Yes, You Can Have Your Mac and PC, too

I bought my first iMac ten years ago, just after graduating from high school. He was Strawberry and his name was Bob. Sadly he met his demise when he was dropped by the USPS on the way to my college dorm and was never the same again. I did manage to collect insurance, however, and used that to fund the purchase of my first iBook, Rupert I.

Yes, I’m sure if you’re a die-hard PC owner you may think the above statement is utter gibberish, and I should probably have myself committed. It’s no secret that Mac users sometimes foster curious relationships with our computers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But though I spend most of my time on a Mac, I’m not opposed to PCs. I don’t hate them. I don’t threaten them. I don’t secretly want to rid the world of PCs and give everyone MacBooks when they’re not looking. I just like my Mac better; I grew up using one and, given the chance, I’ll continue to do so. My husband has a PC he built himself, even; when something goes wrong he doesn’t have to go crying to the Genius Bar like me. He can just fix it.

As it turns out, my approach to the Mac/PC debate is pretty common. A recent NPD survey indicated that 85% of American Mac users own a PC, as well. (On a side-note, Macs are also in 12% of US homes now, up 4% from last year)

What underlies that statistic? Well, money for one. Macs are far more expensive than their PC counterparts, driving many hipsters to credit cards in order to purchase the much-loved glowy apple logo (not that I… ahem… would know anything about that…). For a lot of households it’s just more cost-effective to have a PC. But the study also indicates that Apple users don’t just spend more money, they have more to begin with and purchase more gadgets in general.

I particularly like Ars Technica’s conclusion on the study:

The takeaway here is that the number of Mac users in the US is growing, Mac users tend to prefer MacBooks to desktops, and they generally have more money to spend on Apple and other CE gear. But it’s worth noting that rabid Apple fanboys are probably more rare than typically imagined; going by NPD’s data, only about 1.8 percent of US households are Mac-only.

So. Come on guys. Mac? PC? Let’s kiss and make up, shall we?