I’ve reached a point where I don’t care if people think I’m “drinking the Apple kool-aid”. After years trying out all these expensive products from other companies and not being 100% satisfied, Apple is the only company that I can feel good about purchasing from. Their R&D is unprecedented, and they implement new technologies only when they make it good enough to be considered a useful feature. To me, that’s better than just cramming every available new tech into a smartphone just because they can. And they make all their stuff work perfectly together, which is an invaluable incentive to me.
So sure, I prefer AirPods over Bose wireless, or the concept of the HomePod over the simple, low quality Echo speaker, or the iPad over the typical surface tablet/PC that isn’t nearly as responsive or well built. Yeah, I drink the kool-aid, but I’m consistently happy with my purchases as a result. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯