Macs are for old people.

[WindupAtheist]

But we make the iPod!  We're hip, really!  JUST LOOK AT OUR COMMERCIALS!

In its latest batch of adverts, Apple painted the Mac as the young, cool face of desktop computing. But now research has found it's the silver surfers who have a yen for Cupertino's goods - while the kids are opting for cheap Windows machines.

According to a report from industry watchers MetaFacts, nearly half of Mac owners are 55 and older - that's almost double the share for average home-PC users.

[Brolan]

"I've fallen, and can't reboot!"

[Tebonas]

Damn, now I feel old!

[HaemishM]

They got it wrong. The Apples aren't marketed for young'un's, they are marketed to old fart artsy types who still want to THINK they are hip and young.

And yet I don't have one.

[Rasix]

"I've fallen, and can't reboot!"

You don't need to reboot Macs.  The TV told me so.

[Sky]

Galactus likes unix, so it makes sense.

[sinij]

This is mostly due to the fact that MACs cost more than PCs.  Before x86 another downside was that you couldn't play games on MAC since hardly any was ported. Cost more = luxury item = older demographic.

[Signe]

This is mostly due to the fact that MACs cost more than PCs.  Before x86 another downside was that you couldn't play games on MAC since hardly any was ported. Cost more = luxury item = older demographic.

Maybe this is true.  I saw on the news a couple of months ago that the average age of a new Corvette owner is 45. 

[stray]

A lot of old, bearded, UNIX users adopted the Mac in recent years. I don't think it's all yuppies.

[edit] Those guys are rich though....Even though they may not look it. 

[Morat20]

This is mostly due to the fact that MACs cost more than PCs.  Before x86 another downside was that you couldn't play games on MAC since hardly any was ported. Cost more = luxury item = older demographic.

Maybe this is true.  I saw on the news a couple of months ago that the average age of a new Corvette owner is 45. 

There's a reason for all those mid-life crises jokes. I find it amusing. Corvettes are cars for "young people". So aging guys buy them so they can feel young and wild, like a kid. But what fucking kid can buy a new corvette?

I'm young. Well, 31. I'm buying a Prius.

[Signe]

I didn't know what a Prius was so I googled it.  (insert Realota joke) They don't look fun!

[Yegolev]

I recently had the opportunity to start driving a Cadillac Deville.  I like it a lot.  I don't drive it, however, due to one dealbreaker: no cupholder.  What kind of car has no cupholder?  It has two sunvisors but zero cupholders.  Autodimming rearview mirror?  Check.  Tape and CD player?  Check.  Smooth ride?  Check.  Air of pimpitude?  Check.  Cupholder?  BZZZZZZZT!

I am afraid that a Mac would not have a cupholder, so I am sticking with a PC.

[MisterNoisy]

I am afraid that a Mac would not have a cupholder, so I am sticking with a PC.

Yeah - I think they pretty much exclusively use slot-loading optical drives now.  ;)

[stray]

They use to exclusively use them (err...kind of...more like cd "cartridge" loading).

Anyhow, slot loading is way cool.

[Strazos]

Slot-loaders are fucking sexy. I especially like the Wii's.

[Etro]

Slot-loaders are fucking sexy. I especially like the Wii's.

Just wait till it breaks with <insert special/important disc> and you have a nightmare getting it out since they use an electrical mechanism which can be quite a pain to get a disc out of if there isn't any power  :-(

[Big Gulp]

Slot-loaders are fucking sexy. I especially like the Wii's.

How can something that's been in car stereos for over a decade still be considered cutting edge in this day and age?

[Strazos]

Yeah...I dunno why, but it feels different in a console or PC.

[Samwise]

Back on the OP, another significant factor is people buying computers for their elderly parents.  Many people who would never buy a Mac for their own use are still more than happy setting Grandma up with one.  Macs are perfect for people who are slightly intimidated by this whole "computer" fad but want to be able to email their grandkids.

[Trippy]

Slot-loaders are fucking sexy. I especially like the Wii's.

How can something that's been in car stereos for over a decade still be considered cutting edge in this day and age?

My car's slot loader scratches CDs like there's no tomorrow. I'm glad I have trays for my PC DVD/CD drives.

[Big Gulp]

Macs are perfect for people who are slightly intimidated by this whole "computer" fad but want to be able to email their grandkids.

How so?  Those people need three things:  cheesy little minesweeper/solitaire games, a browser, and word processing capability.  Any OS, even Linux, is more than capable of doing this as long as you idiot-proof things by slapping the icons for those apps on the desktop.  God help any newbie trying to figure out a nesting file system, you have to put the shiny up front for 'em to use.  Once you've done that the OS is pretty much indistinguishable for these types of users because what they use their computers for are extremely limited.

I've done this with my father, who is incredibly computer illiterate.  A couple of years ago I set up his computer with Suse Linux, slapped Firefox, OpenOffice, and various game icons on his desktop and he was as happy as a pig in shit.  For the last computer I built for him I put XP on there, did the same thing and he really didn't notice much of a difference.

[Venkman]

For computer illiterates, the Mac is no more intuitive than Windows. It's simply because of that whole keyboard, mouse and monitor thing. No amount of icons and crap get around the fact that either OS is fundamentally a different experience than anything else a computer illiterate has likely seen.

That's what I love about Mac adverts. You can use the machine out of the box, just as you can a Dell. You just already need to know how to use graphical UI OS's already.

[Samwise]

Macs are perfect for people who are slightly intimidated by this whole "computer" fad but want to be able to email their grandkids.

How so?  Those people need three things:  cheesy little minesweeper/solitaire games, a browser, and word processing capability.  Any OS, even Linux, is more than capable of doing this as long as you idiot-proof things by slapping the icons for those apps on the desktop.  God help any newbie trying to figure out a nesting file system, you have to put the shiny up front for 'em to use.  Once you've done that the OS is pretty much indistinguishable for these types of users because what they use their computers for are extremely limited.

The Mac has at least two advantages for technophobes over PCs:

1) They're prettier.  To people like you and me, this doesn't matter even a little bit.  To some people, Dells look scary, what with their hard corners and grim color schemes.  Macs look like toys.  Or kitchen appliances.  They're very non-threatening.

2) Greatly reduced vulnerability to malware.  Every goddamn time I go visit my mother and use her computer, I find a crapload of adware on it, usually because somebody (I'm never sure whether it's her or one of my siblings, because they ALL should know better at this point) installed a Bonzi Buddy or something.  Macs may not be inherently more secure than PCs, but they're not popular targets either.  Security through obscurity works.  Again, this is a nonissue to people like you and me, who know better than to say "yes" to anything a web page asks you.

[schild]

Yeah...I dunno why, but it feels different in a console or PC.

The one on the PS3 is even smoother than the Wii's. About 3 times as smooth. When it works (just adding that because of all the shit on the web about broken PS3s, mine is frawress).

Oh, Macs. Yea. Definately for old people, suckers, and art fags.

[Morfiend]

I talked my mother in to buying a iMac, they are not that expensive, and for her needs MUCH better than a PC. They dont have hardly any problem with viruses and spyware (Think of how many older computer novices you know whos computer is just FULL of spyware and viruses), they run well most of the time, and they look nice. The operating system is much easer for some one who is not very quick with computers to learn and navigate also.

Honestly I think all people who just want email, web surfing and MS Office should have a iMac. But then it would put a LOT of computer repair small businesses out of work.

[Oban]

Oh, Macs. Yea. Definately for old people, suckers, and art fags.

I would have responded sooner, but I misplaced my bifocals after getting in to an argument with my poolboy Sergio about the meaning of the Chapman Brother's "Unholy Libel" mixed media exhibit.

[lamaros]

Oh, Macs. Yea. Definately for old people, suckers, and art fags.

I would have responded sooner, but I misplaced my bifocals after getting in to an argument with my poolboy Sergio about the meaning of the Chapman Brother's "Unholy Libel" mixed media exhibit.

[Sky]

Just wait till it breaks with <insert special/important disc> and you have a nightmare getting it out since they use an electrical mechanism which can be quite a pain to get a disc out of if there isn't any power  :-(

We hand out little tickets (like raffle tickets) for computer time. People like to shove them in the cd slot. I dislike people. Anyway, it's trivial to pop open the cd drive and remove stuff. Once I found a playing card, our tickets (x5 or so) and a stick of gum in a cd drive. I dislike people.

[squirrel]

meh, I'm 37 - is that old? And I'm not rich. My MacBook Pro runs Vista very well (2.3 core 2 duo, 2 gig ram, 256 MB ati) for gaming while allowing me to also run my favourite OS X an NIX apps. Choice is good mmmkay? Oh and I've been driving a sports car of some kind for over a decade. Maybe you're all just dull :)

[raydeen]

I work with Macs all day every day and little by little I'm really starting to despise them and their 'userbase'. Most people who buy Macs are in it for the 'lifestyle' and nothing else. Case in point: I went on a call the other week to diagnose some network problems in an all Mac setup. First let me state that if you are at all experienced with computers and networking in general, Apple's whole concept  and method of going about things is completely obtuse, or at least it is to me. Configuring the Airport was confusing as hell at first because Apple in their infinate wisdom did everything completely different from everyone else when it comes to setting up DHCP and such. It wouldn't be bad if it was innovative and better, but in reality it's neither, just different enough to confuse the average PC user who's not a complete noob. Maybe if you've never touched a computer or router before it makes sence. Basically they had an Airport Extreme and 2 Airport Expresses and whoever had set them up did a miserable job so there was confustion amongst the various devices as to what Airport to join. One Express was hooked up to the family stereo and the other looked like it should have been set up to be a repeater for the main Airport but never worked correctly because it was set up on it's own network. The one on the stereo was too far away to pick up the wireless signal from the Extreme (old farm house with stone walls). Anyway, my suggestion was to get rid of one of the Expresses and move the Extreme and cable modem to a more centralized area of the house and have everything on the same network. No, that was too much trouble (even though it wasn't). The punchline came when I suggested this to the wife and she said 'Oh, I don't care if we can't get on the internet. I just want to listen to the music on the stereo!'.

Ugh.

Oh yeah. The kid kept saying that the wireless had, and I quote, 108 mega pixels. (108 Mbps)  He's in the Computer Information class to boot.

Ugh.

[Riggswolfe]

I talked my mother in to buying a iMac, they are not that expensive, and for her needs MUCH better than a PC. They dont have hardly any problem with viruses and spyware (Think of how many older computer novices you know whos computer is just FULL of spyware and viruses), they run well most of the time, and they look nice. The operating system is much easer for some one who is not very quick with computers to learn and navigate also.

I always hear this no virus and spyware thing like it is due to Macs being superior. It's due to Macs having a much smaller install base so most virus makers don't bother.

[stray]

Just to mention, while Macs still don't have the security problems PC's have, those problems have increased in recent years (due to popularity). Back in the day, there was no such thing as a "security update" for the OS. Nowadays, they come out regularly.

[raydeen]

I talked my mother in to buying a iMac, they are not that expensive, and for her needs MUCH better than a PC. They dont have hardly any problem with viruses and spyware (Think of how many older computer novices you know whos computer is just FULL of spyware and viruses), they run well most of the time, and they look nice. The operating system is much easer for some one who is not very quick with computers to learn and navigate also.

I always hear this no virus and spyware thing like it is due to Macs being superior. It's due to Macs having a much smaller install base so most virus makers don't bother.

Macs are definately vulnerable. It's just that no one bothers to exploit them before Apple patches them. There have been a few flaw lately that would have allowed a hacker root access had Apple not bothered to release a fix.

There is no 'secure' OS. If there's a lock, there's also a key. And the key is usually the user. I believe people should get a licence to 'drive' a computer down the Information Superhighway just as they drive a car down the turnpike. I have ZERO problems with my windows boxes because I now know what not to do. Common sence is a big part of not messing your box up but there are simple things anyone can learn that will keep their machine humming along with no problems.  I've often thought of doing a night class on safe PC driving. People would pay a reasonalble amount to learn and it would hopefully eventually put that fracking mouth breathing, turd burgling Geek Squad out of business.

[Morfiend]

I never said they didnt have viruses and spyware because they where a superior OS. I just said they had "hardly any" which is true no matter what the reason. And this is a very very good thing for computer illiterate users.

[squirrel]

Based on this thread I can conclude that macs are teh stoopid, all mac users are idiots, choice is bad and the collective wisdom of f13 has resolved the oldest, and most pointless, argument on teh intarweb. w00t and such.

Not to disparage the occasional sensible remark re: security and the fact that it's lack of motivation not opportunity that makes the platform more secure.

But ya - special Olympics rule invoked.