Five Reasons Why People Hate Apple

[zridling]

Apple can't seem to catch a break lately, but just ask Microsoft, that comes with the territory. Mitch Wagner gets to the heart of the matter with 5 reasons why people hate Apple:

Every company has its opponents, but Apple really gets people worked up. Some people hate Apple a lot, more than they hate Nazis or Smurfs. They leave angry comments on Apple blogs. Based on my extensive observations of the species, Apple-haters fall into five categories. If you're an Apple-hater, which one of these categories do you fit in?

• You believe buying Apple undermines your individuality
• You hate Apple culture
• You've had a bad experience with Apple products
• Apple isn't right for you
• You hate Apple's closed architecture

Overall, my beef with the App Store restrictions aren't that they exist, they're that they need to be better. I want a native Google Voice App -- Google developed one, but Apple rejected it. I want an app that will let me update all my podcasts automatically, over the air, without having to sync to iTunes; Apple blocked a podcasting app in 2008.... While Apple kills those useful apps, it allows more than a hundred fart apps, including iFart Mobile, Atomic Fart, Fart Piano, 1,000,000 Fart Generator, and something called "Bluetooth Fart" (because, presumably, USB and Firewire farts just weren't good enough).

You stay classy, Apple.

[mitzevo]

Wow, those 5 reasons sure are pathetic, apart from the last one and maybe the 3rd. WTF is up with the 4th one? Typical Apple bashing here.

[Renegade]

Oh Christ... The guy's a complete ass. It's nothing more than link-bait drivel.

Here's the overall summary:

If you hate Apple for any reason, you're an insecure little wanker.

But if you're one of the people having problems with the iPhone, or with any other Apple device or service, then I don't blame you for hating Apple. But you're still a wanker.

His own summary:

Raging against Apple censorship is just a cheap way to make you feel brave. You really want to be a freedom fighter? Go argue with the mullahs in Tehran. Until then, take off your Che Guevera beret and stop congratulating yourself.

Apple haters fall into five overall categories. Which one do you fit in? Did I miss one? Leave an inarticulate, angry comment below.

Like I said... Link-baiting troll.

[Renegade]

Wow, those 5 reasons sure are pathetic, apart from the last one and maybe the 3rd. WTF is up with the 4th one? Typical Apple bashing here.

I think he's trying to bash "Apple haters", and not Apple.

[mitzevo]

Oh you are right, I didn't read the whole article because what I read already was enough time wasted

[justice]

These anti <brandname> vibes can really ruin the atmosphere of a community 

[Josh]

I absolutely do NOT hate Apple. They make good products. Unfortunately, they are far too overpriced for what I am paying for. The amount of functionality lost compared to that gained is not justifiable in the additional costs.

That said, I do hate fanboys and zealots, of any product for that matter. I absolutely despise being told that a mac "just works" when more and more that is proven to be far from the case as userbase increases. I am sick of being told by a co-worker that he bought his dad a mac and now "I receive no more support calls". I absolutely cannot stand the smugness with which Steve Jobs operates and works. Take the iPhone4 fiasco, he could have just been a man and admitted a problem rather than drag 4 other phone manufacturers into it. I really do hope that litigation is brought against him for that little act.

I am fairly certain that, at least my first point, is felt by quite a few people. There is nothing worse than someone trying to sell you something that you A. have expressed no interest in learning about or possibly pursuing, B. Legitimately cannot afford, and C. is sold in a manner that says "You will be cool if you use this" or "You will now be in high society". It reminds me too much of organized religion or those door-to-door people who try and push "The watchtower" on my family. They assume that because they found something so great and useful in their lives, that everyone must know and be interested in the same.

This level of fanaticism does not limit itself to Apple. The group of *nix/OSS (Notice the lack of F/OSS, this is because many users assume that OSS == free) is far deeper in their level of fanaticism. There are Microsoft fanatics, ford fanatics, toaster fanatics, you name it, there is a fanatic for it. Let people use what they like. Do not try and push something on me that I did not ask you about. And most of all, DO NOT blow smoke up my @#! by telling me how your product is "all that and a bag of chips". I learned long ago that you trade one evil for another no matter which decision you make.

</rant>

[tomos]

These anti <brandname> vibes can really ruin the atmosphere of a community

I'd agree, to a certain extent anyways:
there are no apple fanboys here at donationcoder - so I see no reason for the amount of "anti <brandname> vibes" that do go around here on a regular basis.

If you're having trouble with this sort of person elsewhere, you could deal with it elsewhere

Saying that I enjoy a fair bashing - and an occassionial unfair bashing - maybe I'm being hypocritical...

my two cents

[Stoic Joker]

There is nothing worse than someone trying to sell you something that you A. have expressed no interest in learning about or possibly pursuing, B. Legitimately cannot afford, and C. is sold in a manner that says "You will be cool if you use this" or "You will now be in high society". It reminds me too much of organized religion or those door-to-door people who try and push "The watchtower" on my family. They assume that because they found something so great and useful in their lives, that everyone must know and be interested in the same.

Damn Straight!

[ljbirns]

I love my ipod touch

[alivingspirit]

Hating Macs, like hating anything, has nothing to do with reason. A person will hate anything that does not reinforce the decisions they made previously in their lives, in this case, the decision to stick with windows. The reason for the hate comes later in order to justify the emotion. Therefore, articles like this are pointless because there is no rational reason for hatred, people just hate. Its not like someone is going to read the article and think "Oh my! I have been so irrational". More likely, they will come up with a different reason why they hate apple and write a very elaborate explanation in the comments ( just go read, some are very amusing ), or they just ignore the article as illogical.

[Darwin]

Overall, I agree with you, alivingspriit. However, the discussion seems to me to be about hating Apple the company rather than the products that they produce. I happily admit to liking Macintosh computers, OSX, and other Apple products while having an aversion to the company that produces them. I wouldn't characterize that aversion as hatred, either.

[Renegade]

I absolutely do NOT hate Apple. They make good products. Unfortunately, they are far too overpriced for what I am paying for. The amount of functionality lost compared to that gained is not justifiable in the additional costs.

That said, I do hate fanboys and zealots, of any product for that matter. I absolutely despise being told that a mac "just works" when more and more that is proven to be far from the case as userbase increases. I am sick of being told by a co-worker that he bought his dad a mac and now "I receive no more support calls". I absolutely cannot stand the smugness with which Steve Jobs operates and works. Take the iPhone4 fiasco, he could have just been a man and admitted a problem rather than drag 4 other phone manufacturers into it. I really do hope that litigation is brought against him for that little act.

I am fairly certain that, at least my first point, is felt by quite a few people. There is nothing worse than someone trying to sell you something that you A. have expressed no interest in learning about or possibly pursuing, B. Legitimately cannot afford, and C. is sold in a manner that says "You will be cool if you use this" or "You will now be in high society". It reminds me too much of organized religion or those door-to-door people who try and push "The watchtower" on my family. They assume that because they found something so great and useful in their lives, that everyone must know and be interested in the same.

This level of fanaticism does not limit itself to Apple. The group of *nix/OSS (Notice the lack of F/OSS, this is because many users assume that OSS == free) is far deeper in their level of fanaticism. There are Microsoft fanatics, ford fanatics, toaster fanatics, you name it, there is a fanatic for it. Let people use what they like. Do not try and push something on me that I did not ask you about. And most of all, DO NOT blow smoke up my @#! by telling me how your product is "all that and a bag of chips". I learned long ago that you trade one evil for another no matter which decision you make.

</rant>

+1,000

Except that I do hate Apple a little. (My rage after they switched their SDK license right after I spent $2,500 on an iMac is subsiding now... 4 months later.)

I think the main reason for a lot of hatred there is due to the zealots.

There's nothing worse than having a perfectly good system working for you, then having some self-righteous zealot come along and start preaching a sermon on just how stupid you are for using that perfectly good system, and that if you don't convert to his religion, you'll burn for eternity. The level of condescension in a lot of fanboy zealots is simply incompatible with not being a <insert profanity here />.

That is only compounded by zealot claims of counterfactuals. e.g.

Given X (reality)
If -X, you're an idiot (fanboy assertion)
--------------------
You're an idiot. (fanboy conclusion)

(See here or here.)

It's enough to drive you mad, in both senses of the word.

Having the same drivel

Apple makes some wonderful interfaces (iTunes not one of them), and does a fantastic job of design. There's nothing to hate there. They're gorgeous.

As for *nix/OSS fanatics, I think that they are an entirely different case. They aren't "dismissable" like Apple zealots are. I mean the *nix/OSS fanatics that actually have a grip on things, and not the wannabes that are just cheap followers.

The mode of information communication and access to computing power will be increasingly important moving forward. While I primarily use Windows, I am very glad that there is a very strong OSS / GNU GPL / Linux / FOSS community and movement. I see the GNU GPL philosophy as a necessary balance. They truly serve a purpose.

Apple zealots on the other hand do not serve a purpose. There is no underlying philosophy or rationality behind them. Considering the way Apple treats its customers and developers (compared to other companies), there's every reason to be repulsed by them.

Bah... I need to get to work...

[Josh]

Apple as a religion: How the iPhone became divine

[alivingspirit]

Apple as a religion: How the iPhone became divine

If you say, 'I'm a Mac user,' people expect you to have those Mac user values."

And by saying I am a windows user, people expect me to be a mac-lover hater.

Edit:

[Josh]

Wrong, I do not expect anything. I believe people are using what works for them. As I said above, what I really dislike is people who push their "born again" beliefs onto others. There is even one or two which poke their heads around here every now and then for various products/platforms.

[alivingspirit]

Oops. I guess that came across wrong. I agree with you Josh. I didn't mean it is like that in all cases.
Just like people don't necessarily think that all mac users have mac-user values. All I meant was that some Mac users would also assume the other way around because they strongly defend their beliefs and assume that non-Mac users are hostile to that belief. Its a double edged stereotype.

[Josh]

Please do not take my post as an attack, although I did word it as such inadvertently. This topic just grinds my gears when people make assumptions about me because of something I said. I always like to remind fanboys which make assumptions that when you ASSUME it makes an ASS out of U and ME.

[zridling]

As the author notes, however, a key point is how Apple -- and its followers -- respond to the ordinary criticism that other companies have encountered. Apple and Steve Jobs choose to respond with threats, lawsuits, bluster, cutting off media access, among other embarrassing recent problems (such as how to hold the phone in a magical way that it doesn't drop calls). Apple invites further criticism if it doesn't step up and do right by its customers, no matter how fanatical or zealous.

[alivingspirit]

As the author notes, however, a key point is how Apple -- and its followers -- respond to the ordinary criticism that other companies have encountered. Apple and Steve Jobs choose to respond with threats, lawsuits, bluster, cutting off media access, among other embarrassing recent problems (such as how to hold the phone in a magical way that it doesn't drop calls). Apple invites further criticism if it doesn't step up and do right by its customers, no matter how fanatical or zealous.

It seems as though the arrogance that Apple fans are prone to starts at the company.

[Renegade]

As the author notes, however, a key point is how Apple -- and its followers -- respond to the ordinary criticism that other companies have encountered. Apple and Steve Jobs choose to respond with threats, lawsuits, bluster, cutting off media access, among other embarrassing recent problems (such as how to hold the phone in a magical way that it doesn't drop calls). Apple invites further criticism if it doesn't step up and do right by its customers, no matter how fanatical or zealous.

It seems as though the arrogance that Apple fans are prone to starts at the company.

Hahahaha~!

Nice observation!

I think that is the beginning of the hatred. Nobody like a condescending <insert profanity of choice> ranting on them. The backlash is nothing if not well deserved.

[40hz]

My 5 reasons:

• Fanboys
• Fanboys
• Fanboys
• Fanboys
• Steve Jobs

[superboyac]

As many here know from my other threads, i used to be a big time apple basher.  But they do provide a valuable service to the public: they allow people who are normally afraid of gadgets, technology, etc. a FRIENDLY and FUN experience.  That's all there is to it.  I agree with all the rest of the stuff as far as what Apple does wrong and their nazi-like restrictions.  But you have to understand, these are all thoughts and comments coming from people who are NOT afraid of gadgets and technology.  not at all.  So, i've come to be me much more understanding of all of this over the years.

now, that's not to say I don't hate Apple.  I still kind of do.  i just don't care anymore.  Just last week, I was about to buy an ipad because I was given a gift to do so.  but I'm not anymore.  Only because it fills no need of mine, and I'm certain the fun-ness of the ipad will quickly wear off on me.  To this day, i've never had a smartphone and I don't miss it at all.  i think yesterday or the day before, I realized that I just don't have real portable computing needs other than being able to carry a few files around with me on a usb stick.

[superboyac]

Also, i don't think we should hate the apple fanboys.  yes, it's annoying when they get all bible-thumping on us (can I call it iphone-thumping?).  that's annoying.  but i don't hate the people who just prefer the apple gadgets.  My sister is one of them recently, and I can see the value in her eyes.  She loves her new phone because it's fun and easy for her.  She doesn't have to call me when something happens.  it makes sense in her mind all the things she is doing.  Now, I would be frustrated because I would immediately try to do something that conflicts with the restrictions that apple has set into place and I become angry.  but she would never try to do that, so my anger is weird to her.

I've learned over the years that the more you learn about anything, the more likely it is for you to be irritated or angered by the content.  ignorance is bliss, it's true.  it goes for everything.  The more I learn about my company, the more annoyed i get.  The more I learn about the government, the more angry I get.  The more I learn about the NBA, the more likely it is that I'll stop enjoying the games.  But does that mean we choose to be ignorant?  No, not at all.  I have to learn more, it's programmed in me...just like all of you.  Knowledge is something everyone seeks and is the most valuable thing in the world.  There's a great pleasure you experience when you learn things.  But there will always be frustration in the end because you now know more and your life has become more complicated.  When we were kids, everything seemed so simple and sunny and fun.  Then you learn about all the details of your family, your friends, your relatives, and you see how it's not so rosy.  but do you wish to go back to your childhood status?  not really.  it's just life.

That's how i feel about all this apple vs pc stuff.  Apple is simply not for people who know a lot about computers.  Or if we do use apple intentionally, we understand and accept what limitations we will run into.  there's no use wishing evil upon them.  Don't think Jobs is any more evil that some of our pc friends.  Now, I appreciate Gates more so than Jobs as a person because of certain things I've learned about him.  but most large businesses have very shady aspects to them.  it has to be that way when you deal with a lot of money and power.  There is no squeaky clean huge corporation anywhere.

[f0dder]

My 5 reasons:

• Fanboys
• Fanboys
• Fanboys
• Fanboys
• Steve Jobs