http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/19/apple.religion/index.html

(CNN) -- Next time Grandma asks why you're going to the mall on Sunday morning instead of church, tell her you're going to Apple Chapel.

For Apple fans, the brand triggers a reaction in the brain that's not unlike that of religious devotees, according to a BBC documentary series that cites neurological research.

The neuroscientists ran a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on an Apple fanatic and discovered that images of the technology company's gadgets lit up the same parts of the brain as images of a deity do for religious people, the report says.

The first episode of the documentary shows Apple employees "whipped up into some sort of crazy, evangelical frenzy" at the recent opening of an Apple store in London.

Observers and Apple critics have long accused fans of the tech company of taking their infatuation to an extreme.

People have gone to great lengths to prove their love of Apple with tattoos, bumper stickers and home shrines to outmoded Mac computers. Apple's cult-like following was highlighted in a 2009 documentary called "Macheads."

A blog, aptly titled Cult of Mac, wrote on Thursday about Oakland, California, resident Gary Allen's cross-country pilgrimage to Apple's first store in Virginia to celebrate the retail chain's 10th anniversary this week.

In speeches, Pope Benedict XVI has said technology consumption poses a threat to religion and the Roman Catholic church. The holy leader told a Palm Sunday crowd last month that technology cannot replace God.

However, apparently it may inspire god-like devotion.

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I can't say I'm totally surprised, and of course more data is needed to really prove it, but it's still pretty extreme. xD

It's somewhat obvious but still need studies to reinforce what everybody already know.

So, does that mean the non-religious people would naturally not become company fanboys?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011cr8h/Secrets_of_the_Superbrands_Technology/

Worth a watch

It's funny that I actually experience it the other way around.

I know lots of people who own Apple products (myself included) and all of them know why and that's it. They don't brag about it nor do they want anyone to be as "cool" as themselves by getting Apple products instead of their PCs, Android phones or whatnot. They know that every system has its positive and negative aspects and it's everyone's own choice what they want and what they need. Why should I buy a PC when I do audio engineering and it's a fact that it's way more efficient to work on a Mac? Even if it's double the price, it will work for me double the time because there's no need to upgrade the hardware every once in a while and clean up the OS while I could work.

I only see people on the internet and everywhere outside who do NOT own any Apple stuff and go crazy about it, how dumb everyone else is and that THEY are the greatest form of life. The bad thing is not the majority of Apple users who want everyone to switch and understand - it's the other people who think they are uber-smart and have to talk bad about everyone else on the internetz.. Wtf, seriously.

Apple Chapel ........... LOL

Apple is nothing in compansion to Star Trek and Star War cult followings. 

I believe the fanboys of Nintendo and Sony are pretty big in numbers. 

This forum is a clear example. You can find acolytes of each brand.

Back in Karl Marx's day he said religion was the opiate of the masses. Now it's entertainment and entertainment products. Whatever can get you to escape the drudgery of daily life for a few hours.

Not surprised.

There seems to be something in the human psyche that programs people into pledging to a "higher cause" whatever that cause is.

Lol

But yeah there are extremists for pretty much anything out there.