at work, where they have generally performed their expected functions without any major qualms (except for maybe mouse usability). At home, for the past 8 years we have had Windows desktops which have payed of very well with minimal maintenance -- the secret has been to use them from accounts lacking administrator rights, which has literally obliterated any virus threats. I have also never used constant-on AV protection, and never regretted it -- it does seem from your post that most of your problems with PCs were caused, rather than solved, by Norton AV. Periodic (twice a year) AV scans have proven that this is safe, at least in my case.



    My daughter (8 yo) who is looking over my shoulder now and insisted on using a smiley in this post, has used the PC with minor supervision to play educational flash games and use Skype and (more recently) e-mail. She has used a Mac in school and is not even aware that those are different, -- the only thing she noticed was the Apple logo. I have asked my wife repeatedly if she wants an iPad but she is very happy with her netbook, and does not want to part with the keyboard or the webcam, since she types and skypes a lot. So there you go.



    In the end, what I will try to teach my kids is that what defines them is not what they own, but rather what they do. If people stopped using possessions as class symbols, there would be less reasons for hate towards inanimate objects, right?
  • Reply 3 of 20
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Geeks want Apple looks with Windows tech. Whatever they can't hack, they hate.



    Apple empowers the Average User. Geek elitism takes a huge hit.



    Look at the whining in the news threads. Cries for mid-size towers, DIY Macs, etc. They want it both ways - Apple stability and style with Windows/PC "accessibility." That's not how it works, unfortunately.
  • Reply 4 of 20
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Geeks want Apple looks with Windows tech. Whatever they can't hack, they hate.



    Geeks don't care about looks. Anyone can run Windows on Macs if they want. Macs are easier to hack than most other systems.



    Quote:

    Apple empowers the Average User. Geek elitism takes a huge hit.



    You cannot buy your place amongst the elite. Only knowledge empowers you, not possession.



    Quote:

    Look at the whining in the news threads. Cries for mid-size towers, DIY Macs, etc. They want it both ways - Apple stability and style with Windows/PC "accessibility." That's not how it works, unfortunately.



    Apple haters want nothing from Apple -- it is misguided fans that whine. The OP was about some people who hate on Apple even though they don't own or use any Apple products. It is an interesting problem that you have failed to address.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    futurepastnowfuturepastnow Posts: 1,772member
    It's just an extension of what happens on every discussion forum on the internet.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    I've never understood it myself? People don't act like this about cars?
  • Reply 7 of 20
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Neil Cossar View Post


    I've never understood it myself? People don't act like this about cars?



    Apple vs Whoever is the new Ford vs Chevy.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Neil Cossar View Post


    I've never understood it myself? People don't act like this about cars?



    They used to! I had friends when I was younger that were brutal about others not driving Chevy or whatever. Because there are so many brands these days, it's become non-existent to a degree. But when the Big 3 was in charge, yeah...there were haters of every brand.



    I don't understand the hatred over Apple. Many people think it's worse than Microsoft. But, Apple isn't twisting anyone's arm to use their products. They're simply making d*mn good products that people are lining up to own.



    It completely kills me, that I'm in Linux and Android forums where people just refuse to even hear anything good about Apple or any of its products. I hate to tell them, and I'm an avid Linux user, that neither Android nor Linux is going to unseat Apple. They have too many deficiencies to even compete - even if they're free.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ruel24 View Post


    They used to! I had friends when I was younger that were brutal about others not driving Chevy or whatever. Because there are so many brands these days, it's become non-existent to a degree. But when the Big 3 was in charge, yeah...there were haters of every brand.



    I don't understand the hatred over Apple. Many people think it's worse than Microsoft. But, Apple isn't twisting anyone's arm to use their products.



    Conveniently ignoring iTunes' lock-in system for a minute...



    Quote:

    They're simply making d*mn good products that people are lining up to own.



    Apple often makes good products. But sometimes they bomb too. Example: iPhone 4.



    Quote:

    It completely kills me, that I'm in Linux and Android forums where people just refuse to even hear anything good about Apple or any of its products. I hate to tell them, and I'm an avid Linux user, that neither Android nor Linux is going to unseat Apple. They have too many deficiencies to even compete - even if they're free.



    People have an automatic psychological knee-jerk reflex: if they don't have something, or don't know it, it must be inherently inferior to what they've got, or at least to what they know. And if they don't have something, or don't know it, there's a good chance that would be construed by the other party as inferior (as they do themselves, after all). So you start by denigrating the other's gear to get a headstart. Irrespective of reality.



    So Apple haters are posers. They project their dédain for Apple technologies and concepts as a smokescreen to hide their considerable insecurity about having the latest and greatest themselves. So they're pathetic, really.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    ...People have an automatic psychological knee-jerk reflex: if they don't have something, or don't know it, it must be inherently inferior to what they've got, or at least to what they know. And if they don't have something, or don't know it, there's a good chance that would be construed by the other party as inferior (as they do themselves, after all). So you start by denigrating the other's gear to get a headstart. Irrespective of reality.



    You're basically saying the same as this guy. Naturally, it works not only for Apple haters, but also for Google haters, etc...



    Quote:

    ... to hide their considerable insecurity about having the latest and greatest themselves...



    How can you be insecure about having something? You think it was stolen, or what?
  • Reply 11 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Better make an excellent backup set before you do anything else. That HD will likely crash any minute now.



    BTW, I've worked on Macs for 25 years, but I got me a Nexus One. Because it's better than the iPhone 3GS

    (and the iPhone 4 won't be available for another couple months at least to be even considered).



    I have time capsule going and all data on external drives. Just waiting for a trip out of town so I can drop it off before I leave.



    BTW, it's been saying "failing" for four months now.....but I know what you mean, if I didn't have good backups it would have failed already.



    Thanks everybody for the reasonable discussion!
  • Reply 12 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aquabella View Post


    it's been saying "failing" for four months now.....



    I asked Steve about it and he said you must be holding it the wrong way, and if not it is a software glitch!
  • Reply 13 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    I asked Steve about it and he said you must be holding it the wrong way, and if not it is a software glitch!



    Ha ha.....and I am doubly sure that the hard drive failure rate is less than 1 drive failure per 100 drive failures more than with the previous model iMac!
  • Reply 14 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aquabella View Post


    Ha ha.....and I am doubly sure that the hard drive failure rate is less than 1 drive failure per 100 drive failures more than with the previous model iMac!



    Absoføckinglutely! Figures don't lie!

    (So it must be someone else who does).
  • Reply 15 of 20
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    From my experiences, very few people hate the actual apple product itself, its usually either the over-zealous apple fan or the ignorant average apple user that people hate.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by majjo View Post


    From my experiences, very few people hate the actual apple product itself, its usually either the over-zealous apple fan or the ignorant average apple user that people hate.



    And in my experience the "overzealous Apple fan" and the "ignorant average apple user" are vastly outnumbered by borderline lunatics who have racial level animosities against an almost entirely imagined "typical" Apple user-- your post being a case in point.



    In that sense "Apple User" functions much like "liberal" or "gay" or "rich people" or "fascist" in internet rhetoric-- a place holding term that derives most of its meaning from whichever resentments the person deploying the term happens to be subject to. Apple users are, variously, elitist, smug, clueless, sheep, posers, hipsters, wannabe hipsters, technically illiterate, stupid, fixated by style, gay, vapid, have too much money, have too little sales resistance, and, of course, are very, very thin-skinned and defensive if they ever take umbrage at having all of that enthusiastically explained to them, over and over and over again. Because, you know, of their zealotry.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    guinnessguinness Posts: 473member
    I'm primarily a PC user, with 3 of them running some flavor of Windows 7, as well as having a Mac Mini, 1st gen iPod Touch, a 30 GB Zune, and my phone is a Palm Pre Plus on Verizon. Each has their particular quirks and strengths, some have strange 'WTF?' moments as well.



    I could probably come with more complaints of MS, their products, and Windows then I could of Snow Leopard (basically it's just Finder and Samba), but I'm not exactly a fan of how Apple does things, like the whole Flash/Blu-ray/approved apps thing and Job's condescending attitude, it's a big turn off, and I'm also not a fan of having to buy a particular model of computer or paying top dollar for size (see the new Mini, c'mon $700 for a C2D in 2010?, I don't care how small it is).



    The thing I find most bewildering, especially with some of the users around here, is that many people can never think critically of Apple. It's so bizarre and foreign to me.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by guinness View Post


    I'm primarily a PC user, with 3 of them running some flavor of Windows 7, as well as having a Mac Mini, 1st gen iPod Touch, a 30 GB Zune, and my phone is a Palm Pre Plus on Verizon. Each has their particular quirks and strengths, some have strange 'WTF?' moments as well.



    I could probably come with more complaints of MS, their products, and Windows then I could of Snow Leopard (basically it's just Finder and Samba), but I'm not exactly a fan of how Apple does things, like the whole Flash/Blu-ray/approved apps thing and Job's condescending attitude, it's a big turn off, and I'm also not a fan of having to buy a particular model of computer or paying top dollar for size (see the new Mini, c'mon $700 for a C2D in 2010?, I don't care how small it is).



    The thing I find most bewildering, especially with some of the users around here, is that many people can never think critically of Apple. It's so bizarre and foreign to me.



    Try going onto a PC enthusiast's site and belittling them for being mindless MS fans, wiling sexual playthings of Steve Ballmer, etc. See if they respond to that with level headed defenses of their choices, or saying that you make a good point.



    Before this site had such a heavy presence of trolls, haters and emotionally disturbed shut-ins with apparently nothing better to do than to bait the "Apple people", there was a far easier back and forth around Apple's shortcomings.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    Is this thread for real? It's a simple answer. Haters hate what they can't have.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Amandapanda801 View Post


    Is this thread for real? It's a simple answer. Haters hate what they can't have.



    You'll have a much easier time interacting with the world if you expand your understanding of hate beyond this one facet of it.
Sign In or Register to comment.