I understand criticizing a company that does things you don’t agree with. And I even understand having an (illogically) negative emotional attitude toward whoever is the biggest guy on the block. That’s human nature.

But what I don’t understand is the enmity that has been fostered toward a)Apple’s user base, and b)it (now former) CEO.

First, the fanboy jeers. This is among the most insulting words ever invented. This single word takes everything good that we as humans should stand for — happiness, enthusiasm, loyalty — and single-handedly turns them into a slur against an enormous group of people. Hundreds of millions, even.

Sure, it’s not hating people for being black, or Jewish, it’s hating them for being happy with a product they bought. Therefore, by law, it’s not technically hate-speech. But it is. When I hear the word “fanboy”, I hear hate-speech.

And second, the insults against Steve Jobs. Why? Because he has been successful? Because he’s had the good fortune of having ideas that people like?

I hear people say things like, “Why did you do that? Is it because Steve Jobs told you to do it?” Or, “I don’t want to be stuck with a product that only lets me do what Steve Jobs wants me to do.” Just this morning, I read a Facebook message from a friend of mine, basically attacking Steve Jobs for being a weak, frail, man who has no business running a company. Seriously. You’re kicking the guy because he has cancer? Low.

For more than 10 years, I was a computer user with my fate tied to Microsoft’s whims. I was dragged through every security hole, every licensing agreement, every DLL hell, every flaw in their software, and every whim in their financial department, and every stranglehold in their legal department.

I hated Microsoft. I watched as they blatantly used anti-competitive practices to wipe good companies off the map and establish unearned and unjustified dominance. But I never felt the need to take that out on Bill Gates. He’s a smart man, who single-handedly changed the world.

But now it’s Steve Jobs who’s spent the last 10 years changing the world. And yet somehow the rules have changed. He wears funny clothes and he’s really skinny, so let’s hate him.

Fuck that.