I am not sure how this relates to Apple’s repair practices and other business stances ?

To put in context, people probably had the same views around 1994~2000 as Windows was the only platform providing a reasonable GUI, wide hardware support, a vibrant app ecosystem and support from any computer shop at any price point you could wish for.

I still think people hating Microsoft weren’t wrong per se, and we can look at the bright side as well as the shitty side at the same time.

God, I had the HTC One (M7). That was such an amazing device, it's a real shame that nobody has come along and made something that felt quite as... phone as it did.

Even having used punch-hole cameras and OLED displays, that handset was just amazing. The way the curved back would melt into your hand, the perfect button placement and incredible speaker setup... that thing felt like a phone from 5 years in the future. The software experience was fairly clean and beat the hell out of Samsung at the time (and arguably, today), and the performance was really solid. The screen was a gorgeous 1080p LCD panel that made comparable iPhone models look like a kid's toy, and both cameras were super competitive for the time. I'm just gushing at this point, but that phone was really something else. If they made a new one with zero changes except a more recent chipset and better storage, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

And who could forget the price? All that for ~400 bones in the US, in 2013? You could even land it cheaper if you bought it on contract with a carrier! They really just don't make them like they used to, even my S10e doesn't quite fill the void.

When I was in grade school kids bullied you for being an Apple user. Also, people were constantly telling you Apple is for education and there are more applications for windows.

Things have changed?

For one, most people now spend most of their time in their browser or in a hidden browser (ahem, Electron?).

So unless you want something specific (video games, a Windows desktop app, ...), I think they just both work. I'm guessing even Linux on a mac is probably okay (since so many people have the exact same hardware as you...)

Yes, today if you text someone not using iphone, you will have a green bubble which means you are practically a pariah and get made fun of. In fact my circle almost does the same, but more jokingly because you make fun of each other cars at the older ages lol.