[NewsPoster]

Perhaps you read last week's survey results from some Apple store shoppers, and perhaps you didn't. It did shed some light on the current "average" Apple product user -- some results we were expecting, and some we weren't. We're going to do it again soon, and we want your input, MacNN readers.

As a quick summary of our results, we did a poll of Apple Store shoppers at a few different locations. We found that of the 1,000-strong iOS user population, 200 had Macs. We also found out that the vast majority of iOS and OS X users rely on Apple products to "just work," and use them more as appliances to the point that they do little or no maintenance on them -- in contrast to how veteran MacNN readers approach their machines.

So, we leave it to you, readers. While we're not going to guarantee we ask any of your questions verbatim, we are curious. What do you want us to ask about that's related to Apple? Be as specific, or as general as you'd like.

We have some criteria for our sessions with shoppers exiting the store, though. We want to take about 30 seconds per respondent, so as not to irritate them, or take too much of their day. We want the entire polling body of 1,000 users to be reached in just a few hours, so a poll with too specific a qualifying question will take too long to complete. More general info about the user base is better than more focused data. We won't be collecting names, ethnicities, ages, or sexes.

With that in mind, what do you want to know from Apple's customers?

[bobolicious]

...dare I suggest that mall buyers may have a very specific metric...

I'd prefer a broader spectrum of reporting, including sales percentages by volume, dollars & growth if that is possible to apportion feedback, including independent dealer (some are pro only), Apple Business sales & refurb online figures, with representative input from all sectors, lest the pro / business / NGO / academic markets be under represented or excluded...

Having just seen the iPad Pro, and reports it is as fast as many MacBooks, I'd ask if a paradigm shift may be underway...?

[panjandrum]

I think it would be very interesting to see polls directed specifically toward persons with long-term Apple-centric education and small-business IT admin positions to see how they think Apple software/hardware is doing in those environments. But I realize that's far from your typical demographic. It would also be interesting to see what long-term-typical-Apple-users feel, as compared to brand-new-typical-Apple-users.

[panjandrum]

PS. And thank for asking for our input on this. I think that shows some real interest (and integrity) on your part.

[chimaera]

My suggestion: a question or two about internal expansion of our products.

Apple has been sealing up their products more and more, to the point where even the most expensive Mac Pro cannot take a PCIe expansion card, a 2nd internal drive, or a later GPU. iMacs have become a nightmare to open. The iOS devices can't even accept RAM upgrades. Buy a 16 GB iPhone, you have 16 GB forever.

Is Apple stuffing their pockets with forced upgrades, or is the average customer actually OK with this?

[Mike Wuerthele]

Originally Posted by panjandrum 

I think it would be very interesting to see polls directed specifically toward persons with long-term Apple-centric education and small-business IT admin positions to see how they think Apple software/hardware is doing in those environments. But I realize that's far from your typical demographic. It would also be interesting to see what long-term-typical-Apple-users feel, as compared to brand-new-typical-Apple-users.

This is more full-interview fodder, than mass-polling. I'll toss it on the whiteboard, but I think you already know what long-term-typical-Apple users feel.

[Mike Wuerthele]

Originally Posted by bobolicious 

...dare I suggest that mall buyers may have a very specific metric...

They are. Apple attributes some-odd 80% of their sales both in dollar and volume to the Apple Retail store, so even if you assume a 30% variance for conservatism in the numbers we presented the other day, that doesn't change the numbers much.

I'd prefer a broader spectrum of reporting, including sales percentages by volume, dollars & growth if that is possible to apportion feedback, including independent dealer (some are pro only), Apple Business sales & refurb online figures, with representative input from all sectors, lest the pro / business / NGO / academic markets be under represented or excluded...

See above, but since Apple doesn't break this out, this will be hard to accomplish, and a lot of labor for not a lot of significant results. I'll put it on the whiteboard, though, and try and figure out how to do it. This is far beyond the parameters above, though.

[Mike Wuerthele]

Originally Posted by chimaera 

My suggestion: a question or two about internal expansion of our products.

On the whiteboard. This fits in the parameters of the questioning, but based on previous numbers, which I don't expect to change, it'll be an iOS-heavy response.

Assuming the 1:5 ratio holds, to get 1000 OS X users, it'll take four people about 10 hours of polling.

[chimaera]

I'm OK with the iOS answers, since it would be impractical to get Mac-only answers. For example, a micro-SD card slot on an iPhone would allow the user to increase internal storage by 128 GB with current cards. A micro USB port would allow many further peripherals.

Standardized expansion options are friendly to all customers.

[applesean]

I wanna know if they would like to be able to view RSS feeds in Safari. I'd like to know if they would prefer an antiglare screen versus a glossy screen.

[Mike Wuerthele]

Originally Posted by applesean 

I wanna know if they would like to be able to view RSS feeds in Safari. I'd like to know if they would prefer an antiglare screen versus a glossy screen.

Might be too specific, but I'll toss it on the whiteboard.

[Steve Wilkinson]

1) Do you use your iPhone as your primary computing device, or in cooperation with other computing devices?

2) For the next round of iPhones (and iDevices) would you rather Apple use a proprietary Lightening connector, or a standard USB-C connector?

3) Would you rather Apple put effort into creating new features, or fixing existing issues and making their core apps work again?

4) Are you happy with Apple's new direction favoring consumer electronics at the expense of supporting creatives and content producers?

5) Would you rather Apple focus on profit margins or user-experience?

6) If Apple no longer made OSX based computers (desktops, laptops), would you still use an iPhone?

[Mike Wuerthele]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson 

1) Do you use your iPhone as your primary computing device, or in cooperation with other computing devices?

2) For the next round of iPhones (and iDevices) would you rather Apple use a proprietary Lightening connector, or a standard USB-C connector?

3) Would you rather Apple put effort into creating new features, or fixing existing issues and making their core apps work again?

4) Are you happy with Apple's new direction favoring consumer electronics at the expense of supporting creatives and content producers?

5) Would you rather Apple focus on profit margins or user-experience?

6) If Apple no longer made OSX based computers (desktops, laptops), would you still use an iPhone?

We threw together the first polling in very little time, with very little research about how to ask questions, to get meaningful data. We got lucky in a few regards, but we could have done some things better. Since then, I've enlisted some professional help to get good data without leading respondents to a desired answer. Questions 1,2, and 6 are good as-is.

Your questions are good end-goals, but some of the questions, including 3 through 5 are a bit too leading as written. There's bound to be a better way to get to the point, without being so leading. Number 3 is probably better asked if the user has experienced bugs or problems with Apple software as a qualifier to a follow-up question, if the user feels Apple has done enough to fix any experienced problem.

Given the just-over two-year experience with Apple with a heavy iOS focus, I don't think the respondents will see #4 as an issue. A better way to ask it is somehow asking if the shift from OS X to iOS is a problem for the company in their eyes. As proposed, question #5 has the same issues as when we asked users if they wanted a slimmer device, with no context, like it discusses in the forums.

The general ideas are on the whiteboard, we'll think on them.

[Charles Martin]

Just wanted to add that we appreciate the input, even if we can't (for any number of possible reasons) use your specific question, you guys. It will definitely have an influence on what we ask about going forward.

[coffeetime]

I wonder how many PC users ditched their laptops and use iPads as their main computer now. That's my question for you guys. This probably contributes to the downfall of Windows machines.

[Think4D]

Off the top of my head:
Income range
intended purpose of device
do you use cloud services to back up
age range/gender
what industry do they work in
do you they use Macs or PCs at work
how many devices do they have at work and home, and which platform