The iMac Channel

Macs Are Home Computers

Dan Knight - October 18, 2000

Recent evidence points to a clear fact: Macs are home computers.

  • Microsoft discovered that more people are buying Office for Mac to use on home computers than on work computers. Business users have taken the back seat ever since Office 98 shipped. (See Microsoft, a people's company?)
  • WebSideStory's continually skewed data shows the Mac makes up only about 3% of all Web traffic. Of course, their results are based on HitBox data, which as far as I know remains a Windows-only application. (See Apple Retains Core User Base on the Web, but Fails To Take a Bite Out of Microsoft.) Of course, most surfing takes place at work.
  • Statistics for this site consistently shows about 50% of all pages served to Macs, 42% to Windows users, and 8% to other and unknown. That's because a lot of you are surfing from work.

There are two ways to look at this data. One is that Macs are no longer considered business machines - if they ever were. Many workplaces have abandoned or marginalized the Mac.

The other outlook is that, given the choice, people who use Windows computers at work are fairly likely to have Macs at home. Thus, they buy Microsoft Office for home use. And, because most surfing is done during the work day, when a much higher percentage of users are on PCs, the Mac is underrepresented in site logs. It's not that the numbers aren't correct, but that quotethe numbers don't correlate to the actual percentage of computers that run the Mac OS.

I've got some statistics going back to 1984, the year Apple unveiled the Macintosh. Apple's highest U.S. market share, 16%, was in 1986. (Global share has consistently been lower.) These days Apple's market share is perhaps 10% of the overall personal computer market.

I won't deny that Macs make great business computers. Until recently, we managed to stave off Windows at work and be very productive with our Macs. But we're in the publishing industry, where Macs are the workhorses of the art and design departments. Most businesses have settled on Windows. Windows is also making inroads where I work. :-(

Despite the dominance of Windows in the workplace, a lot of people are choosing to use Macs at home - I think that's part of the reason Apple "bet the farm" on the iMacNew iMacs. They buy Office for Mac so they can take files home from work, not because the Mac isn't a good business computer. They surf Mac sites on company PCs (don't worry, we won't tell).

In short, given the choice, those who use Windows at work are far more likely to choose Macs as their home computers than market share statistics would indicate. No wonder the iMac has been such a big success against the multitude of Wintel clones.

Test my theory. If Windows is the norm where you work, ask your coworkers who have home computers what kind they have. My theory predicts over 10% will have Macs at home, because Macs are great home computers.

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2016 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link