Wow they did research to find out what anyone who's ever been to a college campus knows: college students like macs. Did they really have to spend all that time surveying people all they had to do was look around and see that a lot of college students have macs and most of them have laptops.
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Survey Finds Apple Most Popular Notebook Brand Among U.S. College Students
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Agree! HP wanted engineers to use their product. TI wanted everyone else. Every Compaq and HP laptop I had needed to handle a connection issue between the LCD and the mother board. At least it was easy to get to the screws hidden below rubber pads instead of dealing with a hermetic seal. It usually came down to pulling the ribbon a bit for folding slack and remounting on the connector behind the LCD.
You might wanna rethink who you're referring to as a fanboy because you're not reading the news correctly (why am I surprised?). The article is not even about Windows, it's about Macs dominating in sales for students and each company, Dell, HP...... do not have a larger market share than Apple.. Funny how Apple haters always try to win the argument by bringing up Windows' market share as a whole rather than individual companies which matters the most.
+1
Apple is a hardware company that happens to make it's own software for its hardware. It competes against other hardware manufacturers like HP and Dell, and in the case of versus Microsoft, against the Zune - and we know how that battle is going. I have yet to see a Snow Leopard commercial on TV, and obviously Apple does not sell their software for installation on other manufacturer's hardware, so they are clearly not even running in the race so many PC/Windows fan boys claim to be "winning".
They do as much, if not more than, a netbook. And I have replaced my older MBP with my 3G iPad. It does everything I needed my laptop for. I think they should count. Despite what some may say, the iPad is not a large iPhone or iPod Touch. I do a lot of work on my iPad that I just couldn't practically do on the iPhone or Touch. And with its battery and media capabilities, I think it even blows away the Air.
Finally, with the upper end of the line costing up to $830, it can cost as much as many laptops (if not a majority).
At least most of them will be able to speak/write proper English.
It's not the only thing that is special about colleges. It's where young people want to "show up" by buying Macs and $300 jeans. They grow out of it soon after they graduate
Sounds like someone is jealous that they never got a higher education. From the first quote above, I can believe it.
I don't understand why people find it reasonable for this useless stat. GM is the number one US auto manufacturer now. They command 19.5% of the market (2009). They are ahead of all of their competitors. Toyota was second at 16.3 %
Notice that Wall Street doesn't say that GM is doing poorly because 80.5% of the market are non-GM autos.
To be number one, Apple, or any other manufacturer, need only be ahead of each and every competitor. Just because none of the other manufacturers produce their own software for their hardware does not change Apple's position versus HP. If Apple's hardware also shipped with Windows installed, what would everyone use as a comparison then? Then would you finally say that Apple is slowly working its way into a leadership position of Market share since you would not be able to pit them against all other "PCs"? I have never heard Dell or HP get compared against all other PC's either. Those other 73% certainly aren't all buying Dell, or Sony . . . . .etc . .
What's with the idiotic argument that Macs are worthless to students because when they get into the "real world" or "get a job," they're going to have to know Windows???
Guess what people - you need to know how to use computers. A lifelong Mac user can learn his way around Windows in a day. A lifelong Windows user can find his way around a Mac in a day.
I call myself a Mac guy as I use a Mac at every opportunity. I am forced to use Windows at work. Guess who all my coworkers go to with their Windows questions? Me. I know how to work the system. I know how to make it do what I need it to (which is where my Windows loathing comes from - I see how difficult it is to make it do what I need it to sometimes and wish I had my Mac instead).
It's not rocket science, people. Learn the fundamental principles of how computers and software work and you'll be fine no matter what OS is offered you (or shoved down your throat).
The fact some poor schlub has Windows 7 on his college laptop is no magical guarantee of technological competence post-graduation, no matter what Microsoft would have you believe.
Best yet: get a Mac for college, install Fusion or Parallels with Windows, and know both sides of the equation.
It's the inability to adapt that will doom you in the workplace, not the lack of expert knowledge of the particular OS or application suite your company is (currently) using.
Guess what people - you need to know how to use computers. A lifelong Mac user can learn his way around Windows in a day. A lifelong Windows user can find his way around a Mac in a day.
I call myself a Mac guy as I use a Mac at every opportunity. I am forced to use Windows at work. Guess who all my coworkers go to with their Windows questions? Me. I know how to work the system. I know how to make it do what I need it to (which is where my Windows loathing comes from - I see how difficult it is to make it do what I need it to sometimes and wish I had my Mac instead).
It's not rocket science, people. Learn the fundamental principles of how computers and software work and you'll be fine no matter what OS is offered you (or shoved down your throat).
The fact some poor schlub has Windows 7 on his college laptop is no magical guarantee of technological competence post-graduation, no matter what Microsoft would have you believe.
Best yet: get a Mac for college, install Fusion or Parallels with Windows, and know both sides of the equation.
It's the inability to adapt that will doom you in the workplace, not the lack of expert knowledge of the particular OS or application suite your company is (currently) using.
...and here's some analysis too
Odds are, they already know Windows, from their years at home.
True, but its typically the parents who are paying, and its a question of an incremental cost to the investment they're making in their child.
Specifically, after $30K for tuition, $1000 for books, (etc, etc), what's the significance of an extra $500 for an Apple laptop?
Answer: its only +1.6% ... and that assumes that the computer only lasts for one school year.
So the question is - what parent is going to forgo a small (~1%) incremental expense if they believe that it will help their child through college? IMO, none.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shifting gears slightly, into a more appropriately scholarly examination of these reports...
It appears to me that Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune has made a simple statistics error, namely of comparing Apples to Oranges. Specifically, he's reporting the percentage of Macs amongst the entire student population.
But Trip Chowdhry wasn't reporting on the entire student population - just the incoming freshmen.
That's a different population, Mr. Elmer-DeWitt!
Statistics FAIL.
To illustrate, we can use MR's data from U of VA, and compare these two metrics, we get:
Year ... Frosh ... 4pt-Ave
2003 ..... 4% ..... 3%
2004 ..... 8% ..... 5%
2005 ..... 13% ..... 7%
2006 ..... 20% ..... 11%
2007 ..... 27% ..... 17%
2008 ..... 38% ..... 24%
2009 ..... 43% ..... 32%
(both columns: Mac OS adoption rates)
Basically, the 4 point moving average is what the school's average is, based upon the incoming freshmen's purchases. To illustrate, the 2006 average of 11% is based upon the 2003-2006 freshmen datapoints of 4%, 8%, 13% and 20% ... and for 2007, the 2003 value of 4% is dropped off and replaced with the 27% value, so the moving average goes up to 17%, and so on.
While this UVA data doesn't have any 2010 data available, what we do know is that the 2006 value of 11% will be dropping off (these students just graduated), so so long as current incoming Freshmen Mac sales are at least 11%, the moving average is going to continue to increase.
-hh
Odds are, they already know Windows, from their years at home.
True, but its typically the parents who are paying, and its a question of an incremental cost to the investment they're making in their child.
Specifically, after $30K for tuition, $1000 for books, (etc, etc), what's the significance of an extra $500 for an Apple laptop?
Answer: its only +1.6% ... and that assumes that the computer only lasts for one school year.
So the question is - what parent is going to forgo a small (~1%) incremental expense if they believe that it will help their child through college? IMO, none.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shifting gears slightly, into a more appropriately scholarly examination of these reports...
It appears to me that Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune has made a simple statistics error, namely of comparing Apples to Oranges. Specifically, he's reporting the percentage of Macs amongst the entire student population.
But Trip Chowdhry wasn't reporting on the entire student population - just the incoming freshmen.
That's a different population, Mr. Elmer-DeWitt!
Statistics FAIL.
To illustrate, we can use MR's data from U of VA, and compare these two metrics, we get:
Year ... Frosh ... 4pt-Ave
2003 ..... 4% ..... 3%
2004 ..... 8% ..... 5%
2005 ..... 13% ..... 7%
2006 ..... 20% ..... 11%
2007 ..... 27% ..... 17%
2008 ..... 38% ..... 24%
2009 ..... 43% ..... 32%
(both columns: Mac OS adoption rates)
Basically, the 4 point moving average is what the school's average is, based upon the incoming freshmen's purchases. To illustrate, the 2006 average of 11% is based upon the 2003-2006 freshmen datapoints of 4%, 8%, 13% and 20% ... and for 2007, the 2003 value of 4% is dropped off and replaced with the 27% value, so the moving average goes up to 17%, and so on.
While this UVA data doesn't have any 2010 data available, what we do know is that the 2006 value of 11% will be dropping off (these students just graduated), so so long as current incoming Freshmen Mac sales are at least 11%, the moving average is going to continue to increase.
-hh
UVA (where I work) has a disproportionate number of spoiled trust fund country club preppy frat kids so their numbers might not be the best way of measuring the U.S. college scene.
College student with a MBP here, bought with an academic discount.
And I definitely have enough Windows experience to use it on the job. I've had to, before. Not now, though, fortunately; I get to work with Macs now, but that's not a common experience in most areas. Where I am, though, there are a lot of companies that use Macs.
And I definitely have enough Windows experience to use it on the job. I've had to, before. Not now, though, fortunately; I get to work with Macs now, but that's not a common experience in most areas. Where I am, though, there are a lot of companies that use Macs.
Perhaps they are over in the library doing their homework and getting good grades?
It's not the only thing that is special about colleges. It's where young people want to "show up" by buying Macs and $300 jeans. They grow out of it soon after they graduate
Macs are popular with college kids because they convince their parents they "need" a macbook.
But, spending your time showing off your newest shiny cyber-toy in the cyber-cafe isn't a good way to get that 4.0 average.
How do you show something off that everyone else has?
You're not one-upping - you're trying to prove that you're part of the "in crowd".
In other words, you're not "thinking differently".
And you're not working towards that high GPA that will help you get a job.
Funny how history has a tendency of repeating itself.![1996.png]()
So true, and infuriating.
Most Mac-owning students I know happen have admirable GPAs in college, imagine that?
When the majority of posts are anti-Apple, derogatory, and condescending in nature, you have a point.
One can only wonder, amidst such type casting and stereotypical comments.