????經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的科技記者丹?萊昂斯成為了美國(guó)知名科技博客ReadWrite的新任主編?；蛟S是為了吸引眼球，他于周二發(fā)表了一篇文章，抨擊蘋(píng)果（Apple）在美國(guó)移動(dòng)產(chǎn)品市場(chǎng)的領(lǐng)先地位只是階級(jí)偏見(jiàn)所致。他說(shuō)，蘋(píng)果之所以保持領(lǐng)先，是因?yàn)槠滟?gòu)買(mǎi)者希望自己能比使用谷歌安卓（Google Android）的下層民眾更有優(yōu)越感。

????這有點(diǎn)像是用來(lái)增加點(diǎn)擊率的幌子，但是也不意味著萊昂斯僅僅是在故意激起爭(zhēng)議（“鏈接誘餌”和“毫無(wú)價(jià)值”并不總是能劃上等號(hào)）。看起來(lái)他真的相信自己的理論：

????……蘋(píng)果和它在美國(guó)的追隨者不單單批評(píng)安卓手機(jī)，還批評(píng)安卓用戶，把他們描繪成沒(méi)受過(guò)教育、貧窮小氣、“品味”庸俗的（“品味”這個(gè)詞是果粉們的最?lèi)?ài)）社會(huì)下層人士。他們買(mǎi)不起蘋(píng)果產(chǎn)品，因此愿意接受低價(jià)的仿冒產(chǎn)品。

????萊昂斯以撰寫(xiě)蘋(píng)果相關(guān)文章著稱(chēng)。為了證明自己的觀點(diǎn)，他從網(wǎng)上到處搜尋那些對(duì)安卓用戶出言不遜的博客和Twitter用戶。當(dāng)然，如果上網(wǎng)仔細(xì)搜索，可以找到對(duì)任何事都出言不遜的人。不過(guò)，他幾乎所有的例證都來(lái)自大多數(shù)人從沒(méi)聽(tīng)過(guò)的Twitter用戶和博客作家。其中一些人把安卓用戶稱(chēng)作“貧民”，萊昂斯明確表示，這就是蘋(píng)果在美國(guó)保持領(lǐng)先的原因（而安卓在全球市場(chǎng)都保持著領(lǐng)先）。

????萊昂斯的言論中倒是有那么一點(diǎn)事實(shí)：安卓系統(tǒng)的質(zhì)量在很大程度上已經(jīng)趕上了蘋(píng)果的iOS系統(tǒng)，許多安卓手機(jī)足以和iPhone匹敵，甚至更出色。除了技術(shù)規(guī)格這類(lèi)純粹的客觀標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，顧客經(jīng)常更多根據(jù)自己的想法做出購(gòu)買(mǎi)決定。通常情況下，他們會(huì)購(gòu)買(mǎi)與自身世界觀和個(gè)性相符合的產(chǎn)品，盡管這些購(gòu)買(mǎi)決定并不是最理性的。梅賽德斯-奔馳（Mercedes-Benz）、勞力士（Rolex）和無(wú)數(shù)其他產(chǎn)品都是利用這種現(xiàn)象發(fā)的家。

????但如果拔高這種現(xiàn)象，把蘋(píng)果產(chǎn)品的用戶稱(chēng)作一群懷有階級(jí)偏見(jiàn)的人，那就是歪曲事實(shí)了。此外，大多數(shù)人選擇蘋(píng)果確實(shí)是依據(jù)純粹的客觀標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。許多人僅僅是不愿意花費(fèi)大量時(shí)間比較同類(lèi)產(chǎn)品，而他們知道蘋(píng)果產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量很好，于是就買(mǎi)了。萊昂斯自己也說(shuō)，許多安卓產(chǎn)品不好，另一些則很好。而買(mǎi)蘋(píng)果呢，至少你清楚你買(mǎi)的是什么。

????許多情況下，顧客已經(jīng)擁有蘋(píng)果電腦一類(lèi)的產(chǎn)品，所以希望繼續(xù)使用這個(gè)生態(tài)體系。蘋(píng)果迷經(jīng)常被稱(chēng)為“果粉”——萊昂斯也在文中提到了三次。但是大多數(shù)蘋(píng)果迷并不是妄想癥患者，也沒(méi)有教條主義——他們意識(shí)到了使用蘋(píng)果產(chǎn)品帶來(lái)的問(wèn)題和麻煩，但是他們做出的理性決策是：所有科技產(chǎn)品都有問(wèn)題，他們寧愿選擇蘋(píng)果，而不是并不熟悉的其他同類(lèi)產(chǎn)品。大多數(shù)購(gòu)買(mǎi)蘋(píng)果產(chǎn)品的人也不是“男果粉”（或“女果粉”——看看男性是如何主宰了這些令人厭煩的科技文化的爭(zhēng)論）?！肮邸敝徽继O(píng)果購(gòu)買(mǎi)群體的很小一部分，卻吸引了太多的關(guān)注。

????最后，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，維護(hù)那些貧困、受壓迫的智能手機(jī)用戶的尊嚴(yán)這種行為充滿了諷刺意味。套用一句陳詞濫調(diào)，如果這真是個(gè)什么問(wèn)題的話，那也是發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家才有的問(wèn)題。

????譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

????Veteran tech journalist Dan Lyons is the newly installed editor-in-chief of ReadWrite. Perhaps as a way of drawing new attention to the site, he published a diatribe on Tuesday in which he explained away Apple's (AAPL) leadership of the U.S. mobile-device market as being a result of class bigotry. Apple leads because people buy its products to feel superior to the unwashed masses who use Android (GOOG), he says.

????It's an obvious bit of linkbait, but that doesn't mean Lyons is merely trolling ("linkbait" isn't tantamount to "worthless" -- not always). He seems to truly believe his thesis:

????...Apple and its cheerleaders in the States don't just criticize Android phones; they also criticize Android users, depicting them as low-class people who are uneducated, poor, cheap and too lacking in "taste" (a favorite Apple fanboy word) to pay for an Apple product and instead willing to settle for a low-price knockoff.

????Lyons is well known as a reliable Apple-slapper. To prove his argument, he scoured the Internet to find bloggers and tweeters who have said dumb, insulting things about Android users. Of course, if you scour the Internet, you can find people saying dumb, insulting things aboutanything. But nearly all his examples are from random people on Twitter and bloggers most people have never heard of. Some of them referred to Android users as "ghetto," which Lyons explicitly says is the reason for Apple's leadership of the U.S. market (whereas Android is the leader worldwide).

????There is a tiny nugget of truth to what Lyons is saying: Android has largely caught up to iOS in quality, and many Android phones are as good as, or better than, the iPhone. Consumers often make choices based on considerations other than pure, objective criteria like technical specifications. Often, they buy things that they feel mesh with their worldviews or their personalities, even if those things don't represent the most rational buying decision. Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, and countless other products have counted on this phenomenon for their very existence.

????But to leap from that to basically calling owners of Apple products a bunch of class bigots is to distort reality. Further, plenty of people do choose Apple products based on pure, objective criteria. Many of them simply don't want to spend a ton of time comparing, and they know Apple's products are high quality, so that's what they buy. Lyons himself notes that many Android products are inferior, others are better. But with Apple, at least you know what you are getting.

????In many cases, consumers already own Apple computers, and like them, so they want to stay in the ecosystem. Apple fans are often referred to as "fanboys" -- and Lyons does that here, three times. But most Apple fans aren't delusional and dogmatic -- they recognize the problems and hassles that come with owning Apple products, but have made the rational decision that, since all tech products have problems, they'd rather deal with Apple's than with those of competing products with which they are not as familiar. Most Apple buyers are not "fanboys" (or "fangirls" -- note how male-dominated all these nerdy, technocultural arguments are). "Fanboys" make up a tiny segment of the Apple-buying population, and they get way too much attention.

????Finally, it's hard not to recognize the irony of standing up for the dignity of poor, downtrodden smartphone owners. To apply the cliche, this is a First World problem if there ever was one.