As for Thurrott, he’s no more of a pro-journalist than most full-time bloggers. He spouts the “Kool-Aid” talk because Microsoft has so far been unsuccessful gaining a loyal following in the CE realm. Xbox is as close as they’ve come to success (if you consider six-billion-dollars in the red a success), but for every step forward they’ve made in that respect, there’s Zune, PlaysForSure, WinCE Smart Phones, Tablets, WebTV, and Origami to pull them back.

…Apple TV is recommended only for those people who have drunk the Apple Kool-Aid…

Not because it’s incorrect, but because this is just one too many times that I’ve heard the “Kool-Aid” reference used wrong (as it almost universally is). If someone has “drunk the Apple Kool-Aid,” they’re dead. The people at Jonestown weren’t indoctrinated into the cult by drinking Kool-Aid, they were killed by it. The Kool-Aid wasn’t a mind control substance, it was a means to suicide. It’s not even that I’m offended by references to this incident, it’s just that I’ve pretty much had it with the continually incorrect references to it. And once someone’s said that (just as when someone uses “M$” for Microsoft or refers to the “liberal media”), I just can’t hear anything else they say. It’s one thing in a Weblog or from a Slashdot commenter, but it’s just inexcusable from a paid journalist.