>>Apple stays in business not for their superior hardware, which quite frankly on the PC end of things is just commodity hardware
No. They are both commodity hardware. It's just that being Apple's products less common they mantain an aura of exclusivity. It's all the marketing and hype built over the years...it's still working although I don't know how much long for. Also Apple have managed to cut themselves a niche market (DTP, Graphic Design) but wanting to do DTP+Graphic Design on any PC+Windows there would be no problem at all at achieving the same results.
>>Owning a Mac is a real smooth ride
Nope. I have 3 at home and they are not a smooth ride at all. I work with about 200 iMacs every day and they are a pain in the neck in a network environment. They freeze often, the multicoloured ball comes up and you can't do much. They are not well supported...I could go on.
>>The hardware and software combined make for a real nice out of the box experience for people not into Windows, and said people are willing to pay the premium for the experience.
True but isn't that much different than with Windows 7.
>>The people I know who buy Mac's buy them because they prefer OSX.
Good on them...
>>Millions of people a year keep buying Mac's.
Many more millions buy PCs with Windows 7 etc...installed so?
>>This being said, the new 5k display on the iMac is really, really impressive when you use it.
Again...it's made for them by Samsung?!
>>Same goes for iPhone's and iPad's. The hardware is nothing special, specs wise.
Correct.
>>The Android apps ecosystem still pales in comparison to the iOS one
True. 88% of Smartphones run Android so you're never going to have a tidy, controlled ecosystem, it's based on Linux after all...
>>I've always found the Apple hate ironic within the Amiga community, really.
Nope. No hate. Just facts.
>>People gripe constantly about overpriced Mac's, but have no qualms about shelling out $3000+ for an X1
A completely different thing. Different economies, different users, different market, apples and oranges indeed.
Freedom of choice...absolutely, it swings both ways though.