MG Siegler:

You used to see a lot more of these types of posts a few years ago. But once those writing them started getting exposed as fools, they slowed down. You see, the argument used to be that those constantly writing positively about Apple were both morons and brainwashed — Apple was insignificant in the all-important PC market at the time, so those who liked the products were obviously whack jobs on the fringe of humanity. 

Then a funny thing happened.

Apple became one of the most successful companies and the most valuable company in the world. They transformed the entertainment landscape, the retail landscape, the mobile landscape, and did something all the naysayers said was impossible: created an actual market for tablets. Now most companies around the world are trying to copy at least part of Apple’s business.

It’s hard to call those writing positively about Apple “lunatics”, “brainwashed”, and “fanbois” when they’re, well, right. But Crothers is apparently trying to revive the lost art.

I think these paragraphs actually show just how much of an Apple fan MG Siegler really is.

Fans don’t just cheer for their teams’ successes. They see those successes as their own. A Boston Red Sox fan doesn’t say “Papi, Youk, etc. won the World Series”. She says “We won the World Series”.

I like Apple products, a whole lot. But I don’t see Apple’s success as my own. However, MG Siegler apparently does. Somehow, Apple’s success vindicates him. Apple’s incredible profits is a victory for him. He sees Apple’s competitors as his enemies. It’s clearly to Apple’s credit that it can cultivate this sense of participation and belonging in many of its products’ users. If that is not fandom, then what is?

(One point of irony: given Apple’s history, it is strange that Appleistas routinely and indiscriminately use Apple’s profits nowadays as a point in favor of whatever it is that they’re arguing for. Might made right at its worst.)