[veritas68]

This came up at another forum. Generally, I think of the average mac user as MORE intelligent than the average PC users. I know a lot of smart people on both sides. However, if you group them into 'mac' or 'pc' people, the mac side is usually more intelligent, higher education, and more creative.

I cannot back this up.

Can someone please help me out here?

- Ca$h

[MacGorilla]

We use macs, so by definition, we're better than PCs users. Sheesh.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

the truly smart people are the ones who use both.


having said that � if you are a PC lover and hate macs, you are not using macs. A PC hating mac lover will still use a PC when he has to. I hope that clarifies your question.

[Phat Bastard]

I think the only thing that sets Mac users apart from PC users is their originality and anti-conformist attitude. You are anti-conformist by definition if you own a Mac.

To say that Mac users are "more intelligent" than PC users is just as ridiculous as making any other blatant stereotype. There are obviously smarter-than-the-average-Joe Mac users out there, and there are extremely bright PC users out there. Why make such a blanket statement by saying "Mac users are more intelligent than PC users"?

One's intelligence has no bearing on what type of computer they use, and conversely, the type of computer one uses has no bearing on one's intelligence.

Computers are just tools. Truly intelligent people use any tool that does the job for them, Mac or PC, Linux, Unix, whatever.

[nredman]

mac users aren't more intelligent than PC users...and PC users aren't more intelligent than mac users...but linux/unix users are smarter than PC users...and linux/unix users are somewhat smarter than mac users...but people who use webtv are not as intelligent as PC users...but maybe AOL users are not as intelligent as WebTV users...agh who cares anyways...

[veritas68]

Here's the reason I think it's true. 95% of computer users are PC users. 5% are mac users. Of that 5%, quite a few are creative professionals. The PC users are made up of EVERYONE, including office people, secretaries, and the AVERAGE person.

Considering the 95% group is made up of a TON of people, the AVERAGE intelligence would be fairly AVERAGE. Considering the mac user group would consist of a ton of creative professionals and other strange original people, I would expect it to be higher.

Has anyone ever performed a study?

- Ca$h

[IceEnclosure]

Originally posted by veritas68:
Here's the reason I think it's true. 95% of computer users are PC users. 5% are mac users. Of that 5%, quite a few are creative professionals. The PC users are made up of EVERYONE, including office people, secretaries, and the AVERAGE person.

Considering the 95% group is made up of a TON of people, the AVERAGE intelligence would be fairly AVERAGE. Considering the mac user group would consist of a ton of creative professionals and other strange original people, I would expect it to be higher.

Has anyone ever performed a study?

- Ca$h

after reading this post, I performed the study, and yes.. what you've just said is all true.

study concluded. the average mac user is smarter than the average pc user.

[Shaddim]

Actually, I'd say that PC users are more intelligent... I mean, hell, their sh!t's always tearing up and they constantly have to fix it. All that experience has to have some benefit, doesn't it?

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
A PC hating mac lover will still use a PC when he has to. I hope that clarifies your question.

Have you SEEN some of the people around here? That couldn't be further from the truth.

Mac zealots are far less reasonable and knowledgeable than PC zealots, in general, I've found.

[Doc Juansinn]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
Have you SEEN some of the people around here? That couldn't be further from the truth.

Mac zealots are far less reasonable and knowledgeable than PC zealots, in general, I've found.

Right on! It's a nice fantasy to believe that you are part of an intelligent group simply because you use the same computer as they do, but it's just that - a fantasy.

The most intelliget computer users I know are the ones who NEVER run around spouting off about how great their computer is and how intelligent they are because they use that particular brand. To them, it is just a computer and there are much more important things in life than Mac vs. PC.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

My theory- people who recognize the value of a tool without blindly dismissing all others (usually out of fear and/or ignorance) always tend to be more intelligent. Hardcore zealots on both sides of the platform aisle tend to be raving idiots.

If I had been asked the question in 1997 and previously, I�d have generally gone with Mac users being on average more intelligent. In those days, no one bought an 8600 or 9600 because they were trendy. No one was buying Macs because they look �kool�. The owner of such a machine was more than likey a working professional, with high intelligence and the skill to match.

Since 1998 though, and the advent of the candy-coated iAge, the platform has been inundated with a lot of people who�s idea of computer �skill� was choosing a color of translucent plastic, and being able to ENDLESSLY recite close-minded falsehoods about every other platform, in place of actual knowledge, skill, and being able to DO anything useful with the machine itself. The type that tend to think computers are status symbols, trendy statements, and that just owning a certain brand automagically puts one in some unique class.

The G5 finally seems more of a true pro�s machine; perhaps such a serious piece of equipment, priced generally beyond the range of mere status-seeking iUsers, might help tip the platform scales back in favor of the hardcore �pro� Mac user. Time will tell.

At the present time, I�d have to answer- the platform agnostics take the intelligence prize.

[Hawkeye_a]

Cant explain it. we just are more intelligent

[dtriska]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
Mac zealots are far less reasonable and knowledgeable than PC zealots, in general, I've found.

In my experience, the opposite is true. The Mac zealots I know have used Windows boxes. The PC zealots I know haven't looked at a Mac since OS 7. I remember running into one about 3 years ago who believed Macs still didn't have colour screens! That's how "knowledgeable" the PC zealots I've run into are.

Anyways, Ca$h's question is a mathematical one. And, here's one answer.

[rozwado1]

I don't think a logical decision on intelligence can be made depending on which computer you own/use.

But can we all agree that people who use AOL are stupid?

[gorgonzola]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
Mac zealots are far less reasonable and knowledgeable than PC zealots, in general, I've found.

I disagree. I find both types of zealots equally foolish and irritating. ;-)

Generally, zealots don't know what they're talking about, so I don't really know what the point is in comparing two people with no relevant knowledge. It's like debating whether zero or nothing is smaller.

Overall, I think this is a pretty useless question, since despite the large differences in market share, both groups will average out to pretty much the same thing. There are a lot of creative and intelligent people who aren't grouped under the somewhat poorly named term "creative professionals," which really only applies to people doing art or film or something like that.

[olePigeon]

There was a study put out by Gartner I think that said Macintosh users, on average, had a higher degree of education and made more money.

You could probably find it if you googled for it.

[- - e r i k - -]

Are Mac users smarter?

Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings.

The study also said Mac users tend to be more Web savvy, with more than half having been online for at least five years. And the Mac faithful are 58 percent more likely than the overall online population to build their own Web page and also slightly more likely to buy goods online, according to the report.

"With above-average household income and education levels, the Mac population presents a very attractive target for marketers, both online and offline," the research group said.

[sniffer]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
Have you SEEN some of the people around here? That couldn't be further from the truth.

Mac zealots are far less reasonable and knowledgeable than PC zealots, in general, I've found.

Hmm.. But why do all my PC friends come to me with their PC problems me wonder? I have my XP box, but I haven't tinkered Windows since Win98.

[D'Espice]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
There was a study put out by Gartner I think that said Macintosh users, on average, had a higher degree of education and made more money.

You could probably find it if you googled for it.

Macs are more expensive than PCs. Hence Mac users have more money since they were able to afford a Mac.

However I disagree that Mac users are smarter (or FWIW that PC users are smarter) - we're all the same and it's just a matter of taste.
Also, 95% of all Mac users take for granted that PC user equals Windows user - which is as wrong as Mac users being smarter than PC users (or PC users being smarter than Mac users).
There, I said it: Instead of spending time in the real world doing real world stuff we argue about being smarter than the other side over the internet - we're all stupid.

[chalk_outline]

If you can afford a Macintosh for personal use. You have more money. So you have more education. More school = More Macintosh. I'm a high school drop-out skilled at the art of theft. It's cool. I'll steal your PC..Too..

[rampant]

No, but they're gayer and more geeky.

[Krusty]

This thread is begging for this

[voodoo]

I'm not sure if I agree with the final message in that switch ad

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally posted by D'Espice:
Macs are more expensive than PCs. Hence Mac users have more money since they were able to afford a Mac.

However I disagree that Mac users are smarter (or FWIW that PC users are smarter) - we're all the same and it's just a matter of taste.
Also, 95% of all Mac users take for granted that PC user equals Windows user - which is as wrong as Mac users being smarter than PC users (or PC users being smarter than Mac users).

No, it's pure mathematics really. The 96-7% covers a large base of intelligence which median intelligence is more or less the same as the world average. The 3-4% of mac-users have on average more money and higher education which generally speaking has a higher average intelligence than the world average.

So, yeah, the average mac-user with 2.1 children are smarter than the average PC-user with 2.4 children.

[Cubeoid]

Am I smarter? I don't know. Do I think different, you best believe i do!

[boots]

I can only speak for myself. I'm neither smarter nor stupider than the next guy.


I use both Mac and PC. I also use an SGI box and a Sun Spark station. Oh yeah, and a Linux cluster. I prefer my mac for most things, but the others are useful to have access to.

[engaged]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
the truly smart people are the ones who use both.

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
At the present time, I�d have to answer- the platform agnostics take the intelligence prize.

Vindication, and compliments.

They both have their place; I use (as I've said here before) both, happily - nor do I get particularly fired up about the argument. I prefer the Mac OS and the quality of the software (freeware/shareware) available, but the main apps I use on my PC (Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, Inventor and Viz) aren't available for the Mac - and I couldn't afford one fast enough to run them even if they were.

I think it's a matter of sophistication and awareness; people who generally don't know any better (or care) will not see there being a choice and have a PC by default. The more discerning computer user will look at them both and weigh up the pros and cons of each.

[Stratus Fear]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
the truly smart people are the ones who use both.

That's what I think, but most people don't seem to want to hear that.

[Phat Bastard]

Well said, man, well said!

Originally posted by Dr. Wahnsinn:
Right on! It's a nice fantasy to believe that you are part of an intelligent group simply because you use the same computer as they do, but it's just that - a fantasy.

The most intelliget computer users I know are the ones who NEVER run around spouting off about how great their computer is and how intelligent they are because they use that particular brand. To them, it is just a computer and there are much more important things in life than Mac vs. PC.

[Stuphalina]

Bah, personally, I know more about basic pc's than many pc users do and I hate to use them. But that is just me.
Smarter in general, no. It's all relative.


But I sure would like to think so!

[d4nth3m4n]

the audience for this question is a little skewed ... most in here (cant say all necessarily) are not the average mac user. talk to anyone who has ever worked a help desk, and youll have your ear talked off about idiots on both sides of the OS fence.

i think there is probably a larger population of "smart" windows people simply because there is a larger windows community.

macs are marketed to retards and held together by people like us who know what the hell were doing and where to go/ who to talk do if we dont.

[DekuDekuplex]

Originally posted by chalk_outline:
If you can afford a Macintosh for personal use. You have more money. So you have more education. More school = More Macintosh.[comments deleted]

Not necessarily. There are many cases of people with less education having more money.

For example, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University, so he has less education than, say, I do (because I actually graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.). But he has considerably more money than I do (or any of you do, for that matter). Ergo, more money doesn't imply more education. Q.E.D.

Of course, having a good education has nothing to do with being smart, or having a good personality, either....

--DekuDekuplex

[Turias]

Originally posted by DekuDekuplex:
Not necessarily. There are many cases of people with less education having more money.

There are plenty of cases for any scenario out there. There are always outliers. If you look at correlations and trends, though, people with more money tend to receive higher educations.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Maybe Mac users tend to want to live vicariously through the assumed accomplishments of others?

Seriously, what�s it matter anyway?

So let�s assume everyone else using the same product you do, is a freakin� genius millionare. Doesn�t make you one.

[Turias]

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
So let�s assume everyone else using the same product you do, is a freakin� genius millionare. Doesn�t make you one.

No, but it says that given a random person X who uses said product A, there is a (num_users(A) - 1) / num_users(A) percent chance that X is a freakin' genius.

[DekuDekuplex]

Originally posted by veritas68:
This came up at another forum. Generally, I think of the average mac user as MORE intelligent than the average PC users. I know a lot of smart people on both sides. However, if you group them into 'mac' or 'pc' people, the mac side is usually more intelligent, higher education, and more creative.

I cannot back this up.

Can someone please help me out here?

- Ca$h

This question is so vaguely worded that it is impossible to decide this matter objectively.

There are many different kinds of PC's, ranging from low-end desktops costing less than $1000 to USD$3000+ name-brand laptops designed for specialists.

Similarly, there are many different kinds of Macintosh� computers, ranging from USD$799 eMac� desktops to USD$2999 PowerBook� laptops.

The difference between Macintosh� users and PC users is really one of taste.

Perhaps the following question would be more objective: If you group computer users into those who use Macintosh� products those who use PC's, which group places more emphasis on taste?

The answer to this question is far clearer: To borrow from Scott Kelby in Macintosh... The Naked Truth, most PC users use their machines just for the functionality, but many Macintosh� users use their Mac's for the experience.

In other words, for many Macintosh� users, taste matters.

In fact, if I remember correctly, I once saw Steve Jobs himself say in a television interview that the chief difference between Apple� products and Microsoft� products was one of taste.

--DekuDekuplex

[D'Espice]

I don't think anybody in here will be stupid enough to argue against you in that case. Of course it's a matter of taste, just take a look at the average PC and say , the eMac or iMac.

But one has to admit that even PCs are getting better and better and there already have been some cheap ripoffs by Gateway and others.

[veritas68]

Originally posted by - - e r i k - -:
No, it's pure mathematics really. The 96-7% covers a large base of intelligence which median intelligence is more or less the same as the world average. The 3-4% of mac-users have on average more money and higher education which generally speaking has a higher average intelligence than the world average.

So, yeah, the average mac-user with 2.1 children are smarter than the average PC-user with 2.4 children.

EXACTLY!

People, read my posts, and this one. Agree, disagree, anyway we can prove it?

- Ca$h

[Phat Bastard]

This sounds disturbingly like the original "scientific" arguments for racism. In the 19th century Francis Galton (cousin to Charles Darwin) argued for a social heirarchy based on race that he believed was supported by statistics, biology and evolution. Without going too far off topic, he thought that white people should be higher on the social heirarchy because they had more "desirable characteristics" than, say, black people.

He was also the founder of eugenics. We all know how great of an idea that was. This guy was a moron.

Now a certain someone here is trying to "prove" there is an intelligence heirarchy based on the statistics and "desirable characteristics" of computer usage. A certain someone here wants to hear that Mac users are smarter, more educated, wealthier, more creative--all desirable characteristics--and they are tying this to something as stupid as their type of computer.

Give it up man, must you continue to pad your fragile ego by trying to "prove" your superiority?

Originally posted by veritas68:
EXACTLY!

People, read my posts, and this one. Agree, disagree, anyway we can prove it?

- Ca$h

[dlefebvre]

More intelligent, I don't know.
But more taste for sure.

[veritas68]

Originally posted by Phat Bastard:
A certain someone here wants to hear that Mac users are smarter, more educated, wealthier, more creative--all desirable characteristics--and they are tying this to something as stupid as their type of computer.

Dude, it isn't stupid.

Think about it.

Macs = expensive.

In order to afford EXPENSIVE, you need more money.

In order to get lots of money, you GENERALLY need to have a college degree. GENERALLY.

It makes sense that mac users GENERALLY are more educated than PC users.

More education GENERALLY means more intelligent.

- Ca$h

[nredman]

Originally posted by veritas68:
Dude, it isn't stupid.

Think about it.

Macs = expensive.

In order to afford EXPENSIVE, you need more money.

In order to get lots of money, you GENERALLY need to have a college degree. GENERALLY.

It makes sense that mac users GENERALLY are more educated than PC users.

More education GENERALLY means more intelligent.

- Ca$h

GENERALLY yes

i don't have a college degree or have lots of money....so GENERALLY and very GENERALLY yes

[todrain]

Well, today expensive often mean more debt, not always more money.

I know people who barely scrape by, but bought a plasma TV because it's cool.

[Link]

LOL @ the above..

I use what I need to.. I have quite a few PCs laying around and my mac, and swap out what's needed from time to time -- usually my table has my g4 running OS X and my PC running FreeBSD on one partition and windows 2000 on another..

for fallback a second HD is inside (but not hooked up) with an install of windows 98..

the method works extremely well for me.. As a main machine I prefer one that runs OS X since I'm a *n?x guy by choice .. and my needs of a unix based OS grow by the day it seems..

But it's also got a great assortment of commercial games, which while existent on FreeBSD and many linux distros, they're few and far between... while I can always reboot into windows, sometimes i just don't feel like having the added noise and inconvinience of having a second machine running at the same time.. Like at 3am when the house is quiet and I'm enjoying the rain or something.

Then again, I do find it EXACTLY like speaking multiple languages, the more you use the more you can do.. and the more people you can be 'compatible' with, albeit I find all OSes are about as compatible as eachother lol..

I actually think quite the contrary to most of what's been said so far though, and that is that the average PC person -- especially when arguing about even the type of machine, will have more opinion than fact, but there are quite a few mac users which are just as bad..

These people having last used OS7 or whatnot, it really disgusts me as 99% of the time their last use of the mac os was at a school.. whether they had OS X and 85% of their apps used classic or they had OS7 and their machines froze every time you tried to force quit something (an experience I've had myself lol)....

You'll also find for a great deal of windows users .. especially when a thread comes about "what new laptop should I buy?" stuff like.. "Use HP cuz it's the coolest!" comes up... and I've seen multiple times people excuse the fact that their machine was slow, having problems, or etc for the "fact that it's a computer .. and computers are like that".. This actually irritates me because computers are NOT like that, and the high maintanence curve in windows seems to make this an uphill battle.

I like to argue that OS X, however isn't so much a "macos" as it is a unix varient.. while it has an apple menu and a finder, it's so much more usable then the "classic" os ever could have dreamed of being, even with it's candy-apple GUI!.. and perhaps that's what has won me over for now.

My thoughts? Multi platform is the way to be, but there are limitations on how a mac user can be 'more intelligent' <-- think more EXPERIENCED than a PC user.

IMHO this is a stereotype -- one which while true on a given sample may or may not be true in your target audience.. Experience, however is important.

I can happily give a person a 'walkthrough' on quite a few things with practically any windows version, and even a few linuxes here and there.. as far as I'm concerned it usually gets me great respect, until I tell the person I need to turn on my PC and double check that last step is correct..

"what?"

"yeah.. I'm on my g4 right now"

"what's that?" "a mac" "OMG HAHAHA MAC SUX they're so slow and ugly"

"maybe you haven't used one lately? OSX is a great unix varient and likely nothing like what you've seen before"

I don't know how many times that's saved my @$$.. after that most people either get intrigued at the thought of a unix-based OS that looks like it was designed by M&Ms/Mars corp, or wake up and smell the coffee.

I won't disagree though that OSX needs a LOT of optimizing.. having been in the right place at the right time before, when the **** hits the fan (mostly with pageouts), it really hits it hard, and while windows will fail to refresh and whatnot in windows xp, in OS X you get a pretty little cursor and everything's just about as usable as talking to a 5 year old with ADHD.

I'd love to see OSX as fast as windows 2000, and instead of hearing "oh it's slow? Why don't you buy a powermac g5", I'd like to hear of even more optimization, as it's pathetic seeing OS X act, at times, about as fast as windows xp on my old pentium 166/mmx with 64mb ram.

As I've said though, the craziness of my workflow can bring any OS to it's knees it seems.

*dumps his 2 cents on the tray*

[Phat Bastard]

Let me distill down my points again:

1. Why bother using trends and generalities, as poor as you admit they are, to justify Mac user's superiority? It's such a pointless correlation. There are stupid Mac users and smart PC users. Just like there are stupid people and smart people, irrespective of what computer they use.

2. Why do you even need to feel that Mac users are more intelligent? I would be the first person alive to admit I'm a dimwit, and I don't really give a rat's ass becuase I have no ego. Why do you have to be more intelligent that the regular computer user?

Originally posted by veritas68:
Dude, it isn't stupid.

Think about it.

Macs = expensive.

In order to afford EXPENSIVE, you need more money.

In order to get lots of money, you GENERALLY need to have a college degree. GENERALLY.

It makes sense that mac users GENERALLY are more educated than PC users.

More education GENERALLY means more intelligent.

- Ca$h

[OreoCookie]

Originally posted by veritas68:
Dude, it isn't stupid.

Think about it.

Macs = expensive.

In order to afford EXPENSIVE, you need more money.

In order to get lots of money, you GENERALLY need to have a college degree. GENERALLY.

It makes sense that mac users GENERALLY are more educated than PC users.

More education GENERALLY means more intelligent.

- Ca$h

Ditto.

[brapper]

generally, more fortunate and better guided.
we're not necessarily smarter, as once upon a time EVEN I used a PC.

[veritas68]

Originally posted by Phat Bastard:
Let me distill down my points again:

1. Why bother using trends and generalities, as poor as you admit they are, to justify Mac user's superiority? It's such a pointless correlation. There are stupid Mac users and smart PC users. Just like there are stupid people and smart people, irrespective of what computer they use.

I'm not doing it to justify a Mac user's superiority. Just because you use a mac does not make you smarter than a PC user. The reason I wanted some other facts was because on a different forum, another member (not me) said "Yeah, most mac users are generally more intelligent than the average person." A PC user I know and admire went straight into PC-retardism, and demanded an apology, and was SOOO offended.

Why was he offended? Because he's being too bullheaded to admit that it's true.

Does this mean that most mac users are more intelligent than him? NO! But the point I've tried to make, which is apparently too hard to understand for most people, is that when you 'average' windows users intelligences, you get a very AVERAGE intelligence quotient. With mac users, since they are a smaller number of people, the number is thrown off a bit since a LOT of them are educated, and professionals. With PC users, there are actually MORE educated people and MORE professionals, but unfortunately there are a LOT more average and somewhat stupid users. This brings their average down.

[/B][/QUOTE]2. Why do you even need to feel that Mac users are more intelligent? [/B][/QUOTE]

I don't NEED to. It's just something I've noticed, from my experiences. If I think of all the stupid people I know, ALL OF THEM use PCs. ALL OF THEM. If I think of all of my brilliant friends, most use PCs, but a few use macs. Hence, the mac users are generally more intelligent than the AVERAGE PC user.

I would be the first person alive to admit I'm a dimwit, and I don't really give a rat's ass becuase I have no ego.

You don't need to admit to such things; you've already made it quite clear since you apparently cannot follow what I've been saying.

Why do you have to be more intelligent that the regular computer user?

I don't have to be, I just AM. It's not like I decided to be. Also, I believe you meant '"THAN" the avg user', not 'that'.

Anyway...

- Ca$h

[wang_himself]

In before the close

[wataru]

Originally posted by DekuDekuplex:
Not necessarily. There are many cases of people with less education having more money.

This is true.

Proof:

Knowledge = Power
Power = Energy/Time
Time = Money

From these:

Knowledge = Energy/Money
so Money = Energy/Knowledge

Therefore:

The limit of Money as Knowledge -> 0 = infiniy

So the stupider you are the more money you should have.