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Fanboys and Their Little World

posted January 15, 2012 by / 6 Comments

It is interesting. I have had some conversations lately that lead me to believe that people just get too attached to Apple products. Not only that but they love their Apple products so much they hate (HATE!!) everything else. This is not a good way to live your life.

I have been accused of being an Apple fanboy before. I have even admitted to it. But I have changed my ways. Even then I said I was a fan of technology not just Apple. I love all things technology. I don’t hate any product. There are things out there that I don’t like, sure, but I don’t hate anything. Moreover, I have an open enough mind that I can use anything. I don’t compare everything to the iPhone, because IMHO the iPhone isn’t the best phone on the market. I also don’t compare things to the best Android phone on the market. When I look at a new phone I take it in and compare it to the market as a whole. Where does it stack up? Does it have everything I need in order to use it? I don’t have prejudices against any product. I even liked BlackBerry for a long time, and I still don’t hate them.

Limiting yourself to one product and then hating other products because of your love for that product is not only self limiting, but it is potentially dangerous. If Apple fanboys got their way and all Android products were banned from this planet, Apple would not have any competition. They already don’t innovate very fast (if at all). Imagine where the iPhone would be at if Android didn’t exist. It wouldn’t have multitasking, it wouldn’t have better notifications, and so on. Apple fanboys should be happy about Android’s success. It drives Apple to continually do better.

Hating a product isn’t rational. You may not like Android’s UI, and you may have a problem with the insane skins that are put over the OS, but that doesn’t mean it is a terrible product. Fanboys can’t admit this. There are several things that are better on Android than on the iPhone.  There are also things on the iPhone that are better than on Android. Neither product is perfect. Nowhere near perfect. On the other hand, neither product is terrible. There is no reason to hate Android. It has everything you need in a smartphone. There is no reason to hate the iPhone. It has everything you need in a smartphone.

You need to open your mind. Find a special place where you can accept that the iPhone and Apple are not the basis of life. By doing so, you are limiting yourself to a small, insignificant life that will be poorer for not having broadened your horizons. This doesn’t mean you can’t like Apple products. I still like Apple products. I wouldn’t trade my Mac for a Windows PC in a million years. But that doesn’t mean I can’t see the benefits of the other side (more software, cheaper). Be a technology fan, not an Apple fan.

Remember that these are just gadgets. They are things that cannot be taken with you when you die. When you die, it won’t have mattered whether you are an Android or an iPhone person. You’re just as dead either way. There are bigger things in life than what smartphone you prefer. People are hungry, there are wars, and our economy sucks. These are just some of the issues that are bigger than the fanboy argument. Take a breath and see the world for the first time.

 

Author

Matthew Weber

Matt is the founder and CEO of the Blogs Media Network. He is the Editor in Chief of t3kd.com! Along with being the undisputed best fiancee in the world, he is also an avid novel reader and player of video games. He graduated Michigan State University with a worthless Bachelors of Arts. You can email him at weber [at] t3kd [dot] com.

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Wayne Williams

Haha, this is directed at me.  I've been using cell phones years before Moto even had the design down for the original StarTac.  I've been using Apple hardware since about 1979.  I've used Blackberry, Android, WinMo, WP7, iOS, and every other one you could possibly imagine. When I say I hate and can't stand an OS, it's because I've used them before and know what I'm talking about.

And I've also been using online services since the days of the 300 baud modem and the local BBS system.  Way before the Web was a glimmer in Al Gore's eye.  And out of ALL of the tech blogs I read, it's ALWAYS the Android user using the word "fanboy."  It's really quite old and immature.  

And Android users ALWAYS hate Apple anything.  Always.  And especially the iPhone.  They live in a world where they honestly believe that Android is "open" but nobody really knows what that means.  And Android users are generally the most arrogant pricks on the blogs you could ever see.  Trust me.  They refuse REFUSE to believe that when someone despises Android that it could be because that person has used it before.  But alas, the word fanboy gets tossed around and their credibility goes out the window.  

So.  I hate Android.  For several reasons.  It's a complete mess of an operating system.  The applications suck.  And I hate the users.  Same is said for Blackberry.  Same for Windows Phone 7.  And it's because I have used them before.  

I've been using computers and cell phones probably longer than most of the people have been alive that populate the tech blogs with their Apple hatred and the fanboy being slung around daily.  But it doesn't matter.  The fact is that I hate Android, so that obviously makes me a fanboy who knows nothing.  Oh, and don't forget the ever popular "drinking the Kool Aid" phrase.  Even though the same could be said about Android users.  Fanboys who drink the Google kool aid.

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Matthew

First, it is not only directed at you. I don't mean to offend you or any one else. Our conversation on the other post just made me think about this piece that I had been writing for a while (Ricky set it off, actually). 

Second, WHOA!! You hate the users?!?!?!?! Hate as in wish them all dead? I think there are some dictators throughout history that would agree with that hatred. 

Third: I never said anything about hating Apple. Quite the contrary I said I love my Mac. I even still think the iPhone is good, I just got bored with it. There was no Apple hatred in the post above. If anything I was pro-Apple. 

My point wasn't that Android users hate Apple. I'm sure that is true for some people, and to those people I would tell them to read this damn post. It is about Android fanboys too. Being a fan doesn't mean you are a bad person. Doesn't mean you have bed taste in products. It just means you like what you like. Which is completely fine, and the way it should be.

Congratulations on using technology so long. Your wisdom impresses me. I haven't been using technology that long, but seeing as I was born in 85, it would be kind of hard for me to have done so. 

IMHO, I think that hating something is too strong. You dislike something and don't use it. That is fine. And again, the way it should be. However, it is when people take what they love and use it to belittle, curse, cause harm to, and offend others who don't love what they love that bothers me. To say you HATE the users of an operating system is just baffling to me. How can you HATE someone for what they like? It is the same as saying you HATE someone for what they believe, or for their job, or for where the live, or how much money they make. HATE. HATE. HATE. Get over it, and live your own life. (again not only directed at you). Hatred and the word hate are used too often. I am not a religious man. I consider myself Agnostic. I am not even a God fearing man. I do what religious folks would say is sinful all the time. But if God is real and in the end we all have to meet him to account for what we say, how can we say that we HATE each other? There is a long list of people who HATE in this world. Why would you want to be on that list?

It's kind of amazing how fired up this topic makes people. These are just toys. They make our lives easier, to be sure, but we could live without them. Humans existed for a long time before we had an iPhone or an Android. This conversation is the new Religion debate. Either your Christian or you are a bad person. Either you are a Muslim or you are an Infidel. Either you are an iPhone user or you are a Satanist pig. My point in writing this post was that no one has the right to tell you, me, Ricky, or my dog, what they can like. Just as no one has the right to say they HATE me because I use something different. It's s free country. Use what you want, I'll use what I want. We can both be happy. Just don't be mean, arrogant, and hateful because we don't like the same thing.

I got accused on Facebook for making this post "preachy". And I didn't mean to do that. I think that everyone should be able to like what they like. It just bothers me that people don't consider that that freedom is something that can be applied to other people besides themselves.

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Rwilliams0926

I have been on forums for a long, long time and although your reasoning makes sense it will not change enough people's mind. This debate will rage on, there are billions of people on the planet with different feelings, opinions, things they accept as fact. In a perfect world this would make sense and things could be seen in black and white, right or wrong but that is not the world we live in. I have used Android and although I loved the hardware the UI is crap. Yes the competition drives innovation but where is Google's innovation when they copied the iPhone interface? It's not a good practice to excuse a company because a bi product of them being around is there is innovation and we get cheaper devices. So I don't care what anyone says Android is garbage, I'm not saying this without using it just like I've used Google+ and other things from companies I hate. This is my personal opinion and I have never forced it on anyone. I think loyalty to a brand is actually a good thing, and don't think there aren't Android loyalists who will tell everyone that the iPhone sucks and go on vehemently about why. I think the problem is when you physically hurt someone because of your ideas like the Holy War. If someone wants to ignore products because of the brand meh it is their decision, their cash and their life I say good on them for putting a stake in the ground and sticking to their ideals. I think ads where companies make fun of users is just dumb and those companies should reap the benefits of that dumb decision. This is why Samsung will never get a penny of my money or anyone I know just based on principle. You want to make fun of your rival company go ahead but making fun of users yeah real smart move.

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Rwilliams0926

I have been on forums for a long, long time and although your reasoning makes sense it will not change enough people's mind. This debate will rage on, there are billions of people on the planet with different feelings, opinions, things they accept as fact. In a perfect world this would make sense and things could be seen in black and white, right or wrong but that is not the world we live in. I have used Android and although I loved the hardware the UI is crap. Yes the competition drives innovation but where is Google's innovation when they copied the iPhone interface? It's not a good practice to excuse a company because a bi product of them being around is there is innovation and we get cheaper devices. So I don't care what anyone says Android is garbage, I'm not saying this without using it just like I've used Google+ and other things from companies I hate. This is my personal opinion and I have never forced it on anyone. I think loyalty to a brand is actually a good thing, and don't think there aren't Android loyalists who will tell everyone that the iPhone sucks and go on vehemently about why. I think the problem is when you physically hurt someone because of your ideas like the Holy War. If someone wants to ignore products because of the brand meh it is their decision, their cash and their life I say good on them for putting a stake in the ground and sticking to their ideals. I think ads where companies make fun of users is just dumb and those companies should reap the benefits of that dumb decision. This is why Samsung will never get a penny of my money or anyone I know just based on principle. You want to make fun of your rival company go ahead but making fun of users yeah real smart move.

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Wayne Williams

Haha, this is directed at me.  I've been using cell phones years before Moto even had the design down for the original StarTac.  I've been using Apple hardware since about 1979.  I've used Blackberry, Android, WinMo, WP7, iOS, and every other one you could possibly imagine. When I say I hate and can't stand an OS, it's because I've used them before and know what I'm talking about.

And I've also been using online services since the days of the 300 baud modem and the local BBS system.  Way before the Web was a glimmer in Al Gore's eye.  And out of ALL of the tech blogs I read, it's ALWAYS the Android user using the word "fanboy."  It's really quite old and immature.  

And Android users ALWAYS hate Apple anything.  Always.  And especially the iPhone.  They live in a world where they honestly believe that Android is "open" but nobody really knows what that means.  And Android users are generally the most arrogant pricks on the blogs you could ever see.  Trust me.  They refuse REFUSE to believe that when someone despises Android that it could be because that person has used it before.  But alas, the word fanboy gets tossed around and their credibility goes out the window.  

So.  I hate Android.  For several reasons.  It's a complete mess of an operating system.  The applications suck.  And I hate the users.  Same is said for Blackberry.  Same for Windows Phone 7.  And it's because I have used them before.  

I've been using computers and cell phones probably longer than most of the people have been alive that populate the tech blogs with their Apple hatred and the fanboy being slung around daily.  But it doesn't matter.  The fact is that I hate Android, so that obviously makes me a fanboy who knows nothing.  Oh, and don't forget the ever popular "drinking the Kool Aid" phrase.  Even though the same could be said about Android users.  Fanboys who drink the Google kool aid.

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