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Comment by Batsu | Hacker News Reader

It's an issue of passion, I think.

Compare Apple fans to that of the XBox or PS3. For some horrible reason, people will defend to the bitter end their console of choice. Nothing is gained or lost in these arguments, the same arguments are constantly thrown out, and quite frankly all the facts are widely available (system specs, regular issues like the RROD or hour-long installs) but no one cares. Everyone argues an opinion, and because this is the internet, quickly devolve a discussion to a flame war... I mean, really, how many Mac users have had serious issues with a one button mouse in the past decade?

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The funny thing is, I don't actually see this sort of behavior from Apple fans. There isn't that underlying insecurity that causes kids who can't afford multiple consoles to get into fanboy wars. We're generally happy enough with our choices that we don't feel the need to constantly attack people who chose differently. We often do explain why we think Apple products are better, but that's largely because we can't believe how competitors keep getting it wrong, not because we're trying to calm inner anxieties about having made the wrong choice. (It still amazes me how bad the interface design on MP3 players were years after the iPod took over the market.)

The problem is that there are now tons of anti-Apple trolls hanging out on the Internet, a lot of whom are Android users who apparently feel the need to attack iPhone users with every spare moment. (Naturally, we defend ourselves.) What guts me is seeing this juvenile behavior on Hacker freaking News. This is by far one of the best online communities I've ever seen, but the anti-Apple trolling has definitely taken it down a notch.

I just got downvoted (and upvoted) for pointing this out in my grandparent comment. The anti-Apple force is strong with these ones...

> The funny thing is, I don't actually see this sort of behavior from Apple fans.

> We're generally happy enough with our choices

I realize this is anecdote vs anecdote, but I see plenty of it. Where do you usually hang out on the internet?

Engadget, Macrumors, and here, for the most part (though I only comment here). The anti-Apple trolling is positively insane at Engadget, presumably because the average age of their commenters must be low, but it can get pretty bad at virtually any tech-oriented site, and even places like nytimes.com.

I definitely don't think 100% of Apple fans are immune to the above-decribed behavior: there are always some who aren't, especially if they're teenagers. You'll see more of that stuff now, because the space is polarized, and Apple fans have been put on the defensive. And yet I hardly ever see Apple fans producing hate-fueled criticism of other products and their fans. We receive way more of that stuff than we dish out.

Yes but I have never seen an Xbox fanboy go onto Sony forums and start trashing the PS3. Yet this is a regular occurrence on Apple forums.

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