iPad users are "selfish elitists," survey finds

Users of the iPad are just a little too iProud of themselves, a new study finds. In fact, they’re a bunch of "selfish elitists."

A technology firm grilled 20,000 Facebook users and found that iPad owners are more likely to be business-obsessed snobs who lack altruism and compassion.

These iSnobs were six times more likely to own an iPad than the average 13- to 49-year-old Internet user, according to MyType, the Web application firm behind the survey.

Critics of the iPad, however, think differently.

They are more likely to be tech-savvy "independent geeks" who think Apple is a behemoth.

These "are not the people you would expect" to knock Apple, said Tim Koelkebeck, founder of MyType.

The study found that people making more than $200,000 a year were four times more likely than the average Joe to have one.

Robert Thompson, popculture expert at Syracuse University, is suspicious of the findings.

"If you took a survey of the first users of cell phones, you’d get a totally different profile than if you took it now, which would be a profile of everyone in the country," he said.

Maya Dunlap, 42, of the Bronx, however, thinks the iSnob rap is right on the money.

"I don’t know if they think it’s a status symbol, but I think it’s obnoxious," she said.

But one iPad convert sees a particular utility: big type.

"I’m 48 and wearing bifocals now. I love its ability to magnify anything and to increase the size of the type," said Elizabeth Lawley, director of the Labs for Social Computing program at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Among the rich and powerful, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is famously fond of his iPad.

Koelkebeck conceded he knew little about the mayor, but mused, "He’s probably considered one of the elites."

Joe Kolman, a financial writer and iPad owner from Jackson Heights, used the elitist tag to poke fun at himself.

"Elitist? I only use my iPad because it came free with my Learjet," Kolman said.

Katherine Lieb contributed