I use a lot of different systems. Macs and Linux and Windows 7 at home, Windows XP and Solaris professionally.
I’m by no means a computer idiot, but I always seem to feel that I’m under attack by pro-Windows people that seem to think that both (a) I’m an idiot because I prefer Macs, and (b) I’m an idiot because I spent too much money on a Mac.
You know what? To point (a), it’s all about a preference. I prefer Fords to Hyundais, too. To point (b), screw you, it’s still my money and I’m the best judge of how to use it (and I also foolishly spend money on Heinz catsup instead of your Walmart brand).
Of course there’s a huge number of us that – get this – dual boot our Macs into modern Windows systems, or virtualize them. I only mention it because your tone seems to imply “all” Mac users.
I’d argue that my iMacs are superior to bargain basement Dells, and (for me, and my current preference towards all-in-ones), superior to anything you’re able to build at home (i.e., they’re all towers). On the other hand, I’ve had Mac towers, and I have one one, and get this: I built it. It’s a piece of junk compared to a Mac Pro, but its only cost was a new motherboard, processor, RAM, and IR receiver, so in that respect it’s very much superior to a Mac Pro for what I use it for.
Actually, that reminds me, I no longer have any working Linux systems in the house. The Hackintosh replaced it.
To the OP: I am not sure how I can respond to your thread topic because I am unsure of the debate. It looks like you are looking for reasons beyond your list for why these types of debate exist? If so, I agree with the points of your list. My reason is more petulant than any of those though. I understand that people use computers for whatever their need is and forces other than logic and reason (e.g. inertia) control most people’s decisions on how best to fulfill those needs. When ‘versus’ comes into play then the other factors you brought up come into play.
The only reason “versus” became an issue for me was during a brief period of time when I seemed to run into people who had two characteristics: (1) assertions that Mac are superior to the computer I built, and (2) had not a clue about computer hardware.
Is your hackintosh of “far greater value than any branded system out there”?
Well, that depends on how you define “value.” Its value to me is that I have a server with a huge power supply and lots and lots and lots of disk space. (I’d not have bothered replacing the Linux installation if not for complicated home entertainment reasons.)
As for monetary value, it’s a generic PC case, generic PC power supply, generic motherboard… well, you get the idea. A few hundred dollars in parts.
For sales value (with any OS), it’s worthless except to someone like you or me, because it has no brand name associated with it.
Had I gotten a Mac Pro instead, I’d be less happy. This is a machine that sits in my basement near the structured wiring hub. I’d’ve paid a lot more money for what’s essentially a file server (well, it has a few more reasons for existing, but desktop use isn’t one of them).
Would I want my hackintosh as a desktop machine? Hell, no. I’ve grown tired of multiple towers (including previous, branded Power Macs) on or under my desk, the mounds of cables running everywhere. With the two iMacs, the huge frickin’ cable tray that I had installed now only has two runs of Cat6 and two power cords. To me, paying the “premium” to have branded Macs in this application is worth every cent, because to me, the computers are part of the furniture of the office (in the same way that a big screen TV is part of the furniture of a living room). In that regard, they’re superior to any machine you (or I) can build.