Saying you despise Starbucks gets you anti-corporate kudos. Buying coffee in Starbucks gets you expensive but tasty coffee, well made by practised staff. Hypocrisy is a win-win.
I wouldn't quite say it's made by "practiced staff." The espresso made at most Starbucks is at the push of a button, hardly requiring effort, the rest is only a memorization of ingredients. It's turned into a bit of a ford/mcdonalds assembly line.
I think he was talking about the machines being the staff... I don't remember the last time I had a person make my espresso @ a starbucks!