"I don't have a problem with Apple, really" →
The Chromebook? The Galaxy Tab? The HTC One? You’re telling me that any comparable Apple product is waaaaay better than any of those?
It depends on how much value you put on each “a” there. Maybe the comparable Apple products are merely “way better” rather than “waaaaay better.”
Somewhat more seriously: dude, don’t just pull random product names out of a hat here. The HTC One is, from what I can tell, a terrific product—actual LTE, actual Android 4, and only two-thirds of the unremovable carrier-installed bloatware we’ve all come to love. But yes, I’d say the iPad 3rd Generation is at least one or two a’s way better than a Galaxy Tab unless you have a specific use case the Tab is better at. (For instance, being 7″, which some models of the Tab are unquestionably better at.) And there are no Apple products comparable to the Chromebook. This isn’t a knock against the Chromebook, per se. It’s just that if you think the Chromebook and the Air are in the same product category, I’d like to know what color the sky is on your planet.
I don’t want to accuse our friend at “Blogging With Typewriters” of being a hipster, but y’know, if the obscure band T-shirt fits and all that. The thing is, hating Apple to be hip is so 2010.
There are a lot of reasons to buy iThings, and sure, “because it’s the in thing” is one of those reasons. So is “I’ve tried them and like them more than the competition” or “I want to use iPhone-specific things like iMessage1” or “they work most easily with the stuff I have.” But Apple products are way, way, way too popular to be hip. You can’t be hipster smug with an Apple product. In 2012, you buy an Android product and unlock the bootloader to be hipster smug, and use phrases like “iSheep” while you pretend that you actually like the taste of PBR.
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In a coffee shop the other day, I overheard high school students using iMessage as a verb. This may be an under-the-radar Apple advantage, but it’s a real one and it’s a big one. (So is that annoying proprietary dock connector that everybody seems to be hoping they’re going to replace.) ↩
