Good to see certain people feel the frothing desire to keep hammering Apple. They must feel threatened. Why else go through all this trouble, sheesh, some people here sound like 16th century Christians trying to convert heathens. :s
If people like Apple and Macs, let them. What the heck's it to you, honestly? Must you be so childish as to call a company 'shit', their products 'useless' and express your heartfelt wish to see them go out of business as soon as possible? Silly little things. That alone proves just how childish you really are. Well I've got some news for you guys, Apple is a highly profitable and succesful company, they're not going out of business anytime soon. In fact, their profits have only risen, while most other comparable companies are losing tons of money, including Microsoft.
Yes, there are always going to be people who use their computers for 'hardcore coding' and other such fascinating activities, however 99.99% of the consumers does not. So while Linux or Windows may be a viable solution for aforementioned persons, the average joe will want something that is easy to use and looks nice. Linux is not easy to get into nor does it look nice. No matter how much you confess your love for Linux, the mainstream will never ever use it. Ever. Heck, most people have never even heard of Linux.
Also, at least Microsoft seem to think Apple is onto something, why else would they make their new operating system more and more like OSX?
Last but not least, Apple is a brand name. And a strong brand at that, one of the strongest there is in fact. Everyone's heard of it, whether they like it or not. It's got a cool, sophisticated image, something neither Microsoft nor Linux can claim.
More and more schools, universities and colleges are switching to Macs. The whole of the design industry uses Macs. Macs are, in fact, more durable than standard PCs or laptops. That's a fact. I'm in college, and most of the students there bought laptops at the start of their first year. Quite a few got Macbooks or Macbook Pros. By the second year, more than a quarter of all those laptops had either broken down or were malfunctioning in one way or another. You can say 'yeah well I never have problems blah blah'... well these people did, and it's not like it was just a few exceptional cases. Not everyone is a programming genius or a computer wizard, no matter how simple certain tasks may seem to you. Not a single one of those who got Macbooks experienced any problems at all whatsoever. During that second year, a lot of students replaced their broken or malfunctioning laptops with Macbooks. Some even switched while their laptops were still working fine, because they got to experience Apple's products firsthand.
So, well, yeah. It's obvious several people here just have a severe grugde against Macs and Apple in general. Painfully obvious. I'm not gonna name any names, you know who you are. And I am aware this whole rant is not going to do anything at all, I just wish people would stop being so extremely biased and childish. What are you, 5? :s Just face the facts and accept them: Apple is a strong brand and a hugely populair and extremely succesful company, and one that a lot of other companies are imitating.
Finally, one last thing: do you honestly, truly believe the majority of consumers would choose a regular Linux- or Windows-based computer if Macs were equally expensive? Your answer will probably determine just how biased you are.
Really now.