Don,
I predicted that the NERD factor would be an important indicator, because they would be early adopters and influence other users and ultimately corporations:
Students Switch to Macs
In increasing numbers, undergraduates turn to Macintosh computers
thecrimson.com
This seems like a pretty strong indicator of good things to come. As I have said before I'm very bullish on Apple right now. I think they will double again within a couple of years. It seems they have doubled their market share at Harvard. A comparable doubling of Macs to 4% in the real world will have investors falling over themselves to get in.
As you have pointed out:
IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS
Despite the fanaticism of many current Mac users, their beloved machines still constitute only a minority of the computers used by students in the College. But the numbers suggest that may be changing.
According to statistics obtained from Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS), only 32 percent of computers purchased by the Harvard community through the university’s discount computer purchase program this year were Macs—less than half of the number of Windows system purchases.
However, Mac usage has been on the rise in recent years. Total purchases of Apple systems increased by 1 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, 11.9 percent in FY 2004, and 14 percent in FY 2005.
A longitudinal examination of the current senior class further elucidates the rise in popularity of Macs among Harvard students. In the fall of their freshman year, only 9 percent of the class of 2005 owned Macs. But by this fall, that number had more than doubled, to 21 percent.
Note that as I predicted the increase is logarithmic or even more intense:
1 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, 11.9 percent in FY 2004, and 14 percent in FY 2005.
I wonder if Fiscal 2005 is complete yet? |
