“You will pay a premium for their products, Apple makes no bones about this (although their claim is savings or additional value through a fully integrated product)”
I don’t have time to chase down separate video cards, hard drives, RAM and fifty other stupid things. Give me a device that meets my needs, and that will be good for three years. Leave that “hack and slash” down to the Linux geeks. If I have to pay a bit more up front for this service, then I’m still happy. The TCO of having to upgrade things every year is what kills me. As a side note, Lenovo also produces a machine that is good from the start and does not need frequent DELL or HP upgrades. There are alternatives.

“I personally dislike the style and business philosophy Steve Jobs has (although I respect the hell out of him)”
What specifically? How can you dislike someone (especially their business philosophy) and still respect them? Is this kind of like respecting a drug kingpin because he can create an efficient organization? I think you are misusing the term “respect”.

“I don’t think they play nice with others”
… and Microsoft or Google does? Hey guys, you are a monopoly. Ok, we will continue doing what we have always done. Give me an example where any of these big guys play nice with each other? The only time they do is when they have a financial benefit or contractual deal in place. Welcome to capitalism young man.

“My perception is they tell customers what they want/need even when the mass market begs to differ”
Now I will welcome you to marketing, American style. Take just about any company in America and you will find this. Do you really think we needed or wanted such products as beanie babies, furbies or tickle me elmo? Apple is simply doing what everybody else is doing.

This is marketing. We sell things to you that you don’t need and don’t want. We are not going to play well with the others, because Capitalism tells us that is good. Steve Jobs is one in a whole line of people who are only interested in making a buck (yes such people as Bill Gates and Steve Allen are included in this one). Then after they are finished with their career of raping the average person of their money, they drop out of society and donate large sums to charity.

What I would dislike about the whole scene is that they don’t have the moral fiber to do it while they are in the position of power. Look up a guy named Max DePree. He was a major CEO who did things right! Of course you probably don’t know him, because he valued individuals more then simply improving the bottom line. Marketing in America is a plague on society.