I don't know any of the people involved in whatever happened. But this statement is simply not true.
You should not tolerate intolerance. "If a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant".
Some people can and will abuse the "you can't use violence against me under any circumstance" rule you just mentioned to do very bad things.
This is so shallow it feels like it was written just to create buzz.
It's so easy to build a shallow and polarized list like this about ANYTHING. All I can take from this article is that this guy doesn't seem to be good at argumentation. 2/10 on Apple whining.
The article implies the hardware is fine, it's your workflow that's too heavy. I want a machine that fits my workflow, not the inverse.
Even though the article implies that there isn't much difference, the difference in productivity can be HUGE. Specially for workflows that depend on crappy^H^H^H^H^H^Hdemanding applications.
From the perspective of a company:
The cost of laptops relative to salaries is minimal - Salaries are usually close to six figures/y, a very good laptop is $2~3k, and can last multiple years. The productivity increase will most probably cover the investment (not only in terms of direct return, but business value: could be time to market, fulfilling a tight deadline, etc).
From the perspective of a freelancer:
You are selling your time. A laptop that costs $2~3k will free some time (time saved) and be used for years. Time saved = FREE MONEY.
The only reason I see to don't upgrade a laptop/desktop used to work is if it's performance it's already close enough of a new one.
BONUS REASON: newer versions have keyboards that self-destruct.