Marco Arment:
If you publicly express an opinion that any particular platform is best for a significant portion of buyers, you’re effectively saying that the people who chose differently were wrong. Most people don’t like to be wrong.
And because it’s such a massive and divided market, any stated opinion will cause this reaction from a lot of people. If, for example, you say Android is best for any common set of goals, a lot of people might get upset.
An insightful piece that examines why people use the term “fanboy” to discredit others online. If you are somehow unaware of its meaning, Marco aptly defines fanboy:
fanboy: a derogatory term that means someone who is blindly and irrationally devoted to a product that I believe is inferior to what I bought when faced with a similar choice, and whose opinions and arguments can therefore be completely disregarded.
The root cause is pretty simple. When people read opinions that are negative toward products they choose, that negativity is perceived as being aimed at their sensibilities. People don’t like feeling that they might have made the wrong decision (whether or not they actually did). The easiest way to defend against someone with a differing viewpoint is to discredit them.
It used to bother me to be called an Apple “fanboy”, but as Marco goes on to say, I simple don’t care anymore. Choosing between the fanboy monicker and actually giving an opinion is pretty easy.