It should be obvious it's not comprised of "only the wealthy", but it doesn't take a whole lot to see who Apple's main demographic is and who would most likely constitute the bulk of Apple's market.
I didn't create it. It's just the way the divisions in the market happen.
I wouldn't put too much into this survey's results. It's a very small sample size with little or no control over the demographics of the people taking the survey. I've personally never heard of this price research site. Who are their typical users? Is it computer purchasers in general, or mostly people just looking for the best price on Windows computers. If you know you want a Mac, you wouldn't even bother with a search site because Mac prices are pretty much the same no matter where you go. So the survey participants may under-represent the % of people buying Macs.
The only useful conclusion to be drawn from this survey is what % of Windows buyers are purchasing netbooks. There is nothing there to suggest that one of those netbook buyers would buy a Mac (vs a PC laptop) if the netbook wasn't an option or if Apple offered a $500 laptop. Sure, some of them would, but we have no idea how many based on this information.
My feeling is taking notes in class on a computer is stupid unless you're in training to become a secretary. Learning how to operate your brain, a tape recorder for confirming the outline of your notes with a pencil and paper is more than enough. Computers don't do the thinking. Students need to be able to process and question the information they are given, since most "information" is opinion and a lot of it is just arrived at by consensus. When you consider a generation that came before us without laptops managed to give us Einstein, Edison and other geniuses, and then consider we live in a supposedly miraculous, connected era that can only manage to give us Twitter... well, I just don't see the value to people who actually need to think as well as learn.
+1
Then again, I was an engineering major. Would've been kind of hard to draw free-body diagrams in real time on a computer. And I can't imagine how irritating it would be trying to listen to the prof with a much of people clacking away on their keyboards the whole time. I can barely stand it in the business meetings I sit in these days.
I too feel that computers hamper learning while attending a lecture. (most_ of the time) No matter how convenient, operating a computer occupies your brain while it should be paying attention to the professor.
Believe it or not, throughout my 7 years of college education, not a single one of my computer science classes was taught in a manner that required students to have a computer in class. Yep, that's right, not even computers in my programming classes.
It wasn't that the students or schools couldn't afford them, but rather that learning was more easily accomplished by focussing one's mind on the subject matter instead of on a tool to take notes.
This included my graduate program at Carnegie Mellon's school of computer science. While working there, I personally had seven 21 inch monitors in my office. Everyone had more computers at their disposal than they knew what to do with. Computers were in every nook and cranny of the school... except in the classrooms.
Granted this has changed somewhat since then. But you'll still find that the best institutions limit computer use in class to only those subjects and specific tasks that truly require them.
The statistics are interesting, but that Business Week story is total BS. Maybe there should be a rule that we don't take any rumour about new products from old "out of the loop" business publications seriously in future?
Has Business Week or any similar publication *ever* been right about a new product reveal? Seems to me they are pretty far off on every single prediction they make relative to anyone who's, you know ... in the actual computer business.
How often does this site quote wall street analysts in support of tuaw's themes?
Excuses , excuses- Netbooks are penetrating deeper and deeper into the public's consciousness- Apple missed the boat.
Instead Apple gave us - the Air????
Wow. four question marks. I suppose that allows someone to exude derision without actually making a point. Just leave it assumed.
Weak sauce. Just because you don't want an Air, don't assume yours is a universally held opinion. I have a 15" MBP. 5 or 6 times a week, when someone sees the MBP, they get all excited. "Is that the Air?" they say. I tell them what it is and how the Air is different. They're deflated. Sometimes they'll ooh and ahh over the MBP, but every one of them wishes they'd had a brush with the Air. It's an amazing machine. I covet the thing myself and would buy one except for the sheer pointlessness of having 2 laptops. And also, 13" screen is smaller than I want. But it's just big enough to still tempt the hell out of me. Netbook size? It wouldn't tempt me at all.
But if Apple did sell a 10" laptop, would I be prating around telling people it's a silly machine just because it's not for me? No. Hopefully I'd be more grown up than that.
It comes down to income brackets and basic knowledge of Apple's pricing. Apple will always sell fewer Macs in comparison to PC sales. Macs are marketed and priced as Premium items. Apple functions at the highest tier of the market pyramid.
Just connect the dots. Apple's deomgraphic is NOT a reflection of the entire market. Hence, their 91% share of the $1000+ notebook market.
Hardware is so powerful and cheap today that unless you want to play recent games on a computer then any computer under $1000 is more than enough. My mom has a 5 year old Dell laptop that I put vista on and with ram maxed out it's good enough for a few more years
unless you need a mac pro, there is no need to pay the price premium of a mac
Then again, I was an engineering major. Would've been kind of hard to draw free-body diagrams in real time on a computer. And I can't imagine how irritating it would be trying to listen to the prof with a much of people clacking away on their keyboards the whole time. I can barely stand it in the business meetings I sit in these days.
Thank goodness I no longer attend meetings in a group environment. Meetings are how most people in the "work force" fill their days.
I'm not really surprised by the findings. You can't really go wrong with an 8.9" or 10" netbook. They're fast enough for word processing, email stuff, and internet browsing.
I had a 10" MSI Wind that I loved. I didn't find the keyboard cramped (it was 90% full size) and it came with all the usual perks (Bluetooth, media reader, etc.). It was well buit, and pretty damn cheap.
Now you can get 8.9" or 10" Acer Aspires in the $300 - $400 range. It's really hard to be that. I'm only using a 13" MacBook Pro now because I wanted to try out OS X and I wanted something faster for video encoding and gaming.
Hardware is so powerful and cheap today that unless you want to play recent games on a computer then any computer under $1000 is more than enough. My mom has a 5 year old Dell laptop that I put vista on and with ram maxed out it's good enough for a few more years
unless you need a mac pro, there is no need to pay the price premium of a mac
Utter nonsense. I'll be the judge of what I need and how much I'm willing to pay for it, TYVM.
how much profit from those netbooks, also articles say they have a high return rate, since many are students they also try games that don't do well on the atom which is in most netbooks
also limited to email, internet, not much else
so what's the customer satisfaction for "netbooks"
it's not the screen size its the processor
what about the return rate???
and which students won't play games on their computer hmmmm
You can see the Dell's, HP's and MS' of the world slowly realizing they have chosen the wrong business model, ie., "volume over margin." And now they are all scrambling to do a weak copy of Apple's proven and very successful approach. MS wraps a substandard Vista in Aero, Dell repackages substandard laptops with pink or orange plastic covers. All in lame attempts to add value so they can charge more.
They can't possibly adopt Apple's business model, unless they want to start selling computers loaded with an operating system of their own creation. That is the fundamental difference between Apple and the rest of the PC business, and the reason why Apple is able to sell at higher margins.
My feeling is taking notes in class on a computer is stupid unless you're in training to become a secretary. Learning how to operate your brain, a tape recorder for confirming the outline of your notes with a pencil and paper is more than enough. Computers don't do the thinking. Students need to be able to process and question the information they are given, since most "information" is opinion and a lot of it is just arrived at by consensus. When you consider a generation that came before us without laptops managed to give us Einstein, Edison and other geniuses, and then consider we live in a supposedly miraculous, connected era that can only manage to give us Twitter... well, I just don't see the value to people who actually need to think as well as learn.
Agreed that we don't need laptops to take notes in class, it is a luxury. These days when many of the notes are online, even quizzes and tests are online. There are even classes with an online live in-class portion to them too so the instructor can gauge responses. But there are some who's handwriting (like my own) is horrible, and a computer to take notes makes it easier in class to gather the information. The computer also does not prohibit from questioning. I was one in class with a laptop all the time. I had it record the lecture as I took notes. There were many times where what a professor said didn't make sense, I would play it back or read what I typed again, then promptly asked for more clarification, or if I didn't agree (which happened often) I would raise a question in front of the class. Often it started a good conversation in the class, and some great arguments. I fully agree that when students question their professors for validity, clarification, or they found research opposing the instructor's view, every own learns and grows that much more. Computers DON'T do your thinking for you, but you can use that technology to help organize your brain so you can better question the world around you.
Notes on computers makes it easier to share notes, study for tests, and other things. We can do it all with pen and paper too, its just easier using technology for some.
Please don't attack the way I learn. I think you have some valid points, but don't attack me. If you do not believe a computer belongs in the classroom, then don't use one yourself. If you are a teacher, then don't have your students use computers either. But please, don't take me down for my choice.
I am not a secretary, but in law enforcement. Computers are a huge deal here too for said organizational processes, but the big questions of "who did it" are still left up to us humans.
I think it depends largely on the individual's learning style and the professor/instructor's teaching style.
I heard it explained by a good percussion (drum) teacher of mine that people learn in 3 different ways: visually, aurally, or kinesthetically (actually carrying out or doing something). His point was that music is one of the few mediums that incorporates all 3 learning styles.
I can see where there would be excellent arguments for taking hand-written notes as opposed to typed notes, but I can also see situations where typing notes would be more beneficial (especially if one can type faster than they can write, like me).
Ultimately, people need to find out how they learn best and tailor their own methods to that style.
Hardware is so powerful and cheap today that unless you want to play recent games on a computer then any computer under $1000 is more than enough. My mom has a 5 year old Dell laptop that I put vista on and with ram maxed out it's good enough for a few more years
unless you need a mac pro, there is no need to pay the price premium of a mac
Is there a need?
There's a need for me. And for most of the people on this site, including around, say, 40 million+ Mac users.
Might also be a "want" as well. When I bought my Macbook Pro I also wanted it.
I feel the need to buy something I'll enjoy using. I don't want "just good enough", and apparently tens of millions of others feel the same way.
Sure, I can do e-mail and web surfing on Windows. But why would I?
This will be until they realize they cant fricken type papers on the damn things without cramping up.
you might want to clarify your statement.
If you meant the Netbooks...well, netbook keyboards are typically 92% smaller than standard laptop keyboards. I don't see how that could be any less comfortable.
If you meant the iphone/(Rumored) iTablet...hear, hear. for all the naysayers that think this tablet will eat into the netbook craze, i truly doubt it. good luck taking notes in class on a tablet. the UI of the phone/touch is better than all others, but in no way is it faster than a physical keyboard.
My feeling is taking notes in class on a computer is stupid unless you're in training to become a secretary. Learning how to operate your brain, a tape recorder for confirming the outline of your notes with a pencil and paper is more than enough. ... well, I just don't see the value to people who actually need to think as well as learn.
i type faster and more legibly than i write longhand. isn't that reason enough? typing my notes in class would allow me more time for thinking, operating my brain, questioning the ideas being shared in class. I can walk 10 miles to school, too, but if i take the bus i have more time to study. what's the diff?
Comments
It's just the nature of the Premium market.
It should be obvious it's not comprised of "only the wealthy", but it doesn't take a whole lot to see who Apple's main demographic is and who would most likely constitute the bulk of Apple's market.
I didn't create it. It's just the way the divisions in the market happen.
Why are you feeling so insulted over this?
Thanks!
The only useful conclusion to be drawn from this survey is what % of Windows buyers are purchasing netbooks. There is nothing there to suggest that one of those netbook buyers would buy a Mac (vs a PC laptop) if the netbook wasn't an option or if Apple offered a $500 laptop. Sure, some of them would, but we have no idea how many based on this information.
My feeling is taking notes in class on a computer is stupid unless you're in training to become a secretary. Learning how to operate your brain, a tape recorder for confirming the outline of your notes with a pencil and paper is more than enough. Computers don't do the thinking. Students need to be able to process and question the information they are given, since most "information" is opinion and a lot of it is just arrived at by consensus. When you consider a generation that came before us without laptops managed to give us Einstein, Edison and other geniuses, and then consider we live in a supposedly miraculous, connected era that can only manage to give us Twitter... well, I just don't see the value to people who actually need to think as well as learn.
+1
Then again, I was an engineering major. Would've been kind of hard to draw free-body diagrams in real time on a computer. And I can't imagine how irritating it would be trying to listen to the prof with a much of people clacking away on their keyboards the whole time. I can barely stand it in the business meetings I sit in these days.
Believe it or not, throughout my 7 years of college education, not a single one of my computer science classes was taught in a manner that required students to have a computer in class. Yep, that's right, not even computers in my programming classes.
It wasn't that the students or schools couldn't afford them, but rather that learning was more easily accomplished by focussing one's mind on the subject matter instead of on a tool to take notes.
This included my graduate program at Carnegie Mellon's school of computer science. While working there, I personally had seven 21 inch monitors in my office. Everyone had more computers at their disposal than they knew what to do with. Computers were in every nook and cranny of the school... except in the classrooms.
Granted this has changed somewhat since then. But you'll still find that the best institutions limit computer use in class to only those subjects and specific tasks that truly require them.
The statistics are interesting, but that Business Week story is total BS. Maybe there should be a rule that we don't take any rumour about new products from old "out of the loop" business publications seriously in future?
Has Business Week or any similar publication *ever* been right about a new product reveal? Seems to me they are pretty far off on every single prediction they make relative to anyone who's, you know ... in the actual computer business.
How often does this site quote wall street analysts in support of tuaw's themes?
Bottom line is that you're a moron.
Excuses , excuses- Netbooks are penetrating deeper and deeper into the public's consciousness- Apple missed the boat.
Instead Apple gave us - the Air????
Wow. four question marks. I suppose that allows someone to exude derision without actually making a point. Just leave it assumed.
Weak sauce. Just because you don't want an Air, don't assume yours is a universally held opinion. I have a 15" MBP. 5 or 6 times a week, when someone sees the MBP, they get all excited. "Is that the Air?" they say. I tell them what it is and how the Air is different. They're deflated. Sometimes they'll ooh and ahh over the MBP, but every one of them wishes they'd had a brush with the Air. It's an amazing machine. I covet the thing myself and would buy one except for the sheer pointlessness of having 2 laptops. And also, 13" screen is smaller than I want. But it's just big enough to still tempt the hell out of me. Netbook size? It wouldn't tempt me at all.
But if Apple did sell a 10" laptop, would I be prating around telling people it's a silly machine just because it's not for me? No. Hopefully I'd be more grown up than that.
It comes down to income brackets and basic knowledge of Apple's pricing. Apple will always sell fewer Macs in comparison to PC sales. Macs are marketed and priced as Premium items. Apple functions at the highest tier of the market pyramid.
Just connect the dots. Apple's deomgraphic is NOT a reflection of the entire market. Hence, their 91% share of the $1000+ notebook market.
Hardware is so powerful and cheap today that unless you want to play recent games on a computer then any computer under $1000 is more than enough. My mom has a 5 year old Dell laptop that I put vista on and with ram maxed out it's good enough for a few more years
unless you need a mac pro, there is no need to pay the price premium of a mac
+1
Then again, I was an engineering major. Would've been kind of hard to draw free-body diagrams in real time on a computer. And I can't imagine how irritating it would be trying to listen to the prof with a much of people clacking away on their keyboards the whole time. I can barely stand it in the business meetings I sit in these days.
Thank goodness I no longer attend meetings in a group environment.
I had a 10" MSI Wind that I loved. I didn't find the keyboard cramped (it was 90% full size) and it came with all the usual perks (Bluetooth, media reader, etc.). It was well buit, and pretty damn cheap.
Now you can get 8.9" or 10" Acer Aspires in the $300 - $400 range. It's really hard to be that. I'm only using a 13" MacBook Pro now because I wanted to try out OS X and I wanted something faster for video encoding and gaming.
Hardware is so powerful and cheap today that unless you want to play recent games on a computer then any computer under $1000 is more than enough. My mom has a 5 year old Dell laptop that I put vista on and with ram maxed out it's good enough for a few more years
unless you need a mac pro, there is no need to pay the price premium of a mac
Utter nonsense. I'll be the judge of what I need and how much I'm willing to pay for it, TYVM.
How often does this site quote wall street analysts in support of tuaw's themes?
Bottom line is that you're a moron.
I thought these personal attacks were verboten and the posters were subject to banning?
also limited to email, internet, not much else
so what's the customer satisfaction for "netbooks"
it's not the screen size its the processor
what about the return rate???
and which students won't play games on their computer hmmmm
You can see the Dell's, HP's and MS' of the world slowly realizing they have chosen the wrong business model, ie., "volume over margin." And now they are all scrambling to do a weak copy of Apple's proven and very successful approach. MS wraps a substandard Vista in Aero, Dell repackages substandard laptops with pink or orange plastic covers. All in lame attempts to add value so they can charge more.
They can't possibly adopt Apple's business model, unless they want to start selling computers loaded with an operating system of their own creation. That is the fundamental difference between Apple and the rest of the PC business, and the reason why Apple is able to sell at higher margins.
My feeling is taking notes in class on a computer is stupid unless you're in training to become a secretary. Learning how to operate your brain, a tape recorder for confirming the outline of your notes with a pencil and paper is more than enough. Computers don't do the thinking. Students need to be able to process and question the information they are given, since most "information" is opinion and a lot of it is just arrived at by consensus. When you consider a generation that came before us without laptops managed to give us Einstein, Edison and other geniuses, and then consider we live in a supposedly miraculous, connected era that can only manage to give us Twitter... well, I just don't see the value to people who actually need to think as well as learn.
Agreed that we don't need laptops to take notes in class, it is a luxury. These days when many of the notes are online, even quizzes and tests are online. There are even classes with an online live in-class portion to them too so the instructor can gauge responses. But there are some who's handwriting (like my own) is horrible, and a computer to take notes makes it easier in class to gather the information. The computer also does not prohibit from questioning. I was one in class with a laptop all the time. I had it record the lecture as I took notes. There were many times where what a professor said didn't make sense, I would play it back or read what I typed again, then promptly asked for more clarification, or if I didn't agree (which happened often) I would raise a question in front of the class. Often it started a good conversation in the class, and some great arguments. I fully agree that when students question their professors for validity, clarification, or they found research opposing the instructor's view, every own learns and grows that much more. Computers DON'T do your thinking for you, but you can use that technology to help organize your brain so you can better question the world around you.
Notes on computers makes it easier to share notes, study for tests, and other things. We can do it all with pen and paper too, its just easier using technology for some.
Please don't attack the way I learn. I think you have some valid points, but don't attack me. If you do not believe a computer belongs in the classroom, then don't use one yourself. If you are a teacher, then don't have your students use computers either. But please, don't take me down for my choice.
I am not a secretary, but in law enforcement. Computers are a huge deal here too for said organizational processes, but the big questions of "who did it" are still left up to us humans.
I heard it explained by a good percussion (drum) teacher of mine that people learn in 3 different ways: visually, aurally, or kinesthetically (actually carrying out or doing something). His point was that music is one of the few mediums that incorporates all 3 learning styles.
I can see where there would be excellent arguments for taking hand-written notes as opposed to typed notes, but I can also see situations where typing notes would be more beneficial (especially if one can type faster than they can write, like me).
Ultimately, people need to find out how they learn best and tailor their own methods to that style.
Hardware is so powerful and cheap today that unless you want to play recent games on a computer then any computer under $1000 is more than enough. My mom has a 5 year old Dell laptop that I put vista on and with ram maxed out it's good enough for a few more years
unless you need a mac pro, there is no need to pay the price premium of a mac
Is there a need?
There's a need for me. And for most of the people on this site, including around, say, 40 million+ Mac users.
Might also be a "want" as well. When I bought my Macbook Pro I also wanted it.
I feel the need to buy something I'll enjoy using. I don't want "just good enough", and apparently tens of millions of others feel the same way.
Sure, I can do e-mail and web surfing on Windows. But why would I?
This will be until they realize they cant fricken type papers on the damn things without cramping up.
you might want to clarify your statement.
If you meant the Netbooks...well, netbook keyboards are typically 92% smaller than standard laptop keyboards. I don't see how that could be any less comfortable.
If you meant the iphone/(Rumored) iTablet...hear, hear. for all the naysayers that think this tablet will eat into the netbook craze, i truly doubt it. good luck taking notes in class on a tablet. the UI of the phone/touch is better than all others, but in no way is it faster than a physical keyboard.
This will be until they realize they cant fricken type papers on the damn things without cramping up.
^Truthiness
My feeling is taking notes in class on a computer is stupid unless you're in training to become a secretary. Learning how to operate your brain, a tape recorder for confirming the outline of your notes with a pencil and paper is more than enough. ... well, I just don't see the value to people who actually need to think as well as learn.
i type faster and more legibly than i write longhand. isn't that reason enough? typing my notes in class would allow me more time for thinking, operating my brain, questioning the ideas being shared in class. I can walk 10 miles to school, too, but if i take the bus i have more time to study. what's the diff?
^Truthiness
i see what you did there.