What's with all the i-Hate?

I find that people either looooove Apple products or they are in the hate camp. I've sat at dinners where people got into heated arguments over Apple / no-Apple.

DH is all-Apple. I was not. What swayed me to some Apple products is the battery life on their phone and IPad. While the phone is nowhere as fun as the Galaxy, you can't beat the battery life or the camera quality. I really miss the Galaxy but I don't miss the 4 hour battery life. Well, maybe it lasts longer than than 4 hours but not much more. I would be hard pressed to use up the battery on my iPhone before needing a charge.

And I agree, if you want to spend your money on gizmos and the dogs aren't starving, why not? There are worse ways to spend your money than fun new tech toys.

Eh I don't care if people love it or hate it - though I do think it's irrational lol. I was slow to jump on apple stuff because everyone said it was so different etc but we've been a family of iphones for awhile and Ive had a macbook pro for 3 months and I can't ever forsee going back to other pc/laptops- but no I don't hate them lol.

I love my Apple products. I've never noticed any of my friends commenting on Apple one way or another on Facebook or in real life.

I've got nothing but love for Apple. 

My first computer was a IIc also!

Didn't we settle all of this in the last millennium? Windows sucks, but we have to deal with it because it's everywhere and it's cheaper. Apple products are really great but they cost a lot.

Can't we all just get along?

I have to agree here.
I got an iPod pretty much the minute they came out in Australia and loved it. There wasn't even iTunes then, and I could load it with whatever I wanted...I still have it and it still works, probably 10 years later.
So I was a big Apple fan at that point.
Then I got an iPad 1. Also loved it and at that point Apple were the only company who had a really good functional tablet.

But from then on they went in the wrong direction. Other companies came up with same/better products but now that Apple had millions of loyal customers they started to dick around with them.
My 1st iPad works perfectly well (still does never had a single issue with it) BUT Apple essentially forced me to stop using it, apps wouldn't update, some apps were blocked from being installed and finally they stopped allowing IOS updates totally, so what I ended up with was an expensive technically functional iPad but where every app crashed making it as good as useless.
They also 'drip feed' their customers new technology. They could have removable storage for their devices, but they don't. Then they changed the standard charging cables all of your previous things like docks, clocks etc couldn't be connected anymore. Plus each time you have to get a new SIM card because each one is always a different size.
I think this 'planned obsolescence' is not only greedy, it is also wrong from the perspective of how much electronic waste they create.
I think they started off as a good company making great products, but now it's all big business and corporate greed.

I hated being locked into using iTunes, hated the way they tried to lock you into buying everything else Apple too.
I switched last year to a Samsung phone and once my iPad had had it, I'll switch to another brand tablet.
I won't support the type of business practices Apple has and that whole corporate 'greed' mentality.

When I want to get a new phone it will be my decision - not because the company who made it have decided to stop it from working.

The typical criticism of Apple is that they're too proprietary; they exert too much control over things like apps and music...won't allow Flash...design exclusive (pricey) accessories like the charging cord...produce operating systems on mobile devices that limit customization...refuse to allow any more OS updates after too short a time. Defenders argue that this strict oversight results in better quality. There's also a feeling that Apple products are overpriced.

Culturally, I think their ad campaign several years ago ("I'm a Mac"/"I'm a PC") with the overweight nebbishy guy playing the PC and the young, spry hip guy playing the Apple, possibly turned off as many people as it attracted. It contributed to this idea that people who buy Apple products are hipster-yuppie-elitists who who flaunt their slick, expensive iDevices while drinking their $7 Starbucks coffee. I'm not sure how much of the cultural stuff is US-centric. Would that image resonate with Australians? 

I don't care for Apple products just because I find them too hard to use. They are not intuitive to me and are very restricted on what you can do with them. I have an iPod shuffle from 2006 and it has always made me irate. I remember my boss getting the original iPad and it didn't even have a USB port. He couldn't print a document. IMO it was ridiculously restrictive. But to each their own, he loved it and has gone on to purchase each new model.

Among my peers a lot of people use Apple products as status symbols and that can intrinsically make those that don't have the products not like them because they feel excluded.

Yeah, device disposable-ness bothers me, too. 

("disposability"?...)

...and Steve Jobs wasn't exactly known for philanthropy. He'd been quoted as saying he could make the world a better place by creating better elecontric products than by giving money to charities. Nice.
Although Tim Cook is definitely doing better. But it still anywhere near what Bill Gates does.
If I'm going to give my hard earned $ to some multimillionaire, I'd rather it go to the one who passes huge chunks of it on to charities than the one who hoards it all for his own personal wealth.

I was an HP girl all the way. We had an iPod something (it is an antique now but it was the best one out there compared to others at the time-Dad won it). It didn't work. DS gradually started acquiring iPods, then an iMac was bought (I am still buying new HPs ever 3 years to the date). The iPads were bought (still buying HPs). Then I decided enough HP as I want my technology to talk to everyone else's in the family. I bought a MacBook Pro. It was a great computer. I had to get another one as I soaked it. Then in-between then were lots of iPhones. I would say DS has had 3 or 4. Dad and I each have one a 5. We will upgrade in the fall I think. Our contract is up so I think it's time. I also have an iPad Mini. It is very cute, too. We just do Apple better. I love my MacBook Pro and I will get another one when it dies. The iMac downstairs is still going strong. I would say we have 2 more years with it and then need to decide what to do next. We are in no hurry.

I love my iPad, it's my life. The whole family is idevice. Yet I hate the forced obsoleteness that apple deliberately builds in. iOS , cables, chargers, SIM cards I hate it.

Hmmmm....  I really have no problem with the sync in my Ford escape.  Occasionally, it will ask me to clarify by offering choices.  I do have an iPhone synced to my car.  I didn't he left not to get the GPS system because at the time I had a Garmin and their GPS seemed unreasonably expensive.

So how is that NOT a contradiction?

You say you have a major issue with the waste generated.
However you also claim that people who speak out about that are trying to get everyone to agree with them?
Surely if you have major issues with something, then morally the right thing to do is to speak out about it and educate others? Not just to shut up and say nothing and allow the bad stuff you disagree with to just continue happening?

like when (general) you go through 100 plastic water bottles each week, your choices effect the planet I live on, pollute it, kill the wildlife, contribute to child labour in poor countries etc. It's a world wide issue when a big company does the wrong things and some people choose to turn a blind eye - it does affect everyone in the long run.