Inside the Mind of an Apple Hater: 5 Kinds of People You Should Understand
Forget religion and politics. I would venture that the Mac/PC debate has ended as many relationships as any other taboo topic. For most people with an opinion on the subject it is utterly incomprehensible that anyone could come to a conclusion opposite to what they believe. I happen to be an Apple fanboy and understanding the Apple hater is something I have been trying to do for years. I am finally starting to understand how people end up on the other side of the debate. Of all the Apple haters I have known and observed, I believe they fall into five basic categories. This isn’t a post to make those people look stupid, it is the opposite. The majority of Apple hating people are actually rational, competent, talented individuals. Allow me to outline these 5 types of people and you might start to understand how people end up passionately disliking the best products on the market. Put yourself in their shoes and you might get a little less defensive the next time someone insults your MacBook.
Apple Hater Profile 1: The Tech-Savvy Power User
Let’s close our eyes and pretend we are a super geek. Imagine if you have spent your life learning the intricacies of computers. This type of person shuns the mouse in favor of the command line. They prefer to browse the web with a text editor because reading raw HTML allows them to understand what the author really means without the distraction of images. Think of these people as living inside the Matrix. They see 1′s and 0′s where the rest of us are limited by seeing the world in hi-def. This person’s identity is connected directly to knowing more about computers than anyone else. They secretly enjoy the struggles that most people have with computers because it gives them the opportunity to show their expertise. What happens when the mortals stop asking for computer help?
Now, imagine you have all this knowledge and someone tells you that you don’t need it any more. A Mac is a computer that makes all your knowledge, the skills that have defined you your entire life, seem useless. You would take that as an incredible slap in the face. Applications that install with a single click? Rubbish. Programs that are customizable without reading the owner’s manual? What fun is that? Now you are starting to see why an Apple product is so scary to the super nerd. It is not only a threat to the core of their identity, it also takes the fun out of computers. “Easy to use” is not a benefit to this type of user.
So what do you do if one of these hardcore geeks tries to engage you in a debate of Apple’s merits? Here are some tips. First, don’t start insulting the PC or Windows. That’s the first reaction, but won’t work with the geek because you can rest assured he knows volumes more about the PC than you. Any insult you throw at the PC will be rebutted with a response that you can’t fight because you won’t be able to comprehend it. So a more effective response is to say, “I sure do love my Mac, but I can appreciate someone who is an expert on PC’s like you. Frankly, I am just not smart enough to use them as effectively as someone like you.” The point of a response like that is it gets the geek talking about themselves. This is really why they brought up the subject in the first place. Remember, this kind of person’s identity is connected to their PC knowledge so if you acknowledge this they will probably be less hateful towards you.
Apple Hater Profile 2: The Heavily Invested Professional
Our second character has less expertise than the super geek. This is a person who has a substantial investment in the PC. This investment might be money. Perhaps he has spent thousands of dollars on PC’s and upgrades. Maybe the investment is time. Perhaps he has spent hours on the phone with Microsoft’s support team. Or maybe they have gone to training classes. Or maybe they just spend their evenings removing viruses. Maybe the investment is patience. If you have spend hundreds of hours in PC maintenance you have made an investment. It is hard to come to terms with the fact that this time was wasted. In order for you to recover this loss you need to put that investment to good use. Now that you know how to remove a trojan virus from the deepest hidden corners of your computer you need to put that knowledge to good use. If nothing else, if it ever happens again you will be prepared.
When someone has a great deal of time and money invested in something they will be much more likely to defend their PC decision. So if you were to switch to a Mac, what happens to the hours you have spent customizing your machine? What about all the knowledge you have obtained? That investment is gone and you can see why this kind of person would be resistant to Apple.
So what do you do if one of these hardcore geeks tries to engage you in a debate of Apple’s merits? Here are some tips. First, don’t brag about how easy to use your Mac is. This will only remind your opponent about how much time he has wasted. Instead, say something like this, “You’re right, my Mac isn’t perfect. Don’t you wish there was a computer that didn’t require maintenance? If only there was a way to reclaim all the hours we spent on technical support phone calls.” The point is to switch the debate to a subject that you can agree on. Remember, this person’s hatred for Apple is connected to the fear of losing their investment. If you can identify with this person’s pain of time/money lost on computers you might be able to defuse the pending conflict.
Apple Hater Profile 3: A Person Who Struggles with Technology
The third type of person is the least savvy user in the list. They struggle with technology in general and don’t have much patience with computers. If you want to get an Apple hater worked up just tell them how easy it is to use a Mac. While there are things about a Mac that truly are easy, much of using a Mac is just as confusing as a PC. This is an extremely complex machine after all, and without a basic level of understanding about what that machine is doing you are going to get confused. You can only remove so many buttons and eliminate so many options. At some point you just have to know certain things. What is an application? What’s the difference between a folder and a file? What happens when you save something? What is going to happen when you click on that?
If you are the kind of person who struggles with technology a Mac can actually be more confusing and harder to use. This is especially true if you are switching from a PC to a Mac. What happens when the things that you barely understood to begin with change or disappear. Put yourself in those shoes and you can see how an Apple hater is born in this situation. “You said it was going to be easy! It took me three days just to figure out that I didn’t have to run an installer!” Rather than baptizing this person into the Apple cult you have instead created a PC user for life.
So what do you do if one of these techno challenged people tries to engage you in a debate of Apple’s merits? Here are some tips. First, don’t talk about how easy to use a Mac is. Instead say something like, “Isn’t it frustrating when something you just learned gets changed? I hate that. I guess that’s the problem with technology. It is always changing and it is hard to keep up with it all.” By switching the conversation onto something that addresses the person’s core fear (having to learn yet another technology) you shift the debate away from Mac vs. PC and onto the less volatile subject of technology in general.
Apple Hater Profile 4: The Budget Conscious Bargain Hunter
Not everyone can afford a PC. Even though the price of an Apple is cheaper than any comparable PC on the market, they are not cheap. Imagine if you can’t afford an Apple. Even if you are open to the idea of a Mac, it is hard to justify. It seems ridiculous. Thanks to the high resale value of a Mac, even the used models on Ebay go for more than the computers on sale at Best Buy. There are no sales for Apple products. If you are looking for a bargain on a Mac, they don’t seem to exist. If you are the type of person that loves a bargain, thrives on sales, or just needs to save money you will never ever be rewarded by an Apple product. Hence, many Apple haters are born based on price alone.
So what do you do if a bargain hunter tries to engage you in a debate of Apple’s merits? Here are some tips. First, don’t tell them that Mac’s are comparable in price to PC’s, that is just pouring gasoline on the flames. Instead, say something like this, “I am lucky I was able to buy a Mac. They sure are expensive and I wish they could drop the price so more people could afford them.” Since this person isn’t fundamentally opposed to owning a Mac, you might be able to turn this person into a Mac fan. By acknowledging the high price up front you can prove that you have the same concerns as this person. From there you can answer questions about why you own a Mac despite the cost.
Apple Hater Profile 5: The Non-conformist or Trend Averse
There is a perception that Mac users are just trying to be trendy. This is the type of person that hates fanboys of any kind dismissing devotion to a single brand as a serious character flaw. They typically don’t trust corporations. They might be the kind of person that believes huge companies like Wal-Mart, Apple, Microsoft, and McDonalds are seriously damaging to the world. If the person is tech savvy they will be deeply devoted to open source software and might be running Linux rather than Windows. They might be a hacker type that builds their computers from scratch. If they aren’t tech savvy then they probably are more opposed to the idea of the Apple brand than they are to any technical objections. They hate the Apple ads vehemently. They might own an iPod out of necessity, but you can rest assured that you wouldn’t recognize a single band in their playlists.
This might be the hardest Apple hater to debate. If someone hates you just because of the logo on your laptop, what do you do? If you know enough about Linux or open-source software to bring up that subject, you might start there. The only thing that this person enjoys more than ripping on Apple is bragging about what they use. They would love to convert you to their cause, so if you can show interest in what they are in to, you might be able to deflect the Apple hatred. The same could work with music. Rather than saying, “How can you hate Apple and still carry around an iPod,” you could show interest in their music and get them talking about what obscure band they discovered before anyone else.
Hopefully this look at the characteristics of the average Apple hater will help you avoid conflict in the future and might even save some relationships. As incomprehensible it may seem for someone to hate Apple products, these people are acting in a predictable an rational manner. Learn to identify what actually makes these people tick and you open a door that would otherwise be slammed in your face. As always, this is easier said than done, but I think it is worth the effort.
