Well, Apple ][ had Visicalc. And they were first with a spreadsheet.
I "upgraded" from an Apple ][ to an IBM-PC in 1983. It was because of the IBM name but also the "build quality". A real "business" keyboard, and a better constructed case, monitor, etc.
While my favorite language (Erlang) has Exceptions, I really like the "let it crash" model -- let the whole light-weight thread die and have the controlling thread (a/k/a "supervisor") figure out what to do.
I've seen insane Java programs where tracking how many layers up Exceptions are caught was mind-twisting. And conversely, when everything was wrapped in a try/catch and then, essentially ignored.
I "upgraded" from an Apple ][ to an IBM-PC in 1983. It was because of the IBM name but also the "build quality". A real "business" keyboard, and a better constructed case, monitor, etc.