Are iPad owners selfish elitists?
According to a month-long study, iPad owners are selfish and unkind. What do you think?
Do you think the iPad is an essential device? Are you an early adopter of Apple’s new gadget? If so, then I’m the bearer of some bad news: you’re a selfish and unkind overachiever. But whoa, Nelly! Before you start berating me, I’m not the one making the assertion – direct your wrath at consumer research firm MyType who arrived at this conclusion after a month-long study of their 20,000 users. From the blog:
iPad owners are an elite bunch. They’re wealthy, highly educated and sophisticated. They value power and achievement much more than others. They’re also selfish, scoring low on measures of kindness and altruism. As can be seen in the chart below, we found that people with all or most of these qualities, whom we call selfish elites, are roughly 6 times more likely to be an iPad Owner than the average person.
Ouch! Somewhat surprisingly, the study also asserts that it’s the iPad critics rather than the early adopters who fall into the category of geek. Also from their blog:
iPad critics, on the other hand, tend to be independent geeks. They prize self-direction, shun conformity, and are interested in video games, computers, electronics, science and the internet. One of the strongest single indicators of being an iPad critic is a preference for the Linux (a do-it-yourself operating system for super geeks) over Windows or Macintosh. Even Mac users are more likely to criticize the product than Windows users, the PC population being the least geeky of all.
What do you think? Can you really deduce something about a person’s personality from his or her choice of computer? Is it the case that iPad purchasing decisions are more influenced by a belief in Feng Shui and a need to show off in coffee shops than by the desire to own a practical computing device? Leave a comment and let us know!
Filed Under: Hardware & Gadgets > iPad
Tags: ipad, ipad owners, MyType, research, study
Wow, I’m, well speechless really. The first part is kind of complimentary but then that last bit, not so much. While I can certainly attest to the sophistication and intelligence of iPad owners, the selfish part doesn’t ring true at all. I also take issue with the notion that PC users are less geeky than Mac or Linux users. Geeky is a state of mind not a choice of operating system. I’ve met plenty of geeks in my life and not once have I been able to establish an operating system of preference among them. In fact the thing that makes them all alike in their geekiness is their willingness to argue about the various merits of these OS’s.
P.S. Wrote this on my iPad
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Ya, what Simon said except that I do not have an iPad or iAnything. This was written on my super tweaked XP Pro self build ultra tricked out over clocked PC. Which happens to be in the company of my first Heath Kit 1977 H8 64K Ram computer, an earlier 1972 dipswitch controlled 4K gaming (lol) computer with many old, still viable components and the latest and greatest toys too.
My friends and I were geeks before it was so cool to be smart and focused on things that mystified everyone else. Now everyone wants the moniker tattooed to their foreheads, even stupid people try out for the Geek Olympics.
There is however no such thing as a MAC geek. To boot I have never seen anyone come into my local coffee emporium sporting an iPad.
Little Pokhito will be getting his check 1st of the month, again.
No you cannot judge a book by its’ cover and many times you can get a survey to say anything you want it to. Like statistics, they can tell the truth or a lie depending on the integrity of the data and presenters.
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The few ipad owners that I know do seem to be elitist but I may be judging them wrong.The ipad was created for simplicity.They even marketed it to people in their nineties.This is not the world of the geek.Geeks take pride in figuring things out for themselves.The ipad is not a challenge.It is more like a toy.
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It is indeed for those who also buy $4.00 coffees on a regular basis, maybe even have a selection of cds from starbucks in the console of their SUV, and perhaps shop mostly at Banana Rep. It is a simple little ‘does it all for you(for a price)’ toy to be seen with. Not that there is anything wrong with that! Thats Americana Baby! Besides, its funding from such people that enable tech comapanies to come out with really great items and world/market changing products.
I did buy the first edition iphone which I love and still use but for computers..I need to be able to make it my own, trick it out etc. I am PC all the way. Linux is a bit too much work for my liitle brain.
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I would have to agree on selfish elitist attitude of Apple advocates in general (at least those with products expensive enough to be out of range or too specific to be necessary to regular folks), but then, couldn’t the exact same thing be said about all products that allow you to show off your status (ie. luxery cars, $200 sunglasses, etc). I have a few Apple products, but get turned off pretty quickly by the zealots preaching artificially inflated benefits, or quoting the apple-fed marketing lines that validate how down to earth and reasonable their purchases are…
“I bought the BMW M5 for the great safety rating… no really, I did”, “Did you know that Apples are more secure (which funny enough, now that they are reaching high volumes, it turns out they are the least secure in a recent study).
Apple has done a great job of selling peacock feathers to the masses. It’s their business and they know it. It’s why they made white headphones (ooh, an iPod owner…). The fact that people parade around with them on full display and use them for enhanced self-importance, that’s a big part of their marketing strategy.
With apple expanding as much as they have, I have to wonder, when everyone has their Apple peacock feathers, does anyone really have peacock feathers anymore? When you can buy your Ray-Bans at Costco, does anyone really still believe that they are the coolest?
I think the big question is, now that Apple is mainstream, who’s the next Apple. The world is always looking for those unique peacock feathers.
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Wow, at last comments that are actually neutral on this subject. This has to be a first. And what is most worrisome is that I actually agree with them. If I could figure out what I would do with an Ipad, I might consider purchasing one, but alas, I am happy with my lowly laptop. Just as well, I spend to much time on the darn thing anyway.
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You needed a study to determine that iPad owners selfish elitist wannabe’s? Virtually all new Apple products are form over function and priced accordingly. Anyone requiring a study to demonstrably quantify this has their priorities as skewed as a typical iPad owner.
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Wow, I must admit this “study” and “evidence” of theirs is a load of tripe B.S.
Since when did choosing to buy a particular piece of computer hardware or software define you as an individual?
I can’t stand the negative attitude towards Apple fans that exist out there. I’ll admit that there are indeed Apple-Snobs around – but don’t always judge a book by it’s cover.
Not everyone who totes a Macbook in public does it to get noticed. I don’t. If I take mine it’s not for attention to to show off my “Apple Cred.”, it’s to get some damn work done.
If someone whips out a Dell in public do they get persecuted or judged for it? Or an Acer? Or a Gateway? No. No they don’t.
Also if their study was just of MyType’s own users, doesn’t that make it very selectively biased?
18% of 20,000 users of millions of iPad owners is not a representative sample.
And don’t even get me STARTED on that whole “geeks use Linux” line.
Ugh, this article has officially irked me.
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I still say the iPad is iNpractical uNnesccesary. I really don’t see the point in a Giant iPhone that can’t make calls.
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I agree Jedimaster apple are just a good example of how easy it is to manipulate our youth into buying something they dont need for way more than something (a laptop) equally as portable and larger screen that can do the job and more for almost half the price.
Any one who has one of these still needs a real computer to do any usefull work on. Its just a large gaming machin.
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