[X4U] Consumer Reports

[Crandon David]

You made some good points Linda. I'll add a few about Consumer  
Reports. Yes, the surveys are only their readers. However, their  
print and online subscriber base is in the millions which should  
negate a non-representative sample.

Also, CR will not publish results unless it is statistically valid.

David Crandon


On Sep 7, 2005, at 3:18 PM, Linda wrote:

> This isn't necessarily CR's fault... Note that they are simply  
> passing along
> what computer owners themselves have reported.
>
> We don't know how many total respondents there were -- 20% of Mac  
> owners
> surveyed might be only 2 of 10, and those two could be remembering  
> a Word
> Macro virus, for all we know.
>
> Further, this can't be construed that viruses affect 20% of Macs!  
> Note "of
> Mac owners surveyed" -- CR does not do a random owner survey, the  
> surveys
> are by and large of CRs own subscription base, which isn't a true
> cross-section of society.
>
> So.. don't be too harsh on CR, but it would be nice to see them  
> print the
> "facts" in addition to the horse hockey that people report.
>
> peace,
> Linda
>
> On 9/7/05 2:14 PM, James S Jones wrote:
>
>
>> Not only are there no viruses, it's unlikely 20% of Mac users even  
>> have
>> anti-virus software.
>>
>> We should all consider ourselves blessed. We've been given unique
>> insight as to how inaccurate and useless Consumer Reports actually  
>> is.
>>
>> On Sep 7, 2005, at 11:07 AM, Michel Treisman wrote:
>>
>>
>>> According to Consumer Reports for 2005,
>>>
>>> Macs are safer than Windows PCs for some online hazards. Only 20
>>> percent of Mac owners surveyed reported detecting a virus in the  
>>> past
>>> two years, compared with 66 percent of Windows PC owners. Just 8
>>> percent of Mac users reported a spyware infection in the last six
>>> months vs. 54 percent of Windows PC users.
>>>
>>> What are these viruses that affect 20% of Macs?  I thought there
>>> weren't any.
>>>
>
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