I used to hate Apple - mostly because I felt that a lot of their products were overhyped and/or misrepresented (I still think so, but I don’t hate them anymore).

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I still dont like their PC vs Mac advertising campaign, for the same reasons I would hate it if Microsoft ran it - because for every wink-wink nudge-nudge point they try to make in their ads, there is *more to that story* then Apple wants to infer.

For example, in one of the early PC/Apple ads, the PC was positioned as the fuddy-duddy business spreadsheet OS, while Apple was the fun entertainment OS. This was very inaccurate, as the PC is one of the largest gaming platforms in the world, and the Mac by comparison has a dearth of gaming titles, and its always been that way.

However, over the past 4 years I have seen a lot of improvements in the quality of Apple products, and although I am still not an evangelist, I do own a few iPods, and I love my iPod Touch. I did ditch my first Macbook a couple years back, as it ran way too hot, had a sharp leading edge to the keyboard which was uncomfortable, and I found a much better Dell for much less money only 2 months after I bought it.

But I do like Apple stores, because they are true computer stores (unlike a big box store like Best Buy), and aren’t going out of business anytime soon (like CompUSA). Plus, they tend to be in good locations.

Tonight at 6 PM the first 3-story Apple store opens in the meatpacking district, so if you like big crowds of hipsters, get in line at lunchtime.

Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy Inside the New Apple Store at Engadget.