Mac Customer Satisfaction Gains: "We've Never Seen Anything Like This"

The two results don't necessarily have to be mutually exlusive. Apple has differentiated itself on the image of "it just works" and, in my experince (1st gen iphone, no mac) has largely delivered. Hence the overall satisfaction. However this is a double edged sword in that they've set the bar high and even the smallest issues become intollerable and loudly protested.

One interesting metric would be to compare Apple's 85 to its industry average *but* that average without Apple.

Since Apple is head and shoulders above the rest, including them in an industry average artificially increases the satisfaction of the rest of the industry.

Comparing Apple to all other comers in this way would really demonstrate what a terrible job the other PC companies are doing.

"He didn’t say the words, but I’d credit the Fanboy Effect. No company has more passionate defenders that are willing to overlook the company’s imperfections. Come on, be honest—you know who you are. That’s got to skew Apple’s score up a bit."

A greater percentage of mac users today are not the fanboys, yet the score surged ahead.

This survey measures satisfaction and more people are satisfied with apple's product and support. That's it.

"A greater percentage of mac users today are not the fanboys"

Really, Cesjr? What is that based on?

Has the trend in Apple-fanboyism gone down 34.385% over the past 2 years? I mean seriously, how could you gauge something so ridiculous? That fact is: The fanboys of Apple are generated solely by the company's image it's ability to produce products that people perceive as cool or trendy.

That hilarious part is, the first Apple product I have ever purchased has been iPhone 3G. It has been giving me TONS of problems as far as having consistent 3G connectivity goes, but I find myself defending it a lot more than I probably should --because it's so pretty.

Much like I might let a pretty girl walk all over me. Same concept. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

"Fanboys effect?" -- oh please. When you don't have facts, why bother researching, right? Apparently, you just make stuff up. Apple owners can tell you the reasons why they're happy if you just ask them -- next time please do that, instead of inventing ludicrous and insulting stuff like this.

What creates a Mac fan,
I am a computer tech since 1980 on mainframes. My first multimedia windows CD player took 3 people 6 days to get it to work correctly. My brother a mac fan installed his in 15 minutes. I switched to the mac platform. I brought the famous powerbook 5300, the worst computer ever built period. It blew up monthly, i sent it back monthly & apple fixed it for free. At the end of my one year warrantee. I sent a letter to Apple about how bad the computer was. They gave me a brand new 5300 computer that had all of the bugs worked out, an apology letter signed by steve jobs (a stamp) & another one year warrantee. The new computer worked flawless for 5 years before I retired it. Tell me of one other computer hardware or software manufacturer that takes steps of that extreme to make a customer happy.

Oh dear, the usual lame 'fanboy' charge again.

Well Mr 'Cesjr' how does the 'fanboy effect' account for Consumer Reports' ratings for Apple Computer.
Are you saying CR readers are all 'fanboys'?

With Apple gaining ground on the PC every day perhaps the 'fanboy effect' is due to people getting an Apple product for the first time and saying, "Holy smokes, you mean it was THIS simple all along?!"

Your theory is laughable balderdash sir.

To everyone bashing on Cesjr: Stop.
He's right. Ten or more years ago when Apple's marketshare was right around 3%, you could credit the fanboy effect. All the religious nuts toting their PowerBook and working on their brand new flashy Bondi Blue iMac. Throwing Apple frisbies around and spouting off about how much better Mac OS 8/9 is compared to Windows 98. Those days are long gone.
Now, Apple is hovering around 11%. Call it the iPod halo effect... call it marketing. Whatever it is, it's increased. Ten years ago you could have attributed such a high rating to a group of crazed fans who would clutch onto their 5300 while it's smoldering, professing their undying love for Apple. Now, there are more casual users who are impressed.
Let the flaming begin.. but you all know I'm right.

NeilNonFanboy: Read what Cesjr said again. He was quoting the article. He and I share the same opinion.