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iPad Owners Are 'Selfish Elites'
An anonymous reader writes "It's not exactly official, but should also surprise no one: According to a new study the psychological profile of iPad owners can be summed up as 'selfish elites' while have-not critics are 'independent geeks.' Consumer research firm MyType conducted the study, in which opinions of 20,000 people were analyzed between March and May. The firm's conclusion was that iPad owners tend to be wealthy, sophisticated, highly educated and disproportionately interested in business and finance, while they scored terribly in the areas of altruism and kindness. In other words, 'selfish elites.'"
Though, I have been considering an iPad for my technophobic grandfather-in-law, who "has no patience for" Microsoft Windows, OS X, or Ubuntu.
My dad is a techo-illiterate. A few months ago he came back from a trip to the US with an iPad (!!!) He was doing all sorts of whatever he does on it. I was quite blown away, here's a guy who never used or owned a computer suddenly buying this at age 75.
I was impressed enough with it that when they became available here (.ca) I picked one up. And I don't really have a butler...
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Trolling is a art,
It is trollish. But the Slashdot community certainly has changed their opinion of Apple over the past year or so. Once cheering for the underdog, is feeling suppressed as the hacker within its walled garden.
We must feed the trolls.
Let's face it, most of us are scoffers. But moments before zero hour, it does not pay to take chances.
From March through May of 2010, MyType surveyed over 20,000 of its users on Facebook
As much as I want to describe my self as a "self-directed young [person] who look[s] down on conformity and [is] interested in videogames, computers, electronics, science and the internet," I can't say that this study is even remotely non-baised.
Demented But Determined.
I own one, as do two of my close friends. We all fit the late 20s, middle-class, lower/middle management, computer geek stereotype - we love gadgets and are early-adopters.
I understand full well that the iPad is only a fraction of what it could be if it had been produced by a company other than Apple and ran Android instead of iOS. But I happened to be in the market for an e-reader anyway, and the iPad happens to excel at that (iBooks is overrated, but there are now apps for just about every major e-book store), and also lets me read news feeds, check email, look up video game stragegies online, etc. It's also a great airport time-waster. Apart from the price difference there was just no reason to NOT buy an iPad rather than a Nook or Kindle or whatever.
Anyway, I don't think you're particularly wrong.. there's just another class of us out there who bought the iPad because it filled a niche that no other product currently fills. There are a lot of Android tablets slated for this holiday season, though :)
The documentary Macheads sums this up pretty well. There was a hipster in that doc that refused to date men who owned a PC. If that's not drinking the Kool-aid by the gallon, I'm not sure what is.
The sad thing is that a lot of Mac fans think they're being rebellious and independent by using Macs. In reality, nothing makes you *MORE* of a conformist than using those overpriced, locked-down status symbols. It's the old "I'll show how rebellious and unique I am by dressing, acting, and talking like all the other rebels."
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Like the SUV driving "soccer mom" who is concerned about the environment and recycles her husband's beer cans but drives a vehicle that gets 7 mpg.
Boutique lifestyles of the nouveau riche. Wealth coming out of their eyeballs but morally bankrupt.
The 60's generation, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
Tisha Hayes