You know the stereotypes: Mac users are young, progressive, city-dwelling hipsters, while Windows users are more conservative, and live in rural areas. Hogwash, right? Well, maybe not. Hunch recently released results of a study of user data, comparing preferences and tendencies of PC and Mac users. The data pool was pretty massive, using more than 80 million aggregated and anonymous responses to questions from 700,000 Hunch users over an almost two year period. The study results do reinforce some stereotypes.
Now, as some of you stat geeks will point out, and as Hunch admits, correlation doesn’t necessarily imply causation. Still, some of the results are interesting:
- Age: PC people are more likely than Mac people to be between 35-49, while Mac people are more likely to be between 18-34;
- Geography: PC people are more likely than Mac people to live in suburbs and rural areas, and Mac people are more likely to live in the city;
- Politics: 36% of PC people and 58% of Mac people are liberal;
- Education: 54% of PC people versus 67% of Mac people have completed a four-year college degree or higher;
- Food: Mac people most prefer bistro-type fries, while PC people prefer McDonald’s fries
The results go on, and compare many other preferences and traits, such as TV viewing habits, reading habits, tendency to be early tech adopters, fashion preferences, and even personality. Again, all of this isn’t necessarily cause and effect, but the interesting fact is that the results don’t stray too far from many of the stereotypes about each user base.
What is your computer of choice? Do these results accurately portray your preferences?
Mac vs. PC: A Hunch Rematch [via GigaOM]
oldgoat1957 says:
I don’t know if it is just endorsing my own stereotypes, but that does sound “right” to me.
But what the heck are “bistro fries”? I guess I must fall into the non-Mac group…
April 24, 2011 — 9:27 pm
Evan Kline says:
I had the same question, so had to look it up. I’ve seen them described as potato wedges, with the skin still on. Soft in the middle, and crispier on the outside. It sounds to me like what I’d call “restaurant fries.”
April 25, 2011 — 11:21 am
Kosmo @ The Soap Boxers says:
I’m a Mac guy and have been for decades.
I’m 35.
I live in Iowa City. I guess you could say it’s a smallish city rather than a burb or rural area – but it’s hardly Manhattan. I mean, we don’t even have a monorail like Springfield does.
I’m liberal on some issues, consevative on others. More liberal than conservative, probably, but I was also a big supporter of W’s plan to privatize social security. I label myself as unaffiliated and vote whichever damn way I want :)
Education: I have 2 Bachelor degrees (done in tandem through a dual BS program, so it was “only” 30 more credits than a single BS) and some coursework toward a third BS (in computer science … unlikely to ever be completed).
I echo old goat’s question. Although I’m not a huge fan of McDonalds (although one of my first Apple computers was named “Big Mac”). Hardee s curly fries for the win …
April 24, 2011 — 10:56 pm
Evan Kline says:
I think you’re pretty hard to categorize, as I’d expect. :)
Population-wise, Iowa city sounds pretty close to Harrisburg around here, at least for the city itself. Harrisburg is one part of a triangle of a few towns (Lancaster and York, with some other smaller ones) so the actual area is pretty populated, but the city itself is just the right size.
April 25, 2011 — 11:27 am
Anthony Russo says:
Sounds about right to me and mostly accurate for myself (PC) and my experiences with others.
Shame it makes PC people seem like the strchy guy from the “I’m a Mac” commercials.
However…
When something breaks on a computer, it’s the PC guy that usually knows how to fix it. PC people can handle computer problems and Mac people only can handle if everything is working as planned (IMHO).
Anthony
April 26, 2011 — 10:08 am
Evan Kline says:
That sounds about right, Anthony. I wonder if that is because us PC guys (well, I’m in both worlds now) are used to fixing our PCs, or if the PC just attracts the tinkerer type.
April 26, 2011 — 5:10 pm
Kosmo @ The Soap Boxers says:
:)
I recently had two PC laptops in my “repair shop”. Whenever a co-worker has a problem, I end up volunteering to fix it. I’m much more comfortable with Mac hardware, but I can do the more straightforward stuff with PCs. Diagnose and replaced a keyboard on one of the laptops.
With a Mac, I can handle damn near any problem that could come up, especially with software.
April 26, 2011 — 11:11 pm
Martin says:
Hmmm. Lies, damn lies and statistics! I studied statistics at school and know there are many ways to present information. I think it might be true that people who use Macs will tend to be younger, more urban types, but that doesn’t mean that PC users can be categorised as being older and rural. If you agree that people of all ages use PCs, then the average would be mid-30s, I guess. There may well be more young, urban people using PCs than Macs, but the “average” statistic won’t show this up.
So I think the stats tell you some useful info about (the smaller sample set of) Mac users but the rest probably just reflects the general population rather than PC users in particular.
Did you know that 38.6% of statistics are completely made up? ;-)
April 27, 2011 — 7:59 am
Bobby Travis says:
Lol! Love that last line, Martin!
I have to agree with you, to an extent. I’m a marketing guy, and I think that, while statistics can help support marketing efforts, in many cases, they are the result of marketing efforts — especially in the case of Apple, who used different statistics to target the young city folk by understanding that they were going to be the money powerhouses of our technology-driven age, and that they would be big on convenience, slick and pretty, as well as a hearty sense of elitism. Apple’s marketing plan, while evil, was and is brilliant.
That PC statistic, on the other hand, is skewed due to the simple fact of the long term market saturation and accessibility of the PC, as well as the increased adoption of computer technology by older — and country — folk.
Personally, I have always liked Macs — though I’ve never trusted them not to eat my work, and no one ever should — but they are out of my price range. I also like to tinker, and am not a fan of proprietary computer systems that I can’t mess with. With Apple’s move to Intel, that is not so much of a problem anymore — but I am still more likely to build a Hackintosh than buy a Mac.
I should note, however, that while I have always felt this way and am only currently 35, I did grow up in the backwoods. Been a city boy since I was 19 though. ;)
April 27, 2011 — 12:32 pm
Evan Kline says:
I’ve been using both, pretty equally, since the start of the year. I’m convinced now, more than ever, that they are more alike than they are different, so I do roll my eyes a bit when I see someone become a big “fan” of one massive profit-driven corporation over another.
Macs have nice hardware, but so do Windows machines if you’re willing to spend the money. The operating systems themselves aren’t inherently better or worse.
The one difference I do notice, though, is that developers of Mac apps seem a bit more focused on the aesthetics and UI of an app, whereas Windows apps are more focused on what it does (kind of how I’d describe Google, too). That’s not to say there aren’t gorgeous Windows apps, just that I always run across very nice Mac apps.
I do agree with Bobby – much of this can probably be explained by marketing. Apple seems to nail that every time.
April 27, 2011 — 3:53 pm
Martin says:
You do keep mentioning that you’re only 35, Bobby! We’re not ageist here :-)
If tinkering is what you want then why not try Linux. There is no end of tinkering with that OS, though it is usable by ‘normal’ people as well. How about some Linux posts on 40tech?
April 27, 2011 — 4:18 pm
Martin says:
And Evan, I agree that Apple have really great designs (hardware and software), but they do come at a (ridiculous for me) price. Apple are very controlling too – they don’t like people tinkering with their stuff. That’s one of the reasons I keep away from their products. My wife has a Mac though, bless her.
April 27, 2011 — 4:23 pm
Kosmo @ The Soap Boxers says:
I agree, Evan. I don’t think either platform is inherently better or worse. I work as an IT systems analyst and work with Windows and Unix environments … but I simply prefer the Mac OS. There’s an ease-of-use factor that I value. In terms of functionality, the platform has all the apps I need. That’s why Darwine sits on my hard drive, unused.
I’m willing to pay a premium because I spend a lot of time in front of my computer and get many, many years of life out of my machines.
The machine that I use for most of my blogging work (eMac) will turn 9 years old this summer. I’m sure I could have gotten a comparable Windows setup for a couple hundred dollars less, but amortized over 9 years, that’s $25 per year. I’ll eat one less candy bar per week and splurge on the computer.
(My “new” computer is 4 years old, but my wife tends to be using that when I want to get any work done …)
Some people prefer Windows, though. Great. That’s why there are choices and common file formats :)
April 27, 2011 — 4:58 pm
Evan Kline says:
I’d love to provide more Linux coverage, Martin. I do have it installed on a machine that I dual boot (Windows 7 being the other OS). I really need to force myself to use it, so I can speak intelligently about it.
I also hear you about Apple being controlling and their stuff pricey. I almost felt dirty when I bought my first Mac, but I sure do love using it.
May 3, 2011 — 8:05 pm
Rabihat says:
I’m also prefer windows than Mac, because it’s easier for me to use it. But some of my friend prefer Mac.. :)
May 3, 2011 — 4:05 am
Nina says:
Hmm, according to this statistic I’d have to be a Mac person, but I use a PC and have no plans to change. Not that I haven’t been tempted. I think Macs are beautiful, but not beautiful enough for me to justify paying a premium for a machine that is less well supported. I understand that for graphic designers and musicians Macs offer the best software solutions, but I have many different interests and have found that PCs give me more flexibility.
Ironically, for the same reasons I chose an iPhone over Android, Palm, Symbian and Windows phone. Many developers seem to think that most iPhone users are Mac users, but I don’t think that is necessarily the case anymore. It was probably true when the iPhone first came out, but more and more apps are pitched at business users and most corporations use PCs, so there must be a lot of iPhone+PC users out there by now.
May 4, 2011 — 5:55 pm
Evan Kline says:
I think you’re right about the iPhone Nina. With as many as there were sold, there had to be many Windows users in there.
May 6, 2011 — 10:06 am
John says:
What the –? Since when did computer use stop at age 49?
I’m a 55 year old web designer and have been a Mac user since OSx 10.3. My wife (also a mac user) and I live in Rural Ontario. We are definitely not Conservatives so at least that part fits. I like all types of potatoes, but cannot bring myself to use any sort of windows machine, except to run Windows XP on one of my Macs to check how badly Microsoft will screw up my designs. I consider Macs very reasonably priced compared to the heartache regularly doled out by windows machines.
The biggest problem with owning Macs is trying to stay humble while listening to all of the whining coming from the Windows camp.
May 15, 2011 — 12:05 pm
Evan Kline says:
Yikes! I guess to be fair, those age ranges just look like they are for the most common users.
We Windows users do have more to whine about, but I’m wondering if that is changing, as more people move to Mac, either completely or partially (me included). At least from the malware end of things, I think we’ll see problems that the casual Mac user isn’t used to seeing.
May 23, 2011 — 1:37 pm
Antonia says:
That’s probably because younger people have more free time on their hands and are more open to new things?!
Once you grow up with a PC and get 40, it’s kind of hard to change. But if you’re 18 it becomes a challenge.
June 16, 2011 — 11:36 pm
Evan Kline says:
Good point, Antonia. I’m just trying to figure out where all these young folks are getting the money to buy so many Macs!
June 21, 2011 — 7:21 am