Apple users outsmart PC users.

Rick · Jul 16, 2002

http://msn.com.com/2100-1103-943557.html

Report: Mac users outsmart PC users

By Ian Fried
Special to ZDNet News
July 12, 2002, 2:05 PM PT

Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings.
The study also said Mac users tend to be more Web savvy, with more than half having been online for at least five years. And the Mac faithful are 58 percent more likely than the overall online population to build their own Web page and also slightly more likely to buy goods online, according to the report.

"With above-average household income and education levels, the Mac population presents a very attractive target for marketers, both online and offline," the research group said.
TS Kelly, director and principal analyst at NetRatings, said that his company decided to publish the study after noticing the differences between the demographics of Mac owners compared with overall PC owners. Kelly said Apple Computer is a client, but he said Apple did not commission the study nor was it made aware of the results prior to the report's publication.

Kelly said the greater affluence and education level of those who surf using a Mac is attributable in part to the company's comparatively pricier machines, as well as to their perception as a status symbol and their greater market share among those in the publishing and design industries.

"Any time you lower a price point you always see a broadening of the audience that is probable to buy it," Kelly said.

"Apple customers may be educated, but our customers are smart enough to have chosen Gateway, which offers the best value," said Brad Williams, a spokesman for the PC maker.

Apple has been aggressively targeting PC owners in its latest ad campaign.

Although Apple sales typically represent less than 5 percent of the overall U.S. personal computer market, 8.2 percent of Americans who surf the Web at home do so using a Mac, according to the study. Nearly all the rest of those who go online--89.4 percent--do so using a Windows-based PC.

Nielsen/NetRatings said that 70.2 percent of Mac users online have a college degree, compared with 54.2 percent of all Web surfers. That, combined with their longer surfing histories and their greater willingness to buy products via the Web, makes Mac consumers a prime catch for marketers, Kelly said.

"In many cases that is a market advertisers are looking at when they are promoting new products or upscale products," Kelly said.

A representative for PC maker Dell noted that it doesn't seem to be lacking for customers and that half of those customers buy their PCs over the Web--a sign that Windows users are also adept online.

The study notes that although there are clear benefits to marketing to Mac owners, it can be tough to target them specifically.

Once upon a time, marketers could target personal computer users as a whole to reach a more-educated, higher-income base, however the demographics of those with a personal computer have become more similar to the demographics of the overall population as personal computer penetration has grown. Kelly said advertisers can still reach upscale crowds in other ways, such as targeting those who have a broadband connection.

StormBringer · Jul 16, 2002

That isn't so surprising, especially when you consider that most Mac users use a Mac at work as well as at home. PC users, for the most part do the same. The difference comes when you factor in all the other people out there who just have a computer to surf the web and play games, the majority of those are PC users and the majority of them have the IQ of a grapefruit.

What really surprised me was that the percent of PC users with a college degree was actually as high as that. I would have figured it to be much lower.

JAV · Jul 16, 2002

Just goes to show ya they can study anything & manipulate the #'s to mean something. :rolleyes:

... the majority of those are PC users and the majority of them have the IQ of a grapefruit.

I'd have said an onion, myself.

Refreshing to come here, isn't it.

Enjoy,

Rick · Jul 16, 2002

... the majority of those are PC users and the majority of them have the IQ of a grapefruit.

And I probably would have said "warm jar of mayonaise".

The numbers are pretty meaningless. It just shows Macs are expensive and used by professionals while PCs are cheaper and reach a broader audience of *****s and pros alike.

I guess this is more fuel for the Apple propaganda compaign. Those new Apple commercials kind of bug me... The old ones were clever, but the new ones basically bash the PC quite unfairly.

They advertise Windows being "too hard to use" and Mac being infinitely easier to undersand and navigate. You'd think it runs off of brainwaves or something. From my personal experience, I find the Mac layout somewhat cumbersome - Especailly the ones with the 1-button mouse.

Such things as "It doesn't crash" are flat out lies.

I don't have anything against the Mac - It's a good setup and the world probably could have benefit if the Mac had a stronger presence earlier on - But I don't think their advertising campaign is very truthful. I guess that's how advertising works though.

And the majority of these reasons to switch are pretty bogus.
http://www.apple.com/switch/whyswitch/

Vehementi · Jul 19, 2002

Yeah, the new wave of ads from Apple are designed to target the uneducated Windows users who are so disappointed with Windows and have had such a bad experience with it that they are searching for an alternative to it. What's sad is that these people completely turn away from PCs altogether, without trying Linux.
The reason those numbers are like that is that the PC world is overrun with so many different kinds of people from all around the world, while Macintoshes are usually used by the middle aged working class of professionals here in America. At least that's been my experience, since my own mother is a Mac-faithful.

Tweakster · Jul 20, 2002

Thats like saying racing drivers go faster than mini users. People buy apples because they are marketed for video, graphics, design programs and suchlike. There more reliable and manage memory better so a person using a apple for design already have the qualifications is gonna be smarter than a 20 year old doing word essays on there PC.

PHATMAN5050 · Jul 20, 2002

Guarentee you though that UNIX/LINUX users are smarter than Apple users. No question about it, sit a person who only used a PC in front of a linux box and sit another person who only used a mac in front of another linux box and the pc man will have it up and running quicker.

cabrone · Jul 27, 2002

I hate macs, its like a nokia cell phone, or a honda. Just something you can buy for little girls because they like the colors you can pic. Any computer that doesnt come with a floppy drive attached when it is ordered from a company is worthless.

Mictlantecuhtli · Jul 27, 2002

Originally posted by cabrone
Just something you can buy for little girls because they like the colors you can pic.

That sounds like XP! :giddy:

PHATMAN5050 · Jul 27, 2002

Originally posted by cabrone
I hate macs, its like a nokia cell phone, or a honda. Just something you can buy for little girls because they like the colors you can pic. Any computer that doesnt come with a floppy drive attached when it is ordered from a company is worthless.

Looks in cabrone's pocket to reveal a Nokia 8860.

PHATMAN5050 · Jul 27, 2002

Originally posted by Mictlantecuhtli

That sounds like XP! :giddy:

Nah, i actually like XP. In my opinion its by far the best windows operating system yet.

Vehementi · Jul 28, 2002

Originally posted by PHATMAN5050
Guarentee you though that UNIX/LINUX users are smarter than Apple users. No question about it, sit a person who only used a PC in front of a linux box and sit another person who only used a mac in front of another linux box and the pc man will have it up and running quicker.

In fact I don't think the Mac user will ever figure out Linux. They'll be looking for their big, easy to access menus, with convenient help menus every time you click ANYTHING. Besides I don't think they could handle pure operating system freedom

As for Rick's comment about "It never crashes", no OS "never crashes" nor will one. The operating system shall never be perfect

PHATMAN5050 · Jul 28, 2002

Never crashes? are you kidding me?! Travel down to my school where they have like 1000 Macs and if you visit any site that isn't on the proxy server, like www.aol.com it will freeze. They freeze constantly! In fact, my school has been turning down the FREE imacs, to PURCHASE ibm clones. What ya think about that?

SNGX1275 · Jul 29, 2002

Whats MacOS X based on again?

Rick · Jul 29, 2002

Originally posted by SNGX1275
Whats MacOS X based on again?

Based on, but not it.

Cucumber · Jul 29, 2002

After going into PCWorld today, and listening to some of the UTTER NOOBS, who are about to spend £800 on a HP PC with:

2.0ghz P4
256mbPC133
and 32mb of FastIntergrated Graphics

People who buy Macs know RAM from HDD, while Most PC's users do not!
And this does not suprise me....i just hate companies such as HP, who call their PC's "Gamers PC" and they stick a Intel Chipset GFX card in it:dead:
And it happens everywhere, and most normal people get it, because of the 2.0ghz CPU!

I say that companies like AOL, and HP..shud be shot, and burnt as an alternative fuel source

Mictlantecuhtli · Jul 29, 2002

Originally posted by SNGX1275
Whats MacOS X based on again?

Customized Mach3 Unix kernel.

SNGX1275 · Jul 30, 2002

Originally posted by Mictlantecuhtli

Customized Mach3 Unix kernel.

Thanks.
Not implying anythign here as far as user knowledge.
Just wanting to bring to the front that OS X has taken a big leap as far as future compatibility.

Elros · Jul 30, 2002

Yeah, Mac OS X is getting there.
All we need now are more games to come out on the Mac and it would become a viable alternative.

Personally I am hoping Linux gets some game injections too though... fed up with all the Quakes all the time.

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