I still get a console on Mac and I'm using it every day. What I don't want to do, though, is for me to start working for the computer, I want the computer to work for me. After years and years, I've reached a point where I just want the stuff to work. I still do like tech and I'd rather spend my time on investigating new technologies than tinkering with settings.

For me it's cheaper to buy Apple and get the free time. There's nothing wrong with other choices, though.

This is what you don't get. Apple users don't want to have to do this, so they buy something that fits their desires right off the bat with OS X or iOS.

For me, Ubuntu just works. Even installing apps is a breeze. And I can keep updating the system (I have done it since 2012) and my stuff still works, so even updating the system is easier.

I do prefer it over the Windows desktop for just about everything.

That is a fallacy - the availability of choice does not imply the need to choose. If you're happy with the defaults on Ubuntu/Debian/Arch/Fedora/RH/etc you can just refrain from customising anything, just like you would on OSX or Windows. If, on the other hand, you feel the need - for whatever reason - to change something you're likely to have an easier time on those Linux distributions that you'd have on OSX or Windows. In the former case the choice is rarely more than an apt-get (or other package manager) invocation away. On OSX and Windows you're likely to have to resort to external suppliers - adding expense, hassle and yet-another-license-to-keep-track-of.

I'm sorry but that is simply not true in Sweden. The highest end Android phones costs essentially the same as an iPhone, especially if you are 'buying' one on a contract.

Can you buy a pretty damn good Android phone for 1/3 to 2/3 of the price of an iOS phone that will hold their own? Absolutely, but that is hardly the same thing.

Galaxy S6 vs iPhone 6S

- CPU: Octa-core 64-bit 2.1 GHz vs Dual-core 64-bit 1.85 GHz

- RAM: 3 GB vs 2 GB

- Weight: 138 g vs 143 g

- Battery: 2,550 mAh vs 1715 mAh

- Display: 5.1" Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560×1440 577 ppi vs 4.7" Retina HD IPS LCD 1334 × 750 326 ppi

- Rear camera: 16 MP vs 12 MP

- Front camera: 5 MP vs 5 MP

Samsung Galaxy S6 128GB ~6300 kr

Samsung S6 Edge 128GB ~6900 kr

Google Nexus 6P 128GB ~7400 kr

Apple iPhone 6s Plus 128GB ~10.000 kr

I remember my 10 month old just intuitively sliding the iOS 6 unlock slider. The inset sliding "tray" and obvious button made it extremely clear. When iOS 7 was released it was as if my child suddenly regressed, and it took quite some time for him to get familiar with the new slide to unlock. (Even now that he's much older he sometimes doesn't slide it all the way and the lock screen bounces back into place — because there is no obvious stopping point.)

It was such a shame that the old slide-to-unlock was lost in the aesthetic transition. The original iPhone introduced one of the most immediately obvious user interfaces I'd ever seen.

No, that would have been Neonode with the N1, about 2 years before the first iPhone:

http://www.geek.com/apple/apples-slide-to-unlock-patent-inva...

...but I tend to think that 'slide to unlock' was 'invented' a bit earlier, probably around the time the Sumerians felt the urge to lock their doors to keep out nosy neighbours and keep in wily camels.

Sorry but no. That's visually like the iOS 7 implementation which is so hard to use. The exact one I complained about.

There's far more to a good UI than just the basic idea — even the requirement of the iPhone's 60 FPS prioritised animation rendering and good finger tracking helped make that digital representation so intuitive.

Also the recovery animations (what happens when you don't finish the slide), the ability to slide back and forth with tracking (e.g., in that Neonode screenshot it says "swipe" indicating a single gesture, not a continuous one). And how the screen transitions from completed slide to home screen. These are important details that you have completely overlooked in your claim.

I even mentioned the important element of the visual "track" in which the button slides as part of the key features, which is nowhere to be found in the images I saw for Neonode. Apple even used a text-sheen animation in the direction of the slide to visually hint at the direction, that required masking an animated gradient into text back on the original iPhone hardware.

Obviously sliding mechanisms existed in physical reality prior to iPhone. I'm not sure why that's relevant as it's part of what makes the digital version intuitive.

Apple introduced this interface. The Neonode one is not even in the same universe of usability, design or details.

If you put the two systems next to each other you'll notice they both have their idiosyncrasies. Both are, in general terms, rather easy to use. Android is more flexible - which could be interpreted by some as 'lacking consistency' due to the fact that two Android devices can look quite dissimilar - and has fewer problems with crashing apps. Apple integrates well in an all-apple household but it lacks the freedom of choice which Android offers.

As to the supposed inability of the mentioned manufacturers to 'steal [?] customers from apple' I'd say you might be in for a surprise. Customer loyalty is not an absolute, show them enough of a carrot (lower price, better integration with non-apple systems and services) or harass them enough with a stick (itunes! itunes! itunes! apple cloud! no 'unauthorised' repairs! did I mention itunes?) and they'll just hop over to the next track.