Tacky isn't really the word I'd use to describe that tech. Apple products and gaming peripherals are luxury items, tacky is a word I'd use to describe cheap knock-offs.
I used to be wooed by cold hard technical specs instead of going with what's popular, feeling smug I'd done the research and therefore know better. Also it's cool to hate Apple,Microsoft whatever's popular right ?
I bought the IRiver instead of the iPod, the Sony reader instead of the kindle, an android after my iPhone. And you know what ? It was often a mistake. Kindle was better than the Sony reader and IMO my old iPhone feels far more polished and better quality than the new android, iOS is far better.
Also I'm not convinced that gaming branded peripherals are inferior. My mechanical "gaming" keyboard was only £50 at overpriced pc world(I went for cherry blues being a coder). I'd be interested in links to mice you think are better at the same price point as the gaming mice from Logitech, Razor, Steelseries.
I think the lesson here is you can't just assume the masses are ignorant idiots who can't read a spec sheet. Sometimes the popular products actually deserve the rep.