“Are Mac users smarter than PC users? I doubt it’s possible to get a definitive answer, but as long as you don’t take any of it too seriously you can have a lot of fun playing with proxies such as the average user’s ability to read and write his or her native language,” Paul Murphy writes for LinuxInsider.
Murphy writes, “[Ratings for Mac users were] significantly higher than those given Slashdot’s contributors, and thus better than those given text from the PC sites, but the vocabulary was larger too. Without collapsing words to their root forms, but after removing punctuation (including capitalization) and numbers, the Macintouch stuff had 870 unique words to only 517 for the combined PC sites. Overall, the results are pretty clear: Mac users might not actually be smarter than PC users, but they certainly use better English and a larger vocabulary to express more complex thinking.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Just over two years ago, a report from from Nielsen/NetRatings stated, “Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts.” So, of course Mac users use better English and a larger vocabulary to express more complex thinking. Why? What’s painfully obvious to most Mac users may not seem so clear to the majority of Windows sufferers, so we’ll just flat out say it: Mac users are smarter than Windows users. On that, you can quote us.
Irfoton, your logic seems flawed.
True, buying a Mac does not make you smarter anymore so than buying a Rolls Royce makes you richer. However, the overwhelming majority of those who buy a Rolls Royce are rich.
Then there are those of us who would rather save up the money and buy a quality product and have it work for a longer period of time than “save” the money upfront and pay out the wazoo later on – to say nothing of lost productivity, unexpected and catastrophic crashes, extra work to clean out unwanted “visitors”, and continuous update vigilance and reboots that just aren’t an issue on a Mac. I know – I recently convinced my boss to let me replace an aging Compaq 733 with a 17″ iMac. I no longer have to worry about any of that any more.
I don’t consider myself rich, but when seriously comparing the ROI and TCO of a Mac vs. any PC it sure did make sense to go for a Mac.
What a bunch of sheep…
BAAAAAA!
One type of person isn’t smarter BECAUSE he uses a Mac…
People choose to use a Mac, BECAUSE they ARE SMARTER!
The intelligence comes first.
Although I can certainly see a plausible argument being made that, using a Mac would make one appear smarter and all evidence is that it makes you far more productive and anecdotally much happier.
Conversely what can you call a group who continues to use a platform that is utterly insecure, comes with the absolute certainty of loosing your data if not more, continues to cost thousands each year just to keep the pile of shit Windows running?
Stupid appears to be the logical conclusion, if you reached a different conclusion I suggest you start using a Mac as fast as possible, you need all the help you can get.
Aryugaetu, your comments add another perspective to what I was recently reading in Douglas Rushkoff’s Playing the Future about colonial organisms, phase-locking, and other topics relating to “herd collectivity”. Now I’m really desperate to find someone to discuss that with!
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I’m not sure if Bill Gates is dumb, I don’t think I’d argue that.. but he sure isn’t creative.. and I consider creativity to be the greatest measure of intelligence. So if that was the *only* criteria for measuring intelligence I *would* call Bill Gates dumb, but since it’s not, he is intelligent, but in a sort of “reptile” way…
Caesar: in order to seriously compare ROI and TCO of Macs vs PC one has to be smart. No wonder then s/he buys a Mac.
If you are not smart most of the time you go with the majority thinking larger group must be right, hence the choice of less smart people. They do not even know about ROI and TOC meanings and already comparing sticker prices is a stress for the computing power of their brains.
How about Wintel users replying to “what version of operating system are you running” with “Office 98”. Or denigrating Macs as toys and soon after complaining they would not buy them because “there are not enough games for it as with PCs”.
Can you spell I-D-I-O-T-S ?
yup, is probably that: there are more idiots using PC than Macs.
I think you’re maybe missing a few points …
1. There aren’t that much /really/ intelligent people on this planet. And the bigger the group that you’re examining is, the more examples of unintelligent or dumb people you’ll find. Apple is a small group compared to wintel. But that also means that you’ll find just the same numbers of idiots among them and a compressed group of clever people.
2. Far too many people use news like this to feel better about themselves or their decision to buy a mac. Macs are cool, there’s no doubt about that. But no matter what, they’ll only be machines. A simple office worker will probably never require the high end power a mac would give him … and to be i think it would be wasted power, too.
3. Wintels will of course use stuff like this against the Apple community, by turning around what we said and showing everybody just how sure we are about everything we say just to hold it against us whenever they find a bug in MacOs or whenever there will be any quality loss in Apples hardware.
So please … don’t make a hype out of what is basicly a joke.
Consider this:
1. Creativity. Some of the most creative people on the planet are dumber than a bag of hair. Look at Streisand or Whoopi. Like many creative types both are extremely talented but otherwise, clueless. Artists use Macs but they also use other tools of their trade; doesn’t make them any smarter than the roofer who chooses the right hammer.
2. Affordability. Ask yourself, if Macs were cheaper than PCs would marginally educated people buy them? I know a lot of average folks with standard educations who would love a Mac “if I could afford one”.
3. Intelligence. Some of the most brilliant profs on the campus at which I am employed are Win users. Some of the most idiotic, lame-brain profs (and yes, there are those) who work here use a Mac and wouldn’t have it any other way. Of course, some might say that there are people who KNOW they are idiots and recognize that they need an easy to use computer. How might that skew the stats? Another way of looking at this is that people are bright in different ways. They may be superior writers but simultaneously believe that John Kerry is a “man of the people”.
4. Affluence vs, education. Many people are well-off despite having marginal levels of education (i.e. actors, sports figures, auto factory workers, etc.). Many are smart, others are going to be as bright as a box of styrofoam. Whether they prefer a Mac or a PC is going to be related as much to their exposure to the technology, what their friends use, what their employer provides to them, what platform they have grown up with, what software they have to run, and their own adaptability to change, as to any SAT test they may have passed.
As an aside, just look at the quality of the writing and critical thinking abilities in the MDN forums. Most of the posters herein are Mac users but some can barely put a coherent sentence together. Others think Michael Moore is the bomb. That alone makes me question the premise of this article.
I agree that all things being equal, the wise choice (and this is really about wisdom, not intelligence isn’t it?) will usually be the Mac but even though I am a long-time Mac user and one of the wisest people I know
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />, does not mean that there might be other, even more wise people than me with tons of disposable income and doctorates in philosophy who think going with a Mac is dopey.
Thus, I think the jury is still out on this one.
Cheers,
B
Others think Michael Moore is the bomb.
The bomb or da bomb?
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“Affordability” as purely a cost issue can have a negative influence on the priority of value in purchasing choices and economics often forces that issue.
“da bomb” works.
-b
I read the article and got a chuckle out of it. I read the responses and thought “Good grief, people! It’s only a junk article!” That being said… it has been my experience that while Mac users in general may not be “smarter” than their Windows user comrades, Mac users seem to know more about the inner workings of their chosen machines and OSes than Windows users.
Case in point: there was a woman I had sat next to for several days while our kids were taking a swim class. We spoke off and on but not extensively. One day she came in with a copy of a popular Mac centric magazine at which I pointed and said “Et tu?” For the next hour we talked on all things Macintosh; rumor sites, G5 envy, maintaining our Macs, migrating from OS 9 to OS X, the ease of use of iPhoto, iPods and, of course, the lack of malware. Although we were both average users we both completely understood each other and even shared Mac tips. This seems to happen with nearly every Mac user I encounter.
Most Windows users I meet, and I meet a lot more of them, feel that if they manage to get the computer on, browse a little without getting some sort of malware, and figure out how to retreive a jpeg from an email, they’ve had a productive computer expreience. But far more Windows users I’ve encountered (even today) complain about their computers but still want to tell me “Macs are junk” while Mac users joke at times about “Windblows” but are to a person very happy with their choice.
Now this is simply “voodoo statistics” and my personal experience and is far more imprecise than the aforementioned article but… if you were impartial and this were all the information you had, who would you assume were the more mature and intellegent? Just a question.
I think it’s fairly clear when you go to any of our political threads and read the likes of Jay Rice and his cronies that in fact their are many Mac users who have the heads jammed up their own asses. I nice trick, perhaps something that will get you in the circus, but smart? No.
Beeblebrox, the man who knows all, how you lay claim to the stupidity of many college professors! The ivory tower from which you preach is built with shameless ego strokes.
G-spank,
Your syntax is so poor I that I can’t quite discern the substance of your accusation.
Did I say “many” college professors? I don’t think I did. But thanks for putting words in my mouth nonetheless.
Also, I am a long ways from knowing all. But I do know a fair amount about a few things. Fully understanding the poverty of modern day Liberalism is one of those things.
-B
And by “syntax” I mean sentence structure. I don’t really care about typos, improper spelling, bad punctuation, or incorrect use of a verb (I have been known to dabble in such from time to time myself just for fun). It’s just that if you want to insult me, do it coherently lest we miss the whole point of your post.
And one other thing – G-Spank’s “Jay Rice” crack.
Just because someone is foul-mouthed and insulting doesn’t make them dumb. A less than strategic thinker maybe, but not dumb. Jay may be crass but then, so are many of his opponents. What I would prefer to see is for people to debate truthfully, Rice included. We should disagree, attempt to persuade, and enjoy the discussion in the process. But shouldn’t it be done with honesty?
But IMHO, the problem is that more than a few of the vocal Liberals posting at MDN tend toward not only venom, but blind hateful and vacuous venom – often devoid of rationality. What happened to debating the relative merits of your preferred ideology? When did character assassination and deception become Liberalism’s first line of offense? Repeating Michael Moore slander is only just one of the primary examples of this.
By the way, the brilliant PC-using professor to whom I earlier referred? He’s one of the biggest lefties I know. I disagree with him on nearly every political issue but I enjoy talking to him because he’s honest. He knows that repeating debunked MoveOn.org or Moore talking points would make him sound stupid. Something he is not, so he doesn’t.
Cheers,
B
well I just got in from a 10 hour drive, so forgive me. Anyway, I know from experience that it’s pointless to hold any discussion with you. I can say that, however, one area where you have no problems is in your self worth. In your mind, I bet you are one of the smartest people on the planet. Congratulations!
G,
I don’t mind being proven wrong. If you can, bring it on. If you can’t then alternativly, feel free to patronize away.
B
P.S. And yes, in my own mind, I am one of the smartest people on the planet. But then again, I think you are too!
It’s funny because there is nothing that I really feel the need to “prove you wrong” about right now, but after reading the posts here would be a few nit-picks, for entertainment value…
1) I would say that because Apple’s value is not as simple to calculate, the average consumer is probably indeed more intelligent than the average PC consumer. I would go further and say that the average PC consumer is more likely to “just do what everybody else does” which is a form of laziness. Why think when other people can think for you.
2) I would contend that the Jay Rice crew is much worse than the “liberal” people you refer to.
3) Thinking about something musically or visually is much more complex than picking the right hammer. For one, picking the correct hammer (or golf club) has a hell of a lot less variables than picking out the notes or the colors that you want to represent a particular emotion or idea.
G,
I agree with you on 1. People are lazy. Stupid people and intelligent people alike. All of us can succumb to the herd mentality if we are not diligent. We see this in both PC purchasing and Fahrenheit 9/11 ticket sales alike.
I’m not sure what the “crew” is that you refer to in number 2. From my perspective, for every Jay Rice (and it should be said that the last two posts I’ve seen from him were venom-free and very informative) I can count dozens of flame throwers on the Left in these threads.
As for number 3, I agree but my point was not about the complexity of the profession but about being wise in choosing the right tools. I consider any graphic artist who chooses Windows as their platform of choice to be a fool (and many appear to be) but they may still be intelligent and capable artists – just unwise.
And this goes to my primary point. It is not intelligence, education, affluence, or any of the other factors we have been discussing that leads a person to the right platform for their situation, it is common sense (wisdom). And, as the saying goes, “common sense is not all that common”.
Cheers,
-B
P.S. Hope you have recovered fully from your 10 hour trip.
G,
I agree with you on 1. People are lazy. Stupid people and intelligent people alike. All of us can succumb to the herd mentality if we are not diligent. We see this in both PC purchasing and Fahrenheit 9/11 ticket sales alike
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I’m not sure what the “crew” is that you refer to in number 2. From my perspective, for every Jay Rice (and it should be said that the last two posts I’ve seen from him were venom-free and very informative) I can count dozens of flame throwers on the Left in these threads.
As for number 3, I agree but my point was not about the complexity of the profession but about being wise in choosing the right tools. I consider any graphic artist who chooses Windows as their platform of choice to be a fool (and many appear to be) but they may still be intelligent and capable artists – just unwise.
And this goes to my primary point. It is not intelligence, education, affluence, or any of the other factors we have been discussing that leads a person to the right platform for their situation, it is common sense (wisdom). And, as the saying goes, “common sense is not all that common”.
Cheers,
-B
P.S. Hope you have recovered fully from your 10 hour trip.
G,
I agree with you on 1. People are lazy. Stupid people and intelligent people alike. All of us can succumb to the herd mentality if we are not diligent. We see this in both PC purchasing and Fahrenheit 9/11 ticket sales alike
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />.
I’m not sure what the “crew” is that you refer to in number 2. From my perspective, for every Jay Rice (and it should be said that the last two posts I’ve seen from him were venom-free and very informative) I can count dozens of flame throwers on the Left in these threads.
As for number 3, I agree but my point was not about the complexity of the profession but about being wise in choosing the right tools. I consider any graphic artist who chooses Windows as their platform of choice to be a fool (and many appear to be) but they may still be intelligent and capable artists – just unwise.
And this goes to my primary point. It is not intelligence, education, affluence, or any of the other factors we have been discussing that leads a person to the right platform for their situation, it is common sense (wisdom). And, as the saying goes, “common sense is not all that common”.
Cheers,
-B
P.S. Hope you have recovered fully from your 10 hour trip.
Sorry for the triple post. The MDN server seems to have hiccuped. Wouldn’t accept the submit without an error (but went ahead and posted all three attempts anyway).
-B