Other Why so much elitism with some IPhone users?

[EM2013]

Must be new to the internet

In all seriousness though, it’s like that with everything. Phones, cars, music, etc.

I don’t get it either.

 

[GuruZac]

Yeah I agree with you OP. I own and enjoy Apple products from every ecosystem they offer, but can understand and even see that there are sometimes as good or better alternatives in isolation. The best part for me in being in the Apple ecosystems is the cohesiveness of how everything works together like a network. But, hardware wise, barring the CPU, Apple lags behind Android hardware in many areas, but none that really make big differences in usability. Software wise Android also offers some nice things over iOS like true multitasking. At the end of the day, there’s really not any bad decisions a customer can make about the tech they buy. Everyone buys what they choose to buy so who is to say someone is making a bad decision.

 

[rambo47]

The tribalism and brand loyalty is studied at the Wharton Business School because its such a phenomenon. I remember when it was just the opposite - pc users openly scoffed at Mac users. Now that Apple is such a success, and after being a month from insolvency in the 1980s, perhaps Mac folks feel some need to get even.

Brand loyalty is such a silly thing. None of these companies are truly loyal to their users. They're all out to make money. But fostering that feeling of "us against them" is a huge success for Apple. Look no further than the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Brand loyalty is such a silly thing. None of these companies are truly loyal to their users. They're all out to make money.

So well said.

If Apple ever locks down macOS the way iOS is fully locked down - I'm gone.
No ifs or buts about it.

I'm not here to be their walled garden revenue source on only their terms.
(referring to what I install and how I use my computer)

 

[smirking]

Don't get me wrong, I realize that this happens across the board including some Android users. I've seen it here, where an IPhone user makes a foolish comment and it's meet with an equally if not more foolish comment by an Android user. I guess it just saddens me that people can be this petty. And sadly, I'm old enough to know better 😀

I think this effect is sort of like how sports fans overestimate the skill level of the players on their favorite teams because those are the only players they're familiar with. Few of them have the presence of mind to understand that most players are "average" by definition and most teams are full of the same mold of player.

A lot of people here know a lot about some arcane matters and when we see someone ask a question or request a recommendation, we haven't even yet had a chance to consider how to phrase our layered reply when ten people eagerly reply with the one thing they know.

 

[giv-as-a-ciggy-kent]

I truly do not understand the overtly classist and over the top comments on this site when the discussion is about the iPhone and Android phones. Some background about me so you can better understand why I have this question.

I have been using Apple products since around 1992. Up until 4 years ago, my wife and I had 2 MacPros, MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone 5 and 6. I have owned every iPhone through 6 giving my wife my old one when I updated.

About 4 years ago I personally got fed up with the iPhone for many reasons. It is still a great phone, but I had other needs. I decided to give Android a try and purchased a used Samsung S7edge. I liked it, so, after about a year, I bought a new Note 8 which I am using to this day. My wife uses an iPhone 7 (we’ll be updating her soon).

Whenever a discussion about phones comes up, many of the responses are, stupid/cheap/poor/gullible/ any other pejorative, is used to describe anyone who uses an Android phone. I don’t get it. It’s a PHONE. Do people really get there self worth based on the phone they use. And then, to make it into a class issue, “you must be poor” thing really baffles me. I understand this is an Apple site, but the attitude is embarrassing to me as an Apple product user. I have been on this site for over 20 years and have watched the users get more and more like this. Does it really affect you what phone someone else uses?

The Note 8 I have has been fantastic. No slow down, and it works as well now as it did nearly 4 years ago when I bought it. I get monthly security updates (although it’s more like every other month).

Lmao

 

[Momof2.1107]

To this point

I think there is at least one moderator who doesn't use macOS (but does use iOS devices).

I use Apple products but use Windows for my laptop. I’m saving up for a MacBook and honestly don’t know where to start when looking for one.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I use Apple because it’s works for me. Before 2010, I used Blackberry and Android. While I loved to root my Android devices, I was running into a lot of issues and jumped ship to Apple with the iPhone 4. I don’t care what device anyone use as it don’t affect me. Whatever makes you happy is good for that person. At the end of day they are phones.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I use Apple products but use Windows for my laptop. I’m saving up for a MacBook and honestly don’t know where to start when looking for one.

Get an M1 Air. You’ll love it.

 

[eyoungren]

Try visiting a <car brand> forum and talk about your <different car brand>. Same thing.

Like the others mentioned about Pro models, even visiting your car brand forum and not owning the highest trim level will give you a similar experience.

You're right to a certain point.

However, within this forum, there are users whose only answer to anything they perceive as not 100% committed to Apple is "Get an Android, Apple is not for you!" or "Why don't you have/use the latest model iPhone/iPad?!" Drop Mic.

Answers like that help no one and do not move the conversation forward. To my mind, this is what OP is meaning.

 

[leslieg]

To this I would say, why is anyone surprised or why does anyone care. Any kind of internet platform for people to share their opinions in generally a cesspool. Trying to understand why is pointless. Just know that it doesn’t actually reflect reality, there are actually normal people out there.

 

[Johns12]

You're right to a certain point.

However, within this forum, there are users whose only answer to anything they perceive as not 100% committed to Apple is "Get an Android, Apple is not for you!" or "Why don't you have/use the latest model iPhone/iPad?!" Drop Mic.

Answers like that help no one and do not move the conversation forward. To my mind, this is what OP is meaning.

That's pretty much what I see. Also, much dismissiveness of tech that they have never used.

 

[Johns12]

To this I would say, why is anyone surprised or why does anyone care. Any kind of internet platform for people to share their opinions in generally a cesspool. Trying to understand why is pointless. Just know that it doesn’t actually reflect reality, there are actually normal people out there.

I'm more amazed than surprised. Trust me, I'm old enough to know better, but all of this is so disappointing. We can find parallels in many things in life. Religion, race, economy, sports, marriage 😀 etc. Just damn disappointing.

 

[GSWForever8]

Personally, I don’t like android, but to make fun of an android user seems a bit overkill. It’s ok it joke around here and there but to exclude is just mean.

 

[firedept]

Never got it. Use what works best for you.

 

[DeepIn2U]

… Do people really get there self worth based on the phone they use …

Bruh … ever since the pharaohs, most likely long before that age too, had people turned your possessions into your level, and societies perceived level of worth:

Clothes (suits vs tracksuits),
Watch (classic manual over digital),
Shoes (whatever is in fashion/style for a man to where, women its a whole nutha level, not gonna even try),
Physical fitness (to a much lesser degree for men after your 20’s),
Car you drive (seems to be in direct link to your income or expenditure range),
Whom you‘re around (if famous/powereful, again self worth judged by others),
House you have, or don’t, location of where you live, size of your condo - or its view),
how many houses,
are you married or partnered up with the same partner for a long time (makes you LESS of an unknown or treat to those that are),

The amount of accolades you have in your lifetime, how many acknowledge you.

 

[ian87w]

Have you been to regular tech/mobile forums? Even Xiaomi and Realme fanboys are fighting against each other.
And to be honest, I have not really noticed an extreme Apple fanboyism over here. Can you provide any examples?

Go to other tech forums, and you cannot even have normal discussion about tech as anytime you mentioned Apple, the haters are flocking all over. This is why, even though I'm an Android user, I hang around in this forum, as I find this forum to be the better ones despite the "mac"rumors part.

 

[ian87w]

The tribalism and brand loyalty is studied at the Wharton Business School because its such a phenomenon. I remember when it was just the opposite - pc users openly scoffed at Mac users. Now that Apple is such a success, and after being a month from insolvency in the 1980s, perhaps Mac folks feel some need to get even.

Brand loyalty is such a silly thing. None of these companies are truly loyal to their users. They're all out to make money. But fostering that feeling of "us against them" is a huge success for Apple. Look no further than the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads.

Try talking to the PC Master Race group. Mac users are normal compared to them.

 

[Shreducator]

I never try to understand internet comments. People are tribal it’s in our DNA. I was shocked to see everyone act like the pegasus software the Israelis have is not a problem and try and pretend it’s worse on android. iPhones are actually easier to attack due to limited the sku’s. Anyway it is what it is.

 

[ian87w]

You're right to a certain point.

However, within this forum, there are users whose only answer to anything they perceive as not 100% committed to Apple is "Get an Android, Apple is not for you!" or "Why don't you have/use the latest model iPhone/iPad?!" Drop Mic.

Answers like that help no one and do not move the conversation forward. To my mind, this is what OP is meaning.

I disagree.
For some rants that people are making, those answers are the right answers.

Example: people wanting to sideload apps. Instead of ranting endlessly about iOS not allowing sideloading, that person can achieve what he/she wants by getting an Android phone. Imagine me going to a car forum, and keep ranting how my Honda civic sedan is not AWD. People will do the same and tell me to simply buy a Subaru.

In short, there are valid arguments. But there are trolls that keep making the same tired rant over and over again in nearly all threads. Those people frequently derails topics and discussions.

Everytime I complained about the lack of Android updates in Android forums, people simply tell me to buy a new phone and tell me nobody keep their phones for more than a year. That's the reality on the other side as well.

 

[eyoungren]

I disagree.
For some rants that people are making, those answers are the right answers.

Example: people wanting to sideload apps. Instead of ranting endlessly about iOS not allowing sideloading, that person can achieve what he/she wants by getting an Android phone. Imagine me going to a car forum, and keep ranting how my Honda civic sedan is not AWD. People will do the same and tell me to simply buy a Subaru.

In short, there are valid arguments. But there are trolls that keep making the same tired rant over and over again in nearly all threads. Those people frequently derails topics and discussions.

Everytime I complained about the lack of Android updates in Android forums, people simply tell me to buy a new phone and tell my nobody keep their phones for more than a year. That's the reality on the other side as well.

An Android user comes into the forum because they've recently converted to iPhone/iOS. They're wondering why they cannot do X because they've never used iPhone/iOS and while 95% of what Apple offers for their iPhone/iOS they like, there's just this one or two aspects they don't and they are asking questions.

Along comes the troll that tells them to sell their iPhone and go back to Android - because obviously they hate Apple. If they didn't hate Apple they would be 100 percent satisfied with everything about their phone and not asking questions.

That's the elitist troll I'm talking about and this very thing has happened more than once in these forums.

Sure, there are other trolls of the type you mention, that drop in to explode a hate bomb against Apple. They're pretty easy to spot, but the average person who's got a legitimate question or problem with some specific thing Apple does and seeks a solution - getting told to get out isn't really warranted.

 

[11235813]

It's the blatant disregard for the user experience that Microsoft and Google have which borders on disdain for users that causes some people (like me) to talk about Android and Windows that way. It has nothing to do with the price of the equipment because there are pricier Android phones and Windows computers than Apple products. It has nothing to do with people using those products either.

When a company rolls out dark mode and even half their own apps ignore it, when they take away the back button and replace it with a gesture that simultaneously opens the side bar, when their OS has multiple control panels, when animations are choppy on even the highest end hardware, when their UI is so inconsistent that the user doesn't know what to expect when doing the same thing in different circumstances, when they let an app run in the background and drain all the battery at night so your alarm doesn't work in the morning, when they constantly take the user's data and sell it to third parties, etc. etc. etc. we as Apple users make fun of that company. It has nothing to do with people using the product. It has to do with the company who doesn't care about them.

 

[zonesey]

It's "iPhone"

 

[Saladin12]

We're living in an excruciatingly contrarian (or else just cranky!) age, apparently. Whatever we think, someone else thinks otherwise and may even think we've no business holding a view different to their own. So it's not just about iPhones or alternatives to them, it's about everything... so long as someone's ready to overreact and make a thing out of someone else's personal choice.

This. We do this in politics, social issues, and everything else in our lives. Somewhere along the lines we've forgotten the ability to listen, converse, and debate with others. Both sides (on whatever the issue may be) dig further into their trenches. We've also made it so changing one's opinion is rare - and if a person does change their view on something they're blasted with 'but you said this last week'. Yes, and in that time the person has clearly learned and reevaluated their approach.

Love not conflict.

 

[ian87w]

An Android user comes into the forum because they've recently converted to iPhone/iOS. They're wondering why they cannot do X because they've never used iPhone/iOS and while 95% of what Apple offers for their iPhone/iOS they like, there's just this one or two aspects they don't and they are asking questions.

Along comes the troll that tells them to sell their iPhone and go back to Android - because obviously they hate Apple. If they didn't hate Apple they would be 100 percent satisfied with everything about their phone and not asking questions.

That's the elitist troll I'm talking about and this very thing has happened more than once in these forums.

Sure, there are other trolls of the type you mention, that drop in to explode a hate bomb against Apple. They're pretty easy to spot, but the average person who's got a legitimate question or problem with some specific thing Apple does and seeks a solution - getting told to get out isn't really warranted.

Do you seriously think that that's a common scenario when certain people keep posting the same rant in various threads? Are those people genuinely new users to iOS and genuinely don't know about this, while they have been sideloading on Android? Correct me if I'm wrong if you have examples, but I have not seen that scenario at all here.

And even if that's the case, what do you think is the proper answer? I believe when the demand is something that is specific on Android, then the answer to use Android is appropriate. Ranting about iOS not able to do the thing endlessly won't do anything.

And I do believe many here are helpful to people who genuinely have questions about iOS.