No seriously it’s true that’s just what you are according to some new research that found the left favours Apple iPhones while the right favours the Blackberry (that hissing you heard just then was me dropping my Blackberry 8500 into my tea).
The research from new technology coalitionCALinnovates.org was done in the US around the hotly contested race for the governorship of California. What it found was that iPhone users prefer probable Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown while Blackberry users prefer the Republican Meg Whitman (the former CEO of Ebay).
iPhone users support Democratic candidate Jerry Brown over Republican candidate Meg Whitman 57% to 31% while Blackberry users support Whitman over Brown 47% to 38%.
I am betting that if the research was done in the UK we would see a similar left/right technology split. The research throws a fascinating light on the politics of technology. Apple with its cool design and sleek look has always had a particular liberal creative appeal as part of its brand giving it an almost rebel brand status that eschewed the dull corporatism of rivals.
It’s interesting to see that as Apple products have become almost ubiquitous, and much more widely owned than when it was simply a computer firm, its original market appeal does not seem to have been diluted.
I’d always suspected that as ownership became more widespread via the iPod and iPhone so would the character that makes up its customers and while there has been some change that we can lay at the doorstop of ubiquity apparently that is not as much as I’d once thought.
Apple owners it appears (whether they closely identify with the brand or claim not to) are still broadly residents of the liberal left.
I’m guessing if you own both a Blackberry and some kind of Apple Mac you’re probably a Liberal Democrat and Nick Clegg awaits your call.