“Older folks use Macs too! A whole heck of a lot of them, actually,” Jacqui Cheng reports for Ars Technica.
“Mac users ‘enjoy’ the stereotype of being young, hip, and annoyingly artistic at times—I mean, after all, look at Justin Long! However, much to the surprise of many, a rather large percentage of Mac users are over the age of 55. As in, a larger percent of Mac users are over 55 than any other computer company,” Cheng reports.
Cheng reports, “46 percent of Mac users are over 55, according to the MetaFacts 2006 Home PC Brand Profile Report, with only 25.2 percent of PC users being over 55.”
Full article here.
More on MetaFacts 2006 Home PC Brand Profile Report: http://www.metafacts.com/pages/media/tupan06_announce_061129.htm
guess with age comes wisdom. I must be an early bloomer…tho 55 is probably not too too far off…geez i feel old
i just turned 60; i have been using apple stuff since the lisa.
wisdom comes with age – as does spare money.
maybe its long-time users, but maybe its also newer users that find the mac “just works”. plus you figure PC’s have the younger crowd that are into PC games.
Old Guys Rule!
I just turned 60 also – first apple product for me was an apple II+ with an added language card – then a mac plus, IIsi, 7500, imac, ibook, G5 1.8, powerbook, G5 dualcore 2.3, mac mini, 17 macbook pro. Next who knows. apple all the way through ups and downs. Hve had a couple of pc’s for needed apps along the way but macs rule and windows drool.
also had a couple newtons the 2100 best – we need another one.
Going on 41. Proud Apple user since 1990 (still have my IIci somewhere).
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Well let’s hope this statistic is changing rapidly…
Interesting stats… ‘x’ is probably right, there’s older people going for the better/easier tehnology (and likely moving from Windows machines). And of course, there’s all those boomers like me, who discovered Macs early, like ‘ADQ Peter’, and who never left. It might be interesting to know the age spreads for people who are converting to Macs…
I’m 67 and I’ve been using Macs since the first Color Mac. Still have it, in a box. My iMac G5 keeps me happy now.
that would explain the demographics of our mac users group…
57 and a mac lover since 1984. The only interesting computer before the Mac was the Tandy Model 100 laptop.
It doesn’t surprise me that there are older Mac users. (After all, Darkness is older than time itself…) What does surprise me is the apparently large number of older MDN readers. For some reason I thought this site was full of younger types. Must be the commentary. 😀
49 and still breathing
mdn – days?
52 and counting …. switched to Macs this year and never looked back!
I’m 43 and I’m sure I’ll still be using Macs when I’m 55. I really “mean” that.
Doesn’t surprise me.
This stuff is expensive!
Seriously, I’m pushing 50. In addition to numerous small businesses I also have lots of individual clients and many are older people.
Interestingly enough, and this is not a joke, I’ve had 4 clients die on me in the last 6 weeks.
1 Massive Heart attack. (During sex change surgery) 50 yrs. old.
1 Disease I can’t pronounce or spell
1 Breast Cancer
1 “Natural causes
I also have older clients who are thriving. One is the 75 yr old patriarch of a family owned law firm. Just bought all new 24″ iMacs for the 20 or so attorneys in the firm, and 20″ iMacs for all the paralegals. It’s all I can do to get this guy out of World of Warcraft. He insists on meeting with me in there.
Seventy-three and still whacking away on my Mac, and have been since the start. Since Windows was just a hole in the wall.
Could it be that a Mac extends your life?
This is why 46% misses Zune Tang’s satire!
Then if this is true, Apple better aim for the younger market… old people die.
And i’m MUCH closer to 55..
47.
I’ll be 60 next September and have been using Apples & Macs since the 80’s, beginning with a IIe in my work as an educator. My district went to Windows PC’s in the 90’s, but I was able to talk them into keeping and using Macs in the Fine Arts areas. I’m now retired and it’s a G5 20″ iMac and an older G3 PowerBook. Next will be an Intel powered MacBook or a 24″ iMac. The only problem is that they don’t wear out like PC’s. I just gave away my old PowerMac 6500 to a very grateful young teacher.
“Nearly half of Apple Mac users are over 55″………. and proud of it!
34 and using Apple since the II+ in the 5th grade when we could sign up for 30-minute slots to play Oregon Trail. I did fall away to the Dark Side from 1996-2002 but that was due to work requirements. It was funny because I didn’t even know how to use a PC and someone had to show me where the “START” button was. I had more computer problems than I care to remember. Came back to a TiBook 667 in April 2002 and no problems since.