Found this entertaining story whilst on one of my usual hunts about the web. Macintosh users are often given a hard time for their chosen choice of computing hardware. But why is that? Perhaps it"s because Mac users appear to foster deep, maternal relationships with their machines (or so Geoffrey Miller believes). No wonder they defend them so fiercely when some git turns about and shouts "Macs suck!" -Ed
For some psychologists and anthropologists, human social instincts are key to Mac loyalty. Just as animal lovers anthropomorphize their pets, Macs users associate human characteristics with their machines.
Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico, said the flat-panel iMac, for example, triggers a fostering response because it resembles an infant.
In psych talk, it"s neotenous. It has childlike features, like the big-eyed characters in Japanese anime
"The new iMac has the essential features of a baby that needs nurturing," he explained. "A big head with a frail neck and body. These are all the cues a healthy human infant might give. It says, "I"ve got a big brain so I"m worth taking care of, but I"ve got a little neck so I need nurturing. Don"t abandon me for a Dell PC." It taps into a response the same way a healthy but needy infant does."
Macs are also generally viewed as "warm" and "friendly," and because of this people enter into social relationships with them, Miller said.
"People don"t rank their friends objectively or scrutinize their good and bad traits, they simply accept them, faults and all," he said. "Apple isn"t judged by performance dimensions because it"s a social relationship (users) have with their computer. It"s a friendship."