Obviously, there is something to it, considering there are 700 FReepers who are part of the Apple ping list, on Free Republic ... :-) ...
And there are a whole lot of people buying iPhones in the USA. Apple is the Number One manufacturer of smartphones in this country by a significant margin. That doesn’t happen unless a company is doing what it’s supposed to for its customers.
SO ... all you’re saying is that you don’t like the products ... but ... the fact that you don’t like the products doesn’t mean that there isn’t a huge number of people who do like the products very much ... including FReepers and other conservatives.
Nope! You’re assuming too much.
Never said I didn’t like the products, and never said I didn’t think they were good quality products, and never said that people shouldn’t like them and purchase them.
What I am saying is that, with Apple, it’s like a religion, and the fanaticism is beyond just liking a product. When people purchase a product which they don’t really need, or that isn’t really that much of an improvement over a previous version of the same product, then, it’s beyond needing and wanting a product. When what people already have is enough to get them through the next few years with not too many problems, and they decide that they ‘need’ to get the latest that Apple puts out, then, it’s about a religion. When people get on eBay and on Amazon to sell their perfectly good iPhone, just so they can raise enough cash to get the next iPhone that comes with a tiny increment of an improvement, then, it’s about a religion.
If it’s not about a religion, it’s about an obsession or a compulsion.
I think that Apple produces are good quality products, and those products are things that actually meet a need, just like all the other smartphone brands meed the same need. But, I just can’t understand the need to upgrade as soon as a marginally improved version comes out. It’s about the need that certain people feel that tells thme that, they won’t be left behind and they must get the latest-and-greatest, when they don’t really need to or have to. But, Apple counts on that type of mentality to keep them flying above the clouds, and their loyal “followers” are immediately available to hand Apple their money.
It’s pure nuttiness.
BTW, in my family, there are 3 iPhones, but, none of those owners felt the need to get the iPhone 6 or 6+ when it came out, and in fact, they feel quite content in staying with their iPhone 4 and iPhone 5,for as long as Apple supports them. No Apple religion in my family, but, we go with what does the job, and so, we have Apple devices, and LG-Android devices, and Samsung devices, and Windows Phone devices. None of us own any Macs, because, our needs were met quite well with the much lesser cost devices from Windows PCs from various OEMs.
We don’t worship any brand or model, and we don’t worship any company. We are practical and frugal, while making sure that we get quality products without having to pay through the nose. Again, not religion in our household and immediate family.