1. Apple's hardware architecture has always been one of the cleanest and best in the business, and their software is beyond compare, they created the entire market for graphical user interfaces 2. Virgin Atlantic introduced incredibly high levels of service, elegant use of space, and affordable luxury in the transatlantic market while lumbering unionized fossilariums like United and TWA were still flying dingy, boring and expensive airplanes that were out of date and falling apart. The most fabulous trip I ever had was in Virgin Upper Class after Air France overbooked me in Business Class and I demanded they find a business seat for me. There, Free Marketeers of Free Republic. That's why people pay a premium for Apple and Virgin products: because the value is there. People think value is cool, because you don't end up looking like a schmuck when you buy something like that. And hipsters are all about image. The image you get from buying these products and services is that you're a smart person who may spend a fair amount of cash, but you get what you paid for, and maybe a bit more. Maybe, just maybe, Steven Jobs and Richard Branson got that.
I don't know about Emirates or BA, but Virgin is far far more pleasant to fly on than most of the other airlines I've traveled with of late, including SW, which is OK, except for the hard seats. BA codeshares with Delta, so you can book a transatlantic flight on BA, but find yourself boarding a Delta plane. I use a Mac for the simple reason that, expensive as they are, it's worth it to me to minimize virus and spybot worries. If and when those emerge as greater problems for Macs, I'll rethink it all. I recently replaced my Mac, but shopped PC's as well. One of the PC salesman told me, "get a Mac." I'm 64 years old, cool has nothing to do with it. "Cool" is reserved for my 16 year old Dodge diesel 4x4 pickup truck.
That IS cool! :)