The one thing I do absolutely agree on is that were Apple to put some genuine force behind their commitment to better labor practices, they'd advertise the hell out of it. I still think it'd be a mistake to underestimate how much of the company is driven by a "vision," and to dismiss that as nothing more than PR and marketing, but that's probably just a matter of degree. And I still think it'd be a mistake to underestimate how tight the price differences are for phones and gadgets; people have proven that they won't pay more for quality, they'll pay for features.

Apple's status as luxury products definitely isn't new; the build quality of a luxury product at a competitive price point is what's new. (And yes, of course, they still have a higher profit margin per unit than other manufacturers). I think the biggest make is to forget that their dominance is new. For most of the company's lifetime, it's been a distant second (at best). To use your example, it'd be as if Ferarri suddenly found itself out-selling Hondas. Raising prices and/or lowering margins probably wouldn't put the company out of business, but it's got to be a little bit like the billionaire who grew up poor, so he still saves loose change and buys stuff at a discount. Old mindsets are hard to break. (I still believe in the "Apple Tax," in my gut, even though I've seen first-hand, multiple times, that buying Wintel ends up costing me just as much).

And I don't know about Microsoft fansites in particular (and don't really want to know, if they do exist); I meant the general attitude of articles like this one, which has been pervasive for as long as I can remember. The idea that Apple's detractors are any more unbiased or sane than Apple's supporters is ludicrous; in my experience, it's usually the ones who call out Apple "fanboys" as being the most prone to dementia.