Volume 124 Issue 64
kansan.com
Friday, November 18, 2011
NOTICE
Are you a PC or Mac Person? What your computer says about you
I know I am not the only one who went to buy my first laptop and found myself wondering "PC or Mac?" My final decision came down to which one was more affordable to me as a college student. PC won that debate.
To me, choosing PC meant choosing affordability. According to the results of an online survey found on Hunch.com, choosing PC instead of Mac means numerous things about my aesthetic preferences, media choices and personality traits.
This year, Hunch.com published an infographic showing different aspects of selfidentified Mac and PC people. Hunch.com is a recommendation site that works by getting to know users to personalize their internet. The site asks about 2,000 "Teach Hunch about you" questions, ranging from "how old are you" to quirky questions like "would you rather ride a Harley or a Vespa?" This gives them a rich source of data to find interesting correlations such as the Mac/PC findings.
The summary of the results breaks down like this: PC people are more likely to be team players, mathematically inclined, introspective, and conservative in politics, art and food; Mac people find it important to be considered unique, and are more liberal with choices in art, food, and even media.
Kelly Ford, vice president of marketing at Hunch Inc., says he expected the differences they found in how Mac people and PC people value design, because design is one of the core components of Apple's identity. "What surprised us is the extent to which there also seem to be deep personality traits that are distinct among the two groups," Ford says.
Robbie Jeronimus, senior from Lenexa, has had a PC all of his life. His roommate has always had a Mac. They both fit into some of the categories but "only to a certain extent," Jeronimus says. "I don't think there is that big of a difference," at least not as much as the report shows, Jeronimus says.
More than 800 comments on the report sparked heated disputes about its accuracy. Connor Stanton, senior from Johnson, thinks many people fulfill these stereotypes, but the survey oversimplifies types of people who use a
Mac or a PC. "I generally dislike these types of gross stereotype articles like Hunch's survey," Stanton says. Stanton is a Mac person simply because he thinks it is a quality product.
Perhaps each company's marketing team is responsible for the strong correlations associated with each side. Patrick Gray, president of Prevoyance Group, a business strategy consulting company headquartered outside Charlotte, N.C., says both Mac and PC computers can do any task as competently as the other. Gray's company helps executives of other companies understand technology, and he says choosing one is about preference and not technical superiority.
Each marketing team (Mac and PC) wants to convince consumers that they're some combination of more intelligent, handsome, artistic, hip, or sexy, Gray says. "Apple's genius however was convincing consumers that by buying their products, the consumer was more hip or artistically inclined than the comparably boring PC," Gray says. "This doesn't say anything about the consumer except perhaps that
they're more style or appearance conscious, or more easily swayed by marketing."
Ali Mahmood, graduate student from Islamabad, Pakistan, is an engineering student who prefers Mac, something rare to find in the engineering school because most of the software is only compatible with Windows. Only PCs fill the computer labs. For personal use, Mahmood prefers Mac because he thinks it is faster and more reliable than PCs, but he knows that isn't the only reason people choose Mac.
"Most people who use Mac don't know the basic differences between Mac and PC. I think some people use Mac just because it looks cool." Mahmood says. "Some people just follow the trend."
Can we blame them? As I stood in Best Buy trying to make a decision about my laptop, I thought about the Apple commercial with the boring PC guy in a suit and the hip looking Mac guy. I have to admit I wanted to be that hip Mac user.
Which person are you?
PC people:
PC people:
-Prefer to fit in with others
-Say they have a stronger aptitude for math
-Identify their style as casual
-Rather ride a Harley than a Vespa
-More likely to snack on sweet things
-Prefer Hollywood films
Mac people:
-Prefer to be perceived as unique
-Say they have a stronger verbal aptitude
-Describe their style as designer or retro
-Rather go with a Vespa
-More likely to snack on salty things
-Prefers indie films
Source: Hunch.com
Photo illustration by Ian Trimble Clash of the Computers: A recent study shows that the type of laptop you buy gives insight into your personality.
bburch@kansan.com
Kaplan, a professor at the Harvard Business School, spoke to more than 350 people at Dole Institute of Politics Thursday evening about his management role at one of the world's largest investment banking firms.
BOBBY BIRCH
Robert Kaplan, a University alumnus and former vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., offered a piece of leadership advice: "You can't do it alone."
Former bank exec returns to campus
"Leadership is not about having
"As a leader you have to articulate a vision — an aspiration," he
Kaplan spoke, about a variety of topics, but focused primarily on the qualities of leadership described in Kaplan's book, "What to Ask the Person in the Mirror." Kaplan also answered audience members' questions regarding the erosion of the middle class in the United States.
SEE BANK ON PAGE 3
Lucy O'Connor, a junior from Kansas City, Kan., bowls with a 20-pound frozen turkey in front of the Kansas Union Thursday afternoon. Student Union Activities put on a Thanksgiving Open House in the Union lobby from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
all the answers — it's about asking the right questions," he said. "And being willing to ask questions and seek help and be open to learning."
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Go to www.kansan.com for a full course of turkey bowling action
IS/KANSAN romance was
vector," said more from watching a *y* her jazz he had the
Index
Company performance Lied Candidates and
CLASSIFIEDS 9
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
son Bennett
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 4
contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
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'KU's Got Talent' is tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Kansas Union.
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