Every single coffeeshop I go to in the Bay area has the majority of the people using ibooks or powerbooks. It's usually 40% apples and 60% windows machines (dell, sony, hp, compaq etc). So even tho the users are primarily xp OS, the dominant machines are apple. If one didn't know anything about apple's small corner in the computer market, one would think that apple was on top based on these coffeeshop observations. Do you guys find this to be generally true in your area? What makes Mac users more likely to work in coffeeshops (at least around Berkeley)?
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Coffeeshops here will have you believe apple is #1
- Thread starter WillMak
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That's because Apple users are the only ones pretentious enough to have the desire of 'showing off their laptop' in a coffee shop.
They are only there to be seen.
(As if owning a computer and drinking coffee makes you "cool".."hey look at me and my powerbook...check out how artsy and ecentric I am..."
)
They are only there to be seen.
(As if owning a computer and drinking coffee makes you "cool".."hey look at me and my powerbook...check out how artsy and ecentric I am..."
)
I find this to be very accurate, although around here, (Madison, WI) I find it to be 60% Apple - 40% everything else. I seem to see the Apple glow everywhere. It does very from shop to shop though. My favorite place has a very high percentage of Mac users, but other places like Starbucks, have more Windows users.
Josh said:That's because Apple users are the only ones pretentious enough to have the desire of 'showing off their laptop' in a coffee shop.
They are only there to be seen.
(As if owning a computer and drinking coffee makes you "cool".."hey look at me and my powerbook...check out how artsy and ecentric I am..."
So if your drinking coffee and using you Mac in a coffee shop you're a pretentious show off, but if you're drinking coffee and using a pc laptop you're just a regular person??? Do you suggest Mac owners get a pc laptop to avoid looking this way?
How odd.
Bern said:So if your drinking coffee and using you Mac in a coffee shop you're a pretentious show off, but if you're drinking coffee and using a pc laptop you're just a regular person??? Do you suggest Mac owners get a pc laptop to avoid looking this way?
How odd.
Maybe he means like people walking around with european designer clothes are wearing them to be seen versuspeople who dress casually just wearing clothes to go abotu their business?
Let's not forget that all the Apple laptops are actually portable, except from the 17" PB. Most Windows laptops are only luggable. I know there are Windows laptops that are lighter and smaller than the Apple laptops, but they're by bar not as common as the large heavy ones.Josh said:That's because Apple users are the only ones pretentious enough to have the desire of 'showing off their laptop' in a coffee shop.
They are only there to be seen.
(As if owning a computer and drinking coffee makes you "cool".."hey look at me and my powerbook...check out how artsy and ecentric I am..."
It also might have something to do with the fact that Windows laptops only recently started selling with wireless cards built in (and it's still just for the higher end ones, if I am not mistaken), whereas Macs have had wireless built in for a long time.
Stampyhead said:
good point, also you are probably overestimating it because you notice them more
Bern said:So if your drinking coffee and using you Mac in a coffee shop you're a pretentious show off, but if you're drinking coffee and using a pc laptop you're just a regular person??? Do you suggest Mac owners get a pc laptop to avoid looking this way?
How odd.
When is the last time you saw someone with a over-the shoulder bag, black thick square-framed glasses, blue jeans, and a tie on using a windows laptop (anywhere)?
Go to any coffee shop around here, and the "wanna-be" designers in their bright green shirts, ties, and tight jeans are everywhere, just drying to be seen with their new powerbook/ibook.
Typically, people who are actually working on "work" like to do it in quiet places (libraries, offices, etc), and not loud coffee shops.
Josh said:
Not always; it depends on the kind of 'work' you are doing. If you have a busy day and need to check your email, change something in a presentation and grab something to eat between your morning/afternoon meetings, then a coffee shop where you can do all 3, is a much better bet than a library. Not to mention, that there are wi-fi'd coffee shops on most street corners whereas libraries and 'quiet places' are a little harder to find; particularly if you're in an area you don't know well.
*laughs*
I was reading the original post, and I forgot for a moment that this forum is for people all over the world, so I TOTALLY thought that post was about the area I live in...and it's 100% true! Needless to say, I live south of the Bay area, (monterey bay, actually) and yeah, you see nothing but Ibooks and PBs...
go figure
I was reading the original post, and I forgot for a moment that this forum is for people all over the world, so I TOTALLY thought that post was about the area I live in...and it's 100% true! Needless to say, I live south of the Bay area, (monterey bay, actually) and yeah, you see nothing but Ibooks and PBs...
go figure
Denver actually has mostly Windows machines. Apple as a brand still outnumbers any other particular brand, but OS to OS Windows has about 70% to Mac's 30%. This is based on observation from the coffee shop I manage, tho. Seems also to be true of the (no kidding) seven Starbucks within a 5 block radius.
Don't panic said:
I suspect there's also a bias here because of who uses PCs. Corporate types who issue PC laptops probably don't have a lot of workers going to coffeeshops to work. They go to offices somewhere else. Meanwhile, Apple, which is popular with students, independent business types, creative people, whoever, probably have more flexibility as to where they work and are more likely to want to do so in a coffee shop. So, you see them there, but not so much of hte PC people. Obviously this is a generalization, but we're just looking at percentages here.
Josh said:
This guys absolutely right.
First of all, its so easy to tell who owns a mac and who doesn't. The guy with the over the shoulder bag, long hair to the side, jeans, casual shirt and a sports blazer (holy crap I basically described my self) is the dude with the Mac.
But you know what, its the style and look out here in NYC right now, so its been getting a little bit tougher. But still, you can tell.
WillMak said:
I don't think so. Most people in UK coffee shops are drinking coffee. We don't have the same table/power point layouts that some of the US stores have.
Having said that, the UK Mac share is lower than in the US but I'd still say that in my local Starbucks, about one in 4 or 5 of the laptops are Macs.
Heck, even in the Apple Store in Regent St, there's usually about a 15% Windows share in the theatre audience leaching bandwidth and power.
Josh said:That's because Apple users are the only ones pretentious enough to have the desire of 'showing off their laptop' in a coffee shop.
They are only there to be seen.
(As if owning a computer and drinking coffee makes you "cool".."hey look at me and my powerbook...check out how artsy and ecentric I am..."
The times where you could show off with an Apple computer are long over.. if I wanted to show off I'd do with an IBM (now Lenovo) T-something Laptop. This classical black design is really a kind of understatement.. and IT people will know that it cost much more than an iBook ;-) (btw., here at ETH Zurich I see way more IBM laptops than Apple laptops..)
Josh said:
Are you just making this up, or can you point to some research that backs up your conclusion? "Work" today often involves collaborating over the internet, via cell phones, or face-to-face with co-workers... something that is frowned upon in "quiet places" like libraries. I'm not saying that quiet time isn't necessary sometimes, but just because someone is at Starbucks surfing the net and talking on thier cell phone, doesn't necessarily mean that they're not working on "work."
meh I think there is a certain amount of people just showing off their macs in coffee shops but I also think it depends on which coffee shops your in. In chain ones (starsucks, second cup etc) you'll probably see lots of mac users showing off.
I used to hang out in this indie coffee shop in Calgary and there was way more windows machines then apples. Then again this shop was rock & roll.
I used to hang out in this indie coffee shop in Calgary and there was way more windows machines then apples. Then again this shop was rock & roll.
This Mac user bashing sounds like it's coming straight from Michael Savage or Ann Coulter.
I'm just waiting for someone to say, "Only whiny liberals use Mac."
Anyway, culture warfare is absurd.
I think you all need to remember that Rush Limbaugh (ewwww) and Tom Clancy (yawn) use Macs before you fall back onto stereotypes.
I'm just waiting for someone to say, "Only whiny liberals use Mac."
Anyway, culture warfare is absurd.
I think you all need to remember that Rush Limbaugh (ewwww) and Tom Clancy (yawn) use Macs before you fall back onto stereotypes.