Disclaimer: I like the iphone 4s i have a lot, but that's the only Apple product I have, so I am not a 'fan'.
That said: IMO,
I don't think all the hatred we see in apple threads are against Apple specifically...it seems the 'haters' have this notion that a certain 'class' or demographic likes/owns/supports Apple products more than others...This demographic I think doesn't necessarily have to be defined by wealth or anything, it's a much more complex issue, I think. (Perhaps that segment the haters target have that certain 'something' in them that money really cannot buy, and that the haters can never achieve ?
And the 'haters' I think, are (or 'feel' they are)...um, kinda 'different' from that 'Apple' segment - and they just like to or have the tendency to enjoy 'bashing' them indirectly by bashing Apple...
This is not only with Apple though...I am sure the same thing happens with brands of cars too...but in a much more subtle fashion...
That said, I think the best thing to do is:
IF I WAS an Apple 'fan', OR if i felt like I belong to that 'segment' of population that the Apple bashers THINK I belong to, is to ignore the 'haters' - It's very difficult to argue with that crowd.
(By the 'crowd' I mean the haters who bash every Apple owner automatically, just because they own an Apple product, NOT the constructive/logical critics of certain Apple products, whom I respect)