“The Mac vs. PC debate is as old as Steve Jobs’ signature collection of black turtlenecks (the late Apple founder asked designer Issey Miyake to make him a custom black turtleneck in the early 1980s, and Jobs stocked up on enough to last a lifetime),” Mike Dang reports for Bundle.
“Apple upped the ante in 2006 when they launched their ‘Get a Mac’ campaign with actors Justin Long as the cool, casual ‘Mac’ and John Hodgman as the boring, brown-suited ‘PC,'” Dang reports. “It got people thinking: Is Mac the better choice for style-conscious people? Are PCs designed for people who are more interested in functionality and less about design?”
“Here at Bundle, we use data from billions of anonymous, aggregated credit card transactions to look for trends in spending patterns. We analyzed the spending of more than 700,000 PC and Mac buyers, and confirmed that the stereotypes may be true: Our data indicates that Mac users are indeed fashionistas,” Dang reports. “Forty percent of the anonymous Mac users we examined earned more than $100,000, while twenty-nine percent of PC users made six figures or more.” In the [full article], we’ve highlighted various retailers that are popular with Mac and PC users. Further, we’ve only highlighted the retailers where the difference in popularity for Mac and PC users was the greatest.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Duh.
[Attribution: Cult of Mac. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Study: iPad users more likely to buy – and buy more – online than traditional PC users – September 29, 2011
iPhone users smarter, richer, less conservative than Android phone users – August 16, 2011
Apple iPhone users spend significantly more on their credit cards than non-iPhone users – November 5, 2010
Study: Apple iPhone users richer, younger, more productive than other so-called ‘smartphone’ users – June 12, 2009
Nielsen: Mac users are better educated and make more money than PC users – July 12, 2002
That study is very true: I always wear a tie and tweed jacket during the day and a tuxedo to dinner.
While I, on the other hand, sleep in a tuxedo, and wear pajamas to dinner, as have generations of Pluses before me.
On the other hand, that study is very flawed when it says: “Apple computers are notoriously more expensive than PCs (…)”.
AND in implying that Winblows is more functional than OS X.
I’m naked in a bowl of Cheerios.
Unless the iPhone in my pocket is “fashion”
They are wrong..
When im not at work, shorts and a t-shirt.
I don’t own a tie, when I’m at work I just wear a nice shirt and khaki/slacks. And I did like Steve jobs did… I own like 5 of each shirt I have for work. A couple different colors etc. makes laundry easier 😉
I have zero “fashion” sense.
Don’t worry FTB! I work in the fashion industry and it’s all nonsense.
You do like the Design of your iPhone – right.
So – you do have some appreciation to a well engineered and good looking device.
I agree FTB – the car I drive is not a status symbol for me. And, I don’t look at my possessions or caring a iPad to be a boastful thing. Nor is it expressing my sensitivity of style. My personal ware and appearances; my clothing do not need to reflect who I am nor the mood I am in. I am not an aggressive person so desire for tattoos or piercings. Compensate the lack of something or doing something to appear otherwise – no. I just never equated an importance to communicate fashion-wise.
However, I do appreciate Apple to do so. Though, I never bought anything Apple based on how it looks. Rather because it works great.
This sounds more like me, than the story.
Of course the credit card I use for my Mac purchases is not used for any clothing or life style purchases either.
What kind of beer do Mac owners prefer?
@FTB & Bob: Gotta love you guys! I’ve been retired for over ten years and haven’t worn a suit since. My suits, ties, and dress shirts are all packed away. They probably no longer fit. I have a dozen or so T-shirts that I wear (about half are from odd-ball bars or restaurants or construction companies), a few Carhartt jeans, some sweaters and hats, and that’s about it. A couple of nicer duds for visiting or going to dinner.
As for beer: I’m a self-confessed beer snob: Nothing but beer from craft breweries or imported lagers from Europe (or even China). Anything but the swill that Coors, Miller, and Anheuser-Busch produce.
I’ve been an Apple user since 1978, even to the extent of bringing my own Macs into Windows shops.
“What kind of beer do Mac owners prefer?”
Local craft brews, of course. From a cask if possible. Real beer. No Bud piss, tenk yew veddy much.
@FTB – You and me both.
All I can figure is that somewhere there are flaming metrosexual Mac users to offset the rest of us.
Ad agencies maybe?
Although I’ve long had this vision in my mind:
Steve Jobs, at home, shouting halfway across the house “Honey, have you seen my black turtleneck?”
“Are PCs designed for people who are more interested in functionality and less about design?”
WTF is this guy smoking? in what universe the pc is “functional” or has design????
People who has Mac is because it simply WORKS!!!!! the beauty of the design is and extra.
Agree. Big leap to say slow and laborious PC’s are more functional. It’s just more intrenched.
What fluff. Since Macs used to cost more, the naturally selected for a higher income clientele. Nowadays the do not really cost more but rather they are at the higher end of the market (as are the higher end PCs). Since there are many more PC users that can access computers costing 400 bucks, then money is an issue and again, it is a natural selection.
Big elfin deal. Its like saying Guys that own oil companies, or CEOs of big companies are more aware of and buy finer wines than owners of vegetable stands at a local outdoor market.
Is it a “fashion” thing or are Apple users more discriminating and more appreciative of good design?
And no-one is concerned about the privacy implication of these spending analysis?
I just shredded my credit card. I’m moving back to cash payments.
not if they are not collecting user specific data, not at all. I think crowd sources data is useful and I’d gladly contribute to it frequently if I could be 100% sure nothing personal was collected.
This article could have been written 10 years ago. Nothing new here. In fact, the Mac user profile has actually dragged DOWN since the iPod came along and sucked in lots of people who were more suited to being Windows users.
The “study” makes the elemetary mistake of assuming that higher wage earners are also “fashionistas”. In the case of tech-saavy people, quite the opposite is more likely to be the case. Silly article.
i just charge my iOS devices with Bio-Electricity!
I don’t give a damn about being fashionable. And that goes for my computers too. It’s about the OS and functionality for me.