It looks to me that fanboy, (or fanboi, if you're going for that pretentious vibe) is one of the closest things to a techie racial slur.
It's easy to throw around, and is a great way to demonstrate absolute contempt and to indicate a low evaluation of the subject's worth.
Odds are, the first side to use the word is probably the side that is the most irrationaly devoted to something.
On a related note, it still makes me laugh how a lot of online publications mock fanboys, or at least those they decide fit their preconceptions of one. It's an easy strawman, and its broad charicature and vagueness allows it to be applied to anyone.
I'm just waiting for a Fanboi shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch to replace the buck-toothed slanty-eyed asian shirts they recalled.
