Or you're one of the haters who can't accept Apple really does make good products? Accusing people of being fanboys just because they favour a company over the competition, for reasons which they can clearly express and which ultimately do make sense seems a bit rude, IMO...
Anyhow, about not being able to admit Apple can make poor products.
The Puck Mouse which came with the original iMac is probably the worst mouse ever made (The whole one-button thing was pretty silly as well, but that mouse takes it to a whole new level), and I honestly have no idea what got into them when they made it. I doubt a lot of Apple "fanboys" will disagree with me on this one.
But even recently, Apple has made some very poor decisions or some ridiculous oversights:
- The Might Mouse's scroll ball got stuck way too often, and the problem was pretty widespread as well.
- Exposé was pretty glitched for the trackpad when Snow Leopard first came out, and it persisted for like 2 updated (and I still prefer the puzzle-style exposé of Leopard over the grid-based one of SL, but whatever).
- iOS4 is way too laggy on older iPhones and iPod Touches (including the 8GB version they still sell today), the sound stops for half a second when going to sleep, what's up with that?
- Numpads, yes Apple, they can be useful. I can sympathise with not adding them to the Macbook Pro line, but no Wireless keyboard with numpad? At least make a wireless numpad...
- Why does the iPad still need to be connected to a computer?
etc.
(Couldn't come up with anything else which really annoyed me ._.)
That being said, I wouldn't trade my Macbook for a PC laptop unless someone held a gun to my face, my next phone will probably end up being an iPhone and I might get an iPad soon (after a lot of deliberations, real-life experience with the product, etc.). Why? Because Apple does make good products. I have an 8-year-old iMac standing next to me which still works like a charm, my Macbook still has more than 90% (almost 95%) of its full battery capacity after a year of extensive use, can still run for more than 7 hours on a full charge, and the only thing which ever caused a kernel panic on any Mac was trying to emulate Windows. On the other hand, all Windows machines I've ever owned have blue-screened (at least once), crashed on a lot of occasions, slowed to a crawl after a year or 2 of use, been infected by at least one virus (although, to be honest, it was Norton Antivirus which killed my '98), most have been in need of repair at least once, I've had a lot of drivers suddenly no longer being supported, etc. etc.
I really like the all-in-one package, the fact that the machines, hardware and OS are made for eachother, which means stuff just works, updating is a breeze and OS-related or hardware-related problems are pretty much non-existant. Life's easy when you don't have to focus on making your computer work so you can actually do what you want to.
Also, Macs may seem way more expensive superficially, but when comparing computers with similar specs (Apple has pretty much no low-end machines, which is rather sad and I do agree is something they should work on), it's usually not that much of a difference, especially when you consider the materials used and how the computer is created. I mean, the Macbook Pro I'm currently using has been carved out of a single block of aluminium, most other laptops are pieces of plastic which have been screwed together.
And the iPad is pretty nifty. I've been in the market for a light and easy-to-carry laptop for quite a while, but the Macbook Air is way too expensive and I can't stand netbooks. I've also been watching Youtube videos on my iPod more and more because it's just easier to carry around, an iPad, with its bigger screen would be even better for it. I guess you might not see a need for one, but that doesn't mean it's stupid.
Apple isn't perfect, but it's definitely one of the few innovators in what is otherwise a boring and dull industry, and they know how to make good products. If that's not enough to like a company for, then sorry, I don't know what is.
And do you honestly think there would be this many "fanboys" if Apple didn't make good products?
Seriously, what Apple products do you want us to admit are crud? The iPad? But in my experience with the product, it's pretty well-made, works great and exactly as advertised and really is quite unique and useful. What else? Or do you want us to admit good products are crud just to restore balance with your side of the discussion?
