Men are from PCs, women are from Macs

by Chris Howard Feb 01, 2006

Women aren’t like men. Or so I’ve heard, because I’m not one afterall - I’m a bloke, Chris. And advertisers seem to know this about women. When you’re watching TV you know which ads are aimed at women and which at men. This difference set me wondering about Apple, Macs and women. If a woman designed a computer - including the OS -  would it be much more like a Mac than a PC? Furthermore, could Apple better leverage this advantage?

One difference between men and women - and this is a generalization, but a reliable one as generalizations go - is men seem to have an uncontrollable urge to to tinker, to know how things work. We men folk have to know how to fix things - or at least think we know. That’s why we love maps but won’t use them. We’ll read the map and learn all the different ways and means to get around but once we get behind the wheel it’s different. We don’t need the map, we know this stuff, we know how to get somewhere. Just don’t tell us to read the manual… errr… map. We take offense at that because actually we don’t mind getting lost - although won’t admit it when we are. Getting lost gives us a problem to solve. Something to fix. And then afterwards of course, we can say we never were lost.

My wife - and seemingly most other women - just want to get from A to B as simply and effortlessly as possible. And if she gets lost, she will read a map because she wants to get unlost as simply and effortlessly as possible.

It’s the same with computers. We blokes learn enough to be dangerous and then end up breaking them. But that’s cool - because we like fixing them. As a last resort we’ll look at the manual. Sometimes we might read it beforehand - well, skim it…

Guys just can’t help being geeks. Whether it’s being a computer geek or a car geek or whatever.

In my teens and early 20s I got more than a few appreciative remarks from girls about how they were glad I didn’t spend weeekends with my head under the bonnet of a car. What I didn’t admit to them though, was I spent my weekends with my head inside a computer learning programming, how to swap a CPU, tweak the BIOS and so on.

Women are the saner sex. They just want to use things. They don’t care how a car works, they just want to get from A to B. They don’t care how a computer works. They just want to get the report done for the board meeting.

Apple - and even us blokes who use them - tout that one of the greatest things about Macs are they don’t get in the way of what you are trying to do, they don’t require heaps of maintenance, they just let you get the job done as simply and effortlessly as possible.

Not to say Macs are perfect - my wife still finds things to confuse her. Apple does a fantastic job on the design of Macs and OS X but could they use even more female input?

Women seem to have better things to do with their time than learning how a carburetor works. Or how to tweak a BIOS. They want things that “just work”. Women are the ideal customers for Macs.

Should Apple be taking more advantage of this? Should they have a campaign such as “It just works”? Maybe an ad with hubby frustrated and losing his enjoyment of fixing the screwed up PC yet again and then his wife saying, “Enough of this, let’s get a Mac. They just work.”

Disclaimer: It’s hard to write this piece without possibly sounding sexist, patronizing or condescending. I promise it’s not meant that way - except maybe the dig at guys.

Comments

  • I hate shopping.  I’m a go in, get it, get out (get the HECK! out - I hate shopping)

    But when it comes to computers, I just want them to work.  When they don’t, I get frustrated.  But I admit, the reason I didn’t want to give up my windows unit is because I liked tinkering.  Just working, though, is winning out over tinkering.  My husband has a mac and tinkers all the time with it, just doing new and different things with it.  and those things work.  I, on the other hand, try to do new and different things on mine and they don’t. So, with Mac, and I can viva la tinkering!  and enjoy a system that just works.

    thisgirl had this to say on Feb 03, 2006 Posts: 1
  • obskanobi, I am not aware of that article. I didn’t expect I’d be the first with this theory though. If you doubt, I have sufficient people and email evidence on how this article developed.

    So anyway, just coincidence. Nothing’s new in the world.

    Chris Howard had this to say on Feb 03, 2006 Posts: 1209
  • Chris, I have no doubt… You’re right, this premise has been around for a while.  If you haven’t read “MicroSerfs” I would encourage you to do so; great book about a group of programmers that leave Microsoft and form their own company. The part I refer to is a chapter where one of the female programmers says some very similar things in your article. Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to see if others have read it.

    obskanobi had this to say on Feb 03, 2006 Posts: 2
  • Thanks obskanobi - I looked it up on Amazon and it does sound quite a good read. Thanks

    Chris Howard had this to say on Feb 03, 2006 Posts: 1209
  • I think you just made a case for why women love Linux.

    psients had this to say on Feb 04, 2006 Posts: 2
  • I only read these Apple Matters articles now and then.  Mainly when I’m bored.  I disagree with the entire idea that a PC is for men and Macs are for women.

    I’m a man and am bored.  I’m reading and typing this with my iMac while my wife is watching the super bowl.  What kind of sexist generalizations can you write about that one?

    Actually, I think you just wrote this as it’s a strange sexist article aimed at getting more clicks and I’ll be danged if I didn’t click it to read.  arrrrghhhhhh

    SirGeorge53 had this to say on Feb 05, 2006 Posts: 27
  • I’m a dude, I hate sports, I hate messing with cars, I hate fixing Windows, I love fixing or tinkering with Macs.

    And I kinda like shopping, but only if it’s for stuff I like. Like at the Apple store wink

    shrimpdesign had this to say on Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 16
  • “My wife - and seemingly most other women - just want to get from A to B as simply and effortlessly as possible. And if she gets lost, she will read a map because she wants to get unlost as simply and effortlessly as possible.”

    No, I’m serious.

    This is the mentality required in order to use Linux. If you want to do something, you don’t have to go through multiple steps. You can just go straight from A to B in one step and just “do” whatever it is you want to do.

    The only problem is that there is a learning curve. In other words, when you’re lost, you have to look at a map.

    psients had this to say on Feb 07, 2006 Posts: 2
  • “Apple - ...they don’t require heaps of maintenance, they just let you get the job done as simply and effortlessly as possible.”

    Funny, that’s how I sold Macs back when I worked at Microcenter, Computerware (Macsource), Computer City and CompUSA (1992-1998 era).

    You could spend a weekend fixing & tinkering with your PC and have some semblance of feeling like you accomplished something, or you can buy a Mac, get whatever work you needed to be done and go do something else to enjoy your weekend (fish, hike, spend time with loved ones, etc). Apple Macintosh, “it just works” would be a great campaign for Apple, too bad they are too stupid to ever do it.

    Benedict had this to say on Feb 10, 2006 Posts: 1
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