Mac or PC? And what does it say about you?

[Grey Fox]

@ BB

[Barrister]

@ BB

Meh - I have it fixed now, but can't be bothered to go back and edit my post.

And this was typed in Windows XP anyways.

[garbon]

prefer modern art over impressionist art

*sputter*

Me too. Although I prefer Impressionist art to AbEx.

[Alcibiades]

Mac people are 21% more likely than PC people to consider themselves computer-savvy gearheads.

Mac people are 21% more likely to be self-delusional, apparently. Where are these gearheads all hiding, and are they all running Debian on their Mac hardware?


On one hand, the Mac preference for a Vespa over a Harley makes me proud not to be one of them, but I can't say much for the PCers' wine choices. 

I donèt see why that could not be the case - in general that is.

Remember who the majority of computer users are - joe average.  They go into Best Buy, or Walmart, and buy whatever generic POS PC they have in stock.

If you buy a Mac, youève at least given your computer purchase a bit more thought (since it is still a somewhat unusual purchase), and you have also spent almost double what a PC costs.  You may well consider yourself a bit more computer savvy.

That doesnèt mean every Mac user is more computer savvy than every PC user - far from it.  But in discussing generalitiesÉ

ŝtupid language settings...

Lol wut?   The Mac sections at best buy are bigger than the pc section, precisely because it is simpler, and the inability to customize and do things that you can do on a PC would seem to make users less computer savvy, if you ask me.

[Maximus]

Lol wut?   The Mac sections at best buy are bigger than the pc section, precisely because it is simpler, and the inability to customize and do things that you can do on a PC would seem to make users less computer savvy, if you ask me.

On the other hand, the mac demographic tends toward kids who tend to be more tech savvy.

[Barrister]

Lol wut?   The Mac sections at best buy are bigger than the pc section, precisely because it is simpler, and the inability to customize and do things that you can do on a PC would seem to make users less computer savvy, if you ask me.

Having been in a BB today, I'm not certain of your first assertion.

And if you are buying from a store, a Mac and a PC has the exact same ability to customize - none at all.

If you're buying online, if you compare say Apple and Dell, the 'ability to customize' is very similar - customize your RAM and harddrive, with a handful of processor and graphics options thrown in.

The number of PC buyers who build their own, or who get a custom build from a boutique builder, are small.  Those people are certainly very "computer savvy", but they are a minority.

[Josquius]

I'd think mac users on average will be more tech savvy. They will on average tend to be wealthier and more keen to have the computer that is seen to be cool. This makes for being somewhat tech savvy, more so than the typical person who just gets 'a computer' at least.
PC users of course cover a wide range from the most tech savvy people around down to randomers who don't even know that a mac and a PC are that different and just have a computer for the internet and whatnot.

[Barrister]

And of course talking about "on average" means almost nothing.

My parents are Mac users.  They have been their entire lives (well, as long as there have been computers to use).  My dad works in newspapers, my mom worked in education - both industries with heavy Mac presence.

My father most of all is anything BUT computer savvy however.

[MadImmortalMan]

And of course talking about "on average" means almost nothing.

My parents are Mac users.  They have been their entire lives (well, as long as there have been computers to use).  My dad works in newspapers, my mom worked in education - both industries with heavy Mac presence.

My father most of all is anything BUT computer savvy however.

Many of the Mac users at work think they are computer-savvy but aren't. I think that's more representative of what the data is showing us.

[Barrister]

And of course talking about "on average" means almost nothing.

My parents are Mac users.  They have been their entire lives (well, as long as there have been computers to use).  My dad works in newspapers, my mom worked in education - both industries with heavy Mac presence.

My father most of all is anything BUT computer savvy however.

Many of the Mac users at work think they are computer-savvy but aren't. I think that's more representative of what the data is showing us.

As it is self-reported data (and anyways there's no objective way to measure 'computer savvy') I'm not arguing with you on that.

[Norgy]

(and anyways there's no objective way to measure 'computer savvy')

Makes it really hard to grade students in computer science, then.

[DontSayBanana]

Makes it really hard to grade students in computer science, then.

To be fair, our grades are set by milestone tasks, not by any real discrete "aptitude."  For example, the grading for my PC support and repair final is going to be:

A - if the computer prints to the network printer
B - if the computer connects to the network
C - if the computer loads windows
D - if the computer POSTs
F - if the computer doesn't even turn on.

It doesn't really do anything to separate out potential "techs" who know how to run network traces and kernel patching from those in the class who are running completely on notes and may still come out underqualified for Best Buy's Geek Squad.

[grumbler]

I'd think mac users on average will be more tech savvy. They will on average tend to be wealthier and more keen to have the computer that is seen to be cool. This makes for being somewhat tech savvy, more so than the typical person who just gets 'a computer' at least.
PC users of course cover a wide range from the most tech savvy people around down to randomers who don't even know that a mac and a PC are that different and just have a computer for the internet and whatnot.

I think that, in the US, its the opposite.  People who just have money and a desire to have a technology in their hands tend, i think, to buy Macs.  As do people who know a lot about computers and know that only a Mac will meet their professional needs, for sure.  But my guess would be that the number of people who buy Macs because of advertising outnumber those who buy them based on need maybe three to one.  PC users, though, tend to be people who buy based on knowing why they need a PC and not just a console, and buying PCs means making a lot more choices than buying a Mac does.

So, I'd argue that in the US Mac users are both the top and the bottom of the tech savvy tree and that randomers are as likely to be mac as PC (but even more likely to just get a smart phone). 

It doesn't surprise me that Mac owners think they are more savvy than they are.  The Mac sold itself explicitly as the platform for the smug, so naturally that's who its users mostly are.  I kinda pity those who intelligently purchase Macs, because they get lumped in with the "I'm a Mac" gang.

[Malthus]

The calculation is pretty simple: in general, most Mac users are people who would rather trade money for time - owning a PC requires having to be more fiddly, which takes time, but is overall cheaper.

People with more money than time are more likely to have both the negative and positive stereotypes associated with people with more money - more savvy professional on the one hand, and more smug arrogant asshole on the other.

The fanbois who think that one machine is somehow fundamentally better than the other and that everyone who buys the other is either an idiot or a victim-of-marketing sheeple are a tiny minority, sadly overrepresented on the 'net. The types who are actually doing something that requires one machine over the other are an even smaller minority!

[grumbler]

The question to ask is "did you seriously consider buying [the other type of computer] before you bought [the type of computer purchased]" for both Mac and PC users. The percentage that answer "yes" is the percentage of savvy users of that type of computer.