“Conservatives are so PC. Not PC as in ‘politically correct,’ though they certainly have more than their share of those who patrol the language for any nuance that gives off hints of liberalism. PC as in PC,” Devilstower writes for Daily Kos.
“No one has any doubt that PCs running some flavor of Microsoft Windows dominate the computer landscape as much as dinosaurs did the Jurassic plains. Little Unix systems pop up here and there, as do many less well known systems, holding down small niches in the computer ecosystem,” Devilstower writes.
Devilstower writes, “And then there is Apple.”
“The scampering mammals of the IT landscape, Macs have sometimes come close to extinction and even now hold down just less than 5% of computer sales. Hardware wise, that 5% is not so bad, considering that the PC world is divided up amongst Dell, HP, Gateway, Sony, whoever owns IBM’s name this week, and a thousand others. Apple is solidly among the top brands,” Devilstower writes.
Devilstower writes, “But on the software side, the share of the market held by Apple’s OS X operating system looks tiny beside Microsoft’s behemoth. It’s even smaller on conservative web sites. When it comes to visitors to Instapundit, OS X visitors make up only 2-3%, suggesting that conservatives are less likely to go for the Apple brand than the general public. On the other hand, Daily Kos statistics show that between 15% and 25% of visitors to this site are using Macs — an astounding 5x times the general population of these computers. If you were at YearlyKos last time around, you could spot more Macs at breakfast than you’d find in an Apple store.”
Devilstower asks, “So here’s a question: why? Why do liberals like Macs, while conservatives shun them?”
In the full article, Devilstower explores four theories:
• The Fiscal Conservative Theory
• Conformists vs Individuals Theory
• The Hip vs Tragically Unhip Theory
• The Artists vs. Sausage Makers Theory
Full article, with, oh, about 700 reader comments, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Gandalf” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Devilstower might be surprised at just how many “conservative” Mac users actually exist. Especially “fiscally conservative” Mac users. It really depends to the definitions you’re using for “liberal” and “conservative.” But, certainly in the opinion of most, Mac users are generally considered to be at least a tad more left of center than Windows PC sufferers. Forget about Apple’s usual quarterly guidance, the last time we looked, Al Gore was sitting in Apple’s boardroom, but we couldn’t find hide nor hair of Newt Gingrich. What do you think? How do you label yourself, if you do?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Red vs. Blue: Companies ranked by political donations: Apple among bluest, Dell among reddest – October 26, 2006
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser out $9.8 million as ‘Air America’ goes bankrupt – October 14, 2006
What’s on Hilary Clinton’s Apple iPod? – May 22, 2006
Rush Limbaugh and Apple Computer to intro new podcast service via iTunes – March 08, 2006
President Bush shows off his Apple iPod (link to video) – December 16, 2005
Rush Limbaugh announces video podcasts for Apple iPod starting December 12th – November 30, 2005
President Bush’s weekly radio address podcasts available via Apple’s iTunes Music Store – August 11, 2005
Rush Limbaugh: ‘I am the hottest thing in podcasting’ – June 09, 2005
Rush Limbaugh and Apple Computer working to bring podcasts of radio show to iTunes Music Store – May 17, 2005
Rush Limbaugh says ‘Mac OS X Tiger Rocks,’ posts link to free Rush advertisement for Mac – April 30, 2005
President Bush’s use of iPod a lucky or bad break for Apple Computer? – April 18, 2005
President Bush’s Apple iPod features eclectic list of downloaded tunes – April 11, 2005
Die Welt: U.S President George Bush is ‘the Steve Jobs of World Politics’ – February 25, 2005
What’s on U.S. President Bush’s Apple iPod? – February 23, 2005
The Hill: Put Rush Limbaugh on Apple’s board of directors; he could sell tons of Macs – January 26, 2005
U.S. President George Bush a confirmed Apple iPod user (images included) – December 22, 2004
Rush Limbaugh calls for Apple iCal to Sidekick solution – November 12, 2004
Apple CEO Steve Jobs: ‘I’m going to just stay away from all that political stuff’ – August 25, 2004
President Bush, candidate Kerry both use Apple PowerBooks – July 14, 2004
Baltimore Sun: Vice President Dick Cheney a confirmed Apple iPod user – April 01, 2004
Rush Limbaugh: Why does Apple put politics first? – June 27, 2003
Rush Limbaugh comments on Gored Apple – March 21, 2003
The Mac is Bush to Windows’ Clinton (opinion) – October 25, 2002
Conservative Mac users miffed at Apple’s Jimmy Carter page – October 14, 2002
@Jen
“Voted for Reagan twice, Bush the elder twice, then for Dole, then for “W” Bush twice and would do so again if I could. I have used Macs since 1984. Do I win a prize?”
Yup…here is your Dell
Conservative as they come…Happy Apple user since 1982.
(In 1982, the IIe was provided my parents as I was 11 years old…the computer still works I might add.)
MacBook Pro, eMac, and G4 IBook make up my own family’s lineup now.
This article is totally baseless. I work for a conservative Christian ministry which is an all Mac shop. (Well, except for the PC that FedEx supplies for us, but we don’t ‘own’ it!) And I know of several other conservative Christian ministries that are all Mac shops. The difference I see is Mac-users are more productive. The ministries that use Macs ‘do’ things, while the PC-using ministries just seem to meet about doing things.
Liberal or conservative, Mac users are more productive!
MW: ‘Together’ We may have differences of opinion, but TOGETHER we achieve infinitely more using our Macs!
I would classify myself as a conservative. I want tax breaks, less government, and fewer social programs. I want to keep more of my money. I have had a Mac since my first SE30. That machine was and is awesome. It still works! I boot it up from time to time just to play around. Not one of my older Windows machines will do that. I’ve tried Windows and found it frustrating. On one occasion, I lost an entire hard drive along with all of the ledgers, accounts receivable, and payable. The crash was due to a virus. I was under the delusion and believed the myth of “windows is for business”. That is so wrong! OS X is absolutely awesome. My accountant doesn’t like that I use a Mac, something to do with importing reports into the Windows counterpart. But I don’t care, because I’m paying him. I don’t think the conservative/liberal comparison really holds here. I think a better one would be free-thinking, artistic, and wealthy vs. a need to confrom, lack of creativity, and lack of financial means to purchase. Some people see a $400-600 difference between laptops and opt for the inexpensive Windows model. Sure, I could get along with a Windows machine, but why cruise the information highway in a Yugo when you can afford a BMW?
Devilstower’s rabid fondness of his/her liberal prejudices has suffocated any possibility of unbiased thinking. Devilstower utter failure to abide by any measure of thoughtful analysis and reasonable conclusions is clearly demonstrated by his/her omissions of rigorous and meticulous scientific study. Enderle and Dvorack demonstrate more profound thinking than this individual.
This post also demonstrates MDN’s penchant for stirring the political pot, even if MDN has to resort to using adherents to the lunatic fringe of politic persuasion.
liberal by far
here we go again. gwb is not a conservative. republican does not equal conservative. although democrat does seem to equal socialist. if you worship james madison, you’re a conservative. funny, he was a liberal in his day.
mac user all the way.
In American terms I’d call myself liberal. And yes, I think liberals are more likely to be Mac users than conservatives.
@Jen…yes you do.
Here is your Dell
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Of course, you would. Anyone with the lack of sense as an Al Gore adherent would believe anything as true without a shred of supporting evidence.
Conservative Mac user reporting for duty.
Most U.S. conservatives disapprove of Hitler, and doing so makes them liberals. So it is true that only liberals buy Macs.
For all you Republican Mac users…
Steve Jobs contributes a hefty amount to the Democrats.
Add up all the money you’ve ever spent on apple products.
The Democrats thank you for your contribution.
Absolute GARBAGE AGAIN!
I am involved with a local environmementalist group. Most of them are over the top granola crunching, incense sniffing, anit-war, Bush hating extremeist liberals.
There are about 25 people in the core group. 1/3 of them are College Professors. Only 4 of us have/use Macs. All other liberals were on PC’s.
As a Republican I try to get them to see the light, but they seem too scared to leave their PC’s. I’ve switched more Republicans than Liberals. Guess Rep. are more open minded after all.
And the college where I work, departments are predominantly PC. And it doesn’t get more liberal than this place. But Macs are gaining ground.
Sung to the tune of “The Beverly Hillbillies”
Come and listen to my story ’bout a boy name Bush.
His IQ was zero and his head was up his tush.
He drank like a fish while he drove all about.
But that didn’t matter ‘cuz his daddy bailed him out.
DUI, that is. Criminal record. Cover-up.
Well, the first thing you know little Georgie goes to Yale.
He can’t spell his name but they never let him fail.
He spends all his time hangin’ out with student folk.
And that’s when he learns how to snort a line of coke.
Blow, that is. White gold. Nose candy.
The next thing you know there’s a war in Vietnam.
Kin folks say, “George, stay at home with Mom.”
Let the common people get maimed and scarred.
We’ll buy you a spot in the Texas Air Guard.
Cushy, that is. Country clubs. Nose candy.
Twenty years later George gets a little bored.
He trades in the booze, says that Jesus is his Lord.
He said, “Now the White House is the place I wanna be.”
So he called his daddy’s friends and they called the GOP.
Gun owners, that is. Falwell. Jesse Helms.
Come November 7, the election ran late.
Kin folks said “Jeb, give the boy your state!”
“Don’t let those colored folks get into the polls.”
So they put up barricades so they couldn’t punch their holes.
Chads, that is. Duval County. Miami-Dade.
Before the votes were counted five Supremes stepped in.
Told all the voters “Hey, we want George to win.”
“Stop counting votes!” was their solemn invocation.
And that’s how George finally got his coronation.
Rigged, that is. Illegitimate. No moral authority.
Y’all come vote now. Ya hear?
I am a fiscal and social conservative, as well as an evangelical Christian. My first Mac was a 512KE in 1987. I would never use anything other than a Mac (I own five) and would rarely vote Democrat unless the candidate was pro-life. I surf conservative websites all the time with my MacBook Pro! To me the world of Microsoft is a lot like the big govenment of liberals. Having said that, I have a kidred spirit with my Mac brethren who are liberals.
Always RIGHT is ALWAYS LEFT!
And full of the Mr. Hanky stuff.
…. and all those liberals who buy Microsoft and PC-related products fund the war in Iraq, global warming, Republican party coffers, etc, etc, etc.
Oh, by the way, there are a lot more PC users than Mac users so liberals send MORE money to Republican interests than conservative give to liberal causes.
How, do like them Apples?
It would be interesting to see if MDN could post IP addresses with each comment, so as to expose the right wing hucksters who multiple post (you know who you are).
ANYHOO-
Who’s the biggest, most liberal spender of all time?
(Hint: he refers to himself, as the “deshizhun maker”).
I mean, really. I understand once, BUT TWICE, people voted for him?
He’s not conservative at all.
Too bad Pat Buchanan didn’t make it. If we have to have a conservative president, he’d be MY choice.
Forget McCain. War hero or not, he took it up the wazoo from his own party, with a smile on his face.
Anyone with the lack of sense as a W adherent would believe anything as true without a shred of supporting evidence.
Q.E.D.
I’m a conservative. I own three Macs at home. My small business is Mac-only.
I’m a Christian, just right of center, Republican Conservative who has used Macs since 1988.
I am forced to use both platforms at work and would love to just trash the Windblows machine.
I have personally owned three Macs (currently running a dual 2.3 ghz G5).
…
My wife, on the other hand leans more toward the liberal side and prefers her Windoze PC.
I guess we both just swim against the current.
So how do all you Mac users here feel about the fact you’re responsible for over 3,000 American deaths and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis?
Your stupidity knows no bounds! I am not a Bush adherent, despite your biases and prejudices to the contrary. By the way, thanks for giving incontrovertible proof that you are as partisan and as bigoted as the best of the drones of the liberal crowd.
Also, the fact that you have to plagiarize my own thread to make your idiotic comment clearly demonstrates your own laziness and lack of cleverness.
Pathetic.
I’m an atheist and wouldn’t vote for a Republican unless he is a homosexual pedophile with a religious base supporting him — oh, wait. . .
Anyway, I have a Mac.
Magic Word: spirit. Like, totally wholly.