My experience is very similar to yours. I am the biggest Apple critic I personally know (don’t get me started on Tim Cook) though I don’t even share a tenth of it because I don’t want to bother my non-technical friends. But I do use a Mac and an iPhone because I prefer them to the alternatives. If I had my way, several things about those products and the company would be different, but at a certain point I had to make a choice and get on with my life.

Still, I have found several people who are outright Apple haters and can’t fathom that anyone who uses their products is anything but a brainwashed puppet. These people talk about Apple more than their most ardent fans. It’s an irrational amount of hate I only ever see from meat eaters who hate vegetarians.

A while back I had a friend who (by choice) uses both a Mac and Android describe to me what they disliked about the iPhone when they used one for a few minutes, in a tone that sounded like personal criticism and disappointment. What do I care? It has nothing to do with me, the products I use aren’t a part of my identity.

Another friend, one who uses Windows and Android, used to grill me about Apple on every chance. I mostly ignored it, but eventually just explained: “Look, it’s not that I think Apple is flawless. On the contrary, I think they have plenty of flaws. But I have tried many operating systems (he, on the other hand, always lived on Windows and Android) and Apple’s are the ones which fit what I need to do the least badly”. To his credit, he understood and never again touched the subject.

My philosophy regarding operating systems, text editors, and other subjective sources of flame wars is pretty simple: Use whatever makes you happy and works for you. I don’t care what that is, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. If you ask me a question or an opinion, I’ll try to answer it as truthfully and with as much relevancy as possible for you. I’ll tell you if there’s something I think you may benefit from knowing, but you control the conversation. But if you just want to ignorantly gush about my very informed picks, I’m not interested. Live and let live.

> I am the biggest Apple critic I personally know

This always gets me. I, as an Apple user, have more vitriolic and in-depth criticisms against Apple than any Android user I know. When Apple haters start their rants, it’s always one of a few superficial talking points that are nowhere near the actual biggest issues of the company or its devices.