I had originally started a post on largely this topic when the news was full of the epic awesome wonderfulness of Steve Jobs, the man who, according to the media hype, was the most amazing businessman on the planet. When these died out rather quickly, I let the post go, but now The New Yorker has a kind of biographical article on Jobs, and I’ll simply point you to that. If you’re one of the Apple worshippers, best to just skip over that one – it’s not pretty.
No, I don’t engage in Mac vs PC wars – I think if you’re hung up on branding then you’re too stupid to take advice from, or even involve in grownup conversation. No product has ever impressed me very much, and every last one of those who tried to tell me how great Apple is could not even display basic competence in computers – funny that. But if you’re buying a Mac to avoid those nasty viruses, maybe you could save a bit of money (actually, quite a lot) and just learn how to use the internet safely instead.
Here’s another tip: when someone tells you something, there’s always a chance that it is simply made up. Remember that the next time you are assured that any product is innovative (or even “original” – if you don’t get that joke, remember what I said about grownup conversations.)