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An unusual way of expressing the statistic, albeit technically correct. However, a more neutral way of expressing the same statistics would have been to state that MacOS's market share had increased by 1% over the time period, from 4.21% to 5.21%. Good news nonetheless, but not such a headline grabber.

In other shocking news, recent reports suggest that 50% of the population have below average reading skills, a figure unchanged since records began.

Now let's get that 10% market share mark shall we?

To paraphase Steve Jobs, "What's a few market share points?" from M$, but Redmond may now be rethinking their strategy.

Reality Check:

a change from 4.21% to 5.21% is a 23.8% increase, not 1%. I think you meant to say "increased by 1 percentage point" not 1%.

Hey Reality Check,

I don't see a problem with the headline. In fact, it's an accurate way to describe growth. Besides, the investment community and Wall Street always talk about percent increase whenever the analyze year over year and quarter to quarter results.

Anyway, this is great news for Apple.

Wait! No, pleeeeeease. I'm sorrry. I won't do it again. noooooooooo.....come back......!

Vissstaaa.. Viiiiiiiiiistaaaa.....!

Well, if one's overall marketshare increases from 4.21% to 5.21%, it's not simply a 1% increase. It's a "one percentage point" share increase, and there is a big difference between the two.

It has nothing to do with being neutral or not, it has to do with being mathematically correct.

Interesting how the MacOS share appears to be holding too, although it may be just easier for MacOS browsers to identify themselves as such these days thanks to web developers having to think outside of IE.

SJR is correct. The way switchtoamac.com reported the data is also correct. It's sad that people really don't understand the difference between "percent" and "percent increase"

If I had 10 jelly beans and I add 2 more, I'd have a total of 12 jelly beans. This represents a 20% increase.

12 - 10 = 2
2 / 10 = .2
.2 * 100 = 20%

You think you are so smart and then you make such a mistake:

"In other shocking news, recent reports suggest that 50% of the population have below average reading skills, a figure unchanged since records began." (Reality Check)

While with some irony you want to show of your knowledge in statistics, you are actually wrong. Your joke does not work like this:

Consider a sample of reading skills (1=worst, 5=best) like this:
(1,2,5,5,5,5,5).
Average skill level: 28/7 = 4
Percentage of population with below-average reading skills: 2/7, i.e. far less than 50%. In other words: Your joke does not work, because this percentage *does* fluctuate.

The correct way to put such a joke is:
"All car drivers in the US believe they drive better than average."

So, next time when you are trying to be a smart-ass, do it right.

Whatever quibbling is done over percentage point increases, it's great news for the Macintosh!

50% of the population DO NOT have below average reading skills.

50% of the population is below the mean. It's two entirely different things.

I have always been told that,
"Figures don't lie, but liers can figure!"

Dream on.

The price we are paying to celebrate Apple's market share in the single digits is too high.

Apple's products - software and hardware - are moving quickly and steadily toward average - latest examples: Mac's worst ever upgrade: iTunes 7.0; new portables out of date upon release; MacPros disappointingly little performance improvement over PowerMacs; and, most prfoundly: customer care, customer service down the toilet; Apple arrogance at all time high.

Pretty soon we will be fooling ourselves when we say Apple's stuff is better than Microsoft's stuff.

Peterson - you may be correct that Apple's quality control is going down because their volume is increasing. We will all have to keep an eye on that and make enough noise when QC is becoming a significant issue. It could be that Apple need some time to adjust to the increased demand for their products.

Here's a good example of Apple being overwhelmed to some extent. I took my 3 yr old PB in for a repair. The Genius at the Bar told me it could take up to a week to repair because they are really busy. They do the repairs at the store because Apple are swamped at their repair centers.

Despite this, the mac was repaired within 3 working days, but unlike previous times they did not clean the screen or housing.

The reality is that as Apple increase their market share, they will have to adjust how they check on their QC and how they provide customer support.

Getting to 10 % US and 5 % market share will be a big deal for Apple. The former could happen within 12 months.

I love watching idiots arguing about math.

Poo-Bah, the "mean" and the "average" are exactly the same thing. The word you were looking for was "median."

"to Reality Check," your "above average driver" joke has exactly the same problem. You don't know the difference between mean and median. Consider a professional racecar drive and four grandmothers. Only one of the five will have above average driving skills. But three will have above median driving skills.

"Reality Check," I think everybody has already pointed out what an idiot you are so I won't jump on the bandwagon.

Oy.

See, I'm an idiot too. I meant to say that TWO will have above median driving skills.

Reality Check said:
"50% of the population have below average reading skills"

Well, it is sad, albeit pretty normal that 50% of any population have above and the remaining 50% have below average skills in whatever is measured. That's why it's the average.

Anyway: Never trust a statistc you haven't forged yourself!

Poo-Bah, that was just mean of you!

The statistics cited are good news - even if we only understand them as they were intended - 35% growth in share rather than growth TO a 35% share. Another year or three at this rate (20% to 40% growth-in-share per year) and Apple will own some serious market share. Not 35%, to be sure, but double digits. And third place in the sweepstakes, moving ahead of Gateway.

I was told dividing by zero is not possible.
Care to explain?

I do it daily, so what gives?

Peterson, you are such a troll, shouldn't you be reformatting, virus cleansing, defragging, reinstallign, relicensing your wonderful MS products?

If you really think anyone in their right mind makes any kind of close comparison between Microsoft and Apple you are wrong. As it was put the other day you can't really compare the odour of Chanel No 5 against a squirt from a skunk's anal gland.

And yes the market share figures are starting to get some attention, and will be getting hugely more too.

I have learned two things in life:
1) five out of four people are bad at math
2) 23.46% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Apple's market share is going up no matter how you calculate it/

I had a bad experience last night.

You are an agressive bunch of morons aren't you?

I agree, I should have said "MacOS's market share had increased by 1 percentage *point* over the time period, from 4.21% to 5.21%.". Apologies for the missing word. However, the point remains: it is very misleading to express a percentage point increase of 1% as a percentage increase of 30%. This is precisely why the term percentage point exists.

Regarding my albeit feable attempt at humour with the statistic on reading, the rudeness of forum members here never fails to amaze. Irony always appears to missed on these forums. However, for those doubting my statistical abilities, bear in mind that for any large sample (such as national reading stats), the population will tend to a Gaussian distribution (see central limit theorem). Thus the trivial examples given here are not valid and prove nothing. With a Gaussian distribution, the mean equals the median, and so yes indeed, 50% of the population will be "below average". The whole point of this accurate but meaningless statement is that poorly expressed statistical statements (in this case, the mathematically vague meaning of "average") can easily result in dramatic sounding, but meaningless, headlines.

Sheesh guys. For a community that claims to represent the thinking portion of the computing market, you really do consistently show a childish and testosterone-fueled level of Internet aggression that does nothing to attract people to the platform...

Just to help out those specific forum members above with math problems:

"toRealityCheck": Go read about the central limit theory, your example distribution is not valid for a large sample size. Secondly, "Average skill level" is totally imprecise - you meant "mean", and the joke is actually based around the common usage of "average" to mean "median".

"Poo-Bah": Actually you're quite wrong. In general, 50% is always below the median, not the mean.

"Soko": I think you missed the joke.

Can we stop with the math pi$$ing match already? Who's got more stats books on their bookshelf? You do, man. You do!

Trouble is, your reputation goes before you. Anyone else making that mistake would have got off lightly. If give it you should be prepared to take it.

Ok I am going to forget the math geek analytics and just say I am really happy to see the Mac market share going up. Yes this will probably mean that there will be some growing pains as "Peterson" pointed out - ok, Apple of all companies will be dealing with that as best they can so that the user experience is good for as many as possible. I think Apple has done a good job of addressing the the problems that have happened over the last year or so, and I expect this will continue.

I have been a Mac user since the early 90's and the increasing popularity of the Mac platform is good news for everyone. Several people in my department at work are interested in getting a Mac as their next computer. These are good times for Apple and those that use its products.

As for the comments on these forums, I agree with "Reality Check." While there are often well thought out and informative comments posted to the articles, they so often digress into personal attacks and vulgarities that I will not forward articles from MDN to friends or acquaintances interested in the Mac. Sad for a "community" that should be so much more.

It's well known that 16.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

I see Buster got in first. He just got the wrong figure.

To pick up a full percentage point in Market share in such a short period of time is the actual news story here. Project out over the next 2 years just the current rate of increase (and not the increase in the rate of increase ... thus producing a conservative projection): where will Apple and the MacOS (both processor platforms) be in terms of % of Market Share in 3Q 2008??

Please, whatever we do, let's don't get into the universal misunderstanding over the medical probabilities of getting a given problem or disease.

Micro Ne....whats wrong with my figure! You calling me FAT?????

I had an even worse experience last night.

Hey Reality Check,

no offense meant, I just wanted to be a smart ass too.


This comment line is so funny to read. The newspost is about Mac market share and then people fight about math. It's a hilarious example for any internet forum!


Great job everybody!!

If I have 2 goats, and one is eaten for dinner, what is the mean number of goats?

Apple's conquest of the personal computer market gathers steam. And the main stream anal-ists are about to be run over by the clue train.

Henry V said it best, "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Steve Jobs would modify this to read,
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that risks his $$$ with me
Shall be my brother; be he ever so cruel to Enderle and Thurrott,
This investment shall be the viagra of his net worth:
And the anal-ists and pundits now in denial of Apple's greatness
Shall think themselves accursed that they bet their lucre on Dell,
And then watched their investments go as limp as did their manhood
When faced with the grinning, fists pumping in the air and getting rich
AAPL loyalists.”

Joy combined with schadenfreude – it doesn't get any better than this.

Buster: "Micro Ne....whats wrong with my figure! You calling me FAT?????"

No! (glances at own expanding wasteline).

But don't call me "Ne".

50% of the population DO NOT have below average reading skills - nice joke!

90% of the population have poor comprehension.

Reality Check-

Anybody who uses "Sheesh" in a computer forum post is a moron, and a Yankee moron at that.

Wait, I just used "Sheesh" and I'm not a Yankee or a moron so I must be below average, below mean, below median, or just plain mean.

I just don't know.

Hey Soose (Sheesh)