> the thing Apple fans don't have to worry about is which machine to get because even the worst Apple device is miles ahead of the non Apple alternatives
This is very subjective to define. It's true, if you like apple, and all you are going to choose is stuff from apple, then you don't have to worry about examining choices in depth because there aren't very many. But quality is a subjective thing.
I personally find almost every computer that exists today horrifically boring, compared to when I was growing up. The jump from no computer to computer has been much more exciting than each iteration of slightly better computer. That's really what I call 'miles ahead'.
Smartphones with unlimited data were slightly revolutionary for me, in a "I can listen to music and walk anywhere I want without getting lost" kind of thing, but honestly, I haven't felt anything close to the feelings I used to feel as a kid. Trying to figure out how the entire internet is structured and comparing that to a giant computer is slightly more exciting. Comparing data models to the human brain is slightly exciting. But miles ahead sounds like we're making leaps when we aren't. And you can go ahead and argue that every leap is made up of tiny steps, but when you fade in and out of technology enough, even then, some things really feel like leaps, and other things really feel like steps. And I think that's subjective, so I'm biased, but I find it very hard to have opinions without bias, if not impossible.