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iPad wins the jerk demographic

You're educated, affluent and self-indulgent: the perfect Apple customer. It's young cheapskate Linux snobs who hate the iPad.
Written by Robin Harris, Contributor

You're educated, affluent and self-indulgent: the perfect Apple customer. It's young cheapskate Linux snobs who hate the iPad.

At least according to research by Facebook-based psychographic marketing firm MyType. 20,000 people on Facebook took one of MyType's psychological surveys from mid-March to mid-May. The surveys included the statement:

When it comes to the iPad, I . . ."

You could choose only 1 answer from a list, or you could choose "Other" and type in a custom answer. From the answers MyType found 3 distinct opinion segments:

  • Owners - 3%. People who either owned or planned to buy an iPad.
  • Critics - 11%. People who think it is a silly product.
  • Unaware - 6%. People who don't know what an iPad is.

Affinity Opinions segments are measured by affinity. MyType defines affinity in their full report as:

An affinity is the strength of relationship between two subgroups. The affinity between iPad owners and Macintosh users, for instance, is 3.08, meaning that Mac users are 3.08 times more likely to be iPad owners than non-Macintosh users. The affinity between iPad owners and Linux users, on the other hand, is only 0.71, meaning that Linux users are only around two thirds as likely to be iPad owners as non-Linux users.

Got that? It'll be on the quiz.

Rich old lustful glutton jerks like the iPad People who are more likely to be iPad owners have some unfortunate traits:

Selfish people are more likely to be iPad Owners: people who do not value benevolence are 39% more likely, those who do not value altruism are 33% more likely, and detached/uncompassionate people are 22% more likely. . . .

People with household incomes of over $200,000 are 4 times more likely [to own iPads], those earning $100,000-$199,999 are over 2 times more likely, . . .

People in their 40s, the oldest age bracket in our sample, are two times more likely to be an iPad Owner than those in their late 20s.

People who plead guilty to sins of indulgence are more likely to be iPad Owners. Those who identified lust as their biggest sin are 70% more likely, while self-professed gluttons are 88% more likely.

If I weren't kind-hearted I'd own an iPad?

Unimaginative, close-minded cynical young iPad haters iPad critics are the people who answered "silly product" on the survey. They aren't very likable either.

iPad critics tend to be:

Libertarians, those cynical of or alienated by politics, . . . people who do not have children and/or those not interested in family. . . .

. . . Critics are like early technology adopters. They lack, however, the early adopters’ trendsetting characteristics. Critics are less imaginative, enthusiastic and extraverted than the average person.

. . . stern people tend to be Critics. Those who are tough, aggressive, closed-minded and/or do not value benevolence are all more likely to be critical of the iPad.

Teenagers are more than 4x likely to be critics than 40-somethings. No surprise to anyone who's raised teenagers.

Surprise: Mac users are more critical than Windows users, with Linux users 2.28x likely to be critics. So much for the "Apple kool-aid" argument.

The blissfully unaware The nicest people have ignored the whole thing.

Kind, humble people are particularly likely to be unaware of what the iPad is. The following traits and values have a high affinity with this opinion segment: compassionate, down-to-earth, discreet, polite, highly value benevolence, and/or do not much value power, achievement or hedonism.

Women are 2.3x more likely than men to be unaware of the iPad. That's why flashing your iPad at Starbuck's doesn't get you picked up.

The Storage Bits take I don't take this survey seriously. The differences between people who like the iPad and the people who don't aren't that surprising. The rest of the industry isn't coming up with big ideas so Apple gets a disproportionate share of attention - good and bad - for theirs.

What MyType doesn't talk about is how iPad owners differ from owners of other new gizmos like 3D TV. Lots of 3D critics too.

What the survey reflects is the small world of early adopters and early critics. As the iPad progresses from novelty status-symbol to common tool for casual users - hey, Steve: how about a $199 version! - the demographics will change too.

For the better, I'm sure.

Comments welcome, of course. Haven't got an iPad, but I immediately ordered a Magic Trackpad.

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