MetaFacts helps technology marketers find and measure their best and future customers. Our TUP/Technology User Profile study uses solid research methods to deliver quick, customized answers.
MetaFacts is a market research firm focusing on technology markets, primarily the computer and telecommunications industries.
Because TUP is a multi-year service gathered from a statistically-designed sample, it has the quality to support in-depth analyses. Why double-click when you have enough good data to triple-click?The origin of TUP/Technology User Profile
The TUP/Technology User Profile survey began over forty years ago after sparks of curiosity met a bold vision and the desire to create the future.
In 1983, Apple’s management knew their technological vision would only come to fruition through an equally solid understanding of the marketplace.
With a background in consumer packaged goods and an appreciation of empirical research, Apple’s market research manager knew there were better ways.
Aware of the high stakes, Apple’s management demanded statistically valid research but did not allocate the necessary budget for sufficient sampling of a large-scale study. The incidence of computer users was very low then.
While heading custom research at Creative Strategies, MetaFacts founder Dan Ness collaborated to envision a multi-stage survey platform. Encompassing a full-market view including personal, work, and institutional markets, the study design included sustainability by being syndicated with costs shared by multiple clients.
The research manager left Apple to join an independent tech analyst consultancy to launch and manage the study. The study thrived and guided many clients through technology’s boom and bust cycles. In 1999, MetaFacts acquired the study, its methodology, historical results, and other intellectual property, expanding it to as many as 16 countries and technology spanning computers and smartphones to wearables and consumer electronics.
42 years of continuous research
Meet our principal analyst
MetaFacts is guided by an experienced researcher
Dan Ness
Principal Analyst
Dan Ness directs the longest-running continuous study of technology use – the TUP/Technology User Profile syndicated research service – now in its 42nd continuous year.
40+ years of tech industry experience as an industry analyst, public speaker, writer, software developer, book author, and researcher. Recognized by peers for multiple awards: His 1986 book “Fast Facts Online” published by Dow-Jones Irwin was awarded “Best Online Tutorial” by the CPA (Computer Press Association). Esomar, the well-known global professional association for market research and insights, distinguished him as an Insight250 winner in 2023 for being a worldwide pioneer and innovator in market research, data-driven marketing, and insights.
Continuously implementing ways to develop solid, useful information that helps high-tech manufacturers, service providers, content makers, and channels market more effectively.
