If you’re using a laptop or a desktop, you’re either on a Mac or a PC — and according to researchers at Hunch, the users behind the platforms are just as different from each other as the operating systems are. From a collection data from 700,000 visitors to their website, Hunch details the correlations between users of Macs or PCs and their demographics and personalities, as well as their tastes in food, fashion and media. Do these stats match with you and your chosen computing platform?
The core demographics of Mac users versus PC users reflect as follows: PC people are 22% more likely than Mac people to be ages 35-49, whereas Mac people are 22% more likely than PC people to be ages 18-34. PC people are 18% more likely to live in the suburbs and 21% more likely to live in a rural area; 52% of Mac people live in a city. Where 54% of PC people have completed a college degree or higher, the same can be said for 67% of Mac users.
Mac people are more likely to want to be perceived as unique, or different than others – making their own mark – as opposed to PC people who show to prefer fitting in with others. Mac people like to throw parties much more frequently than their PC counterparts. PC people are 33% more likely than Mac people to say that two random people are more different than alike; Mac people are 22% more likely than PC people to say that two random people are more alike than different. When it comes to aptitude, PC people are 38% more likely than Mac people to say they are more mathematically inclined, whereas Mac people are 12% more likely than PC people to have stronger verbal skills.
With fashion, taste and aesthetics, PC people more prefer impressionist art and Mac people lean toward modern art. PC people identify their style as being casual, and Mac people identify their style as being designer/chic/upscale and unique/retro. If having to choose between riding a Harley or a Vespa, PC users would choose the Harley, and Mac people choose the Vespa.
With food and drink preferences, it was interesting to note that Mac people are 80% more likely than PC people to be vegetarian. Specific food and drinks preferences tend to be a bit more mainstream for PC people and fairly diverse/intricate for Mac people.
43% of Mac people consider themselves early adopters, and PC people are 36% more likely than Mac people to be later adopters. In correlation to this data, PC people are 43% more likely to say talking about computers is akin to “struggling with a foreign language”, and Mac people are 21% more likely than PC people to consider themselves computer-savvy-gearheads.
Data for media preferences highlights that 42% of PC people would opt for the New York Times over USA Today, whereas 69% of Mac people would opt for The Times. Mac people consider The Office the funniest TV show, and PC people are split between The Office and South Park. As for film choice, Mac people are 95% more likely to prefer indie films, and PC people are 74% more likely than Mac people to prefer Hollywood films.
So there you have it. Do you agree with this data, or does it do little to paint a picture of the individual you are?
To view the full infographic, and the data collected, feel free to visit: http://mashable.com/2011/04/23/mac-vs-pc-infographic/
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