Experian Simmons Mosaic profile of users of iPod, iPhone or Mac computers (including home and work)

Updated, Apr. 20, 1:33 p.m.: Due to rounding error that affected the language of the title and lede of the post, we’ve corrected the story to indicate that only one-fourth of Philadelphia’s population owns or uses Apple products, instead of one-third.

Count the computers you see at the coffeehouse to see if it jives, but Philadelphia is one-fourth Apple.

According to research firm Experion Simmons, 27 percent of the Philadelphia market, or 1.6 million people, use Apple products. The figure might seem incredulous if it wasn’t for the large number of white earbuds one can easily spot on the subway.

The firm says that the Philadelphia market is ranked 17th in nation for the number of its Apple users, after analyzing the propensity for a consumer to own an iPod, iPhone or a Mac computer.

In the top market, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Experion says that 32 percent of adults own or use at least one Apple product.

Where it gets interesting is in comparing the report’s top markets with locations of Apple Retail Stores, leaving out Apple Certified stores, or any retailers carrying Apple products.

More than 11 Apple Retail Stores service the San Francisco market, the largest number of Apple users based by percentage. Elsewhere in California, though 30 percent of San Diegans use Apple products, there’s only two Apple stores to serve 682,000 customers.

In Boston, six Apple stores serve its 1.5 million customers and in New York, there’s 13 stores for 4.9 million Apple users—surprise—the largest population of Apple users in the country. And talk about excess: sixteen stores serve Los Angeles and its 3.6 million Apple users.

It’s not hard to find an Apple store in Philadelphia, as is likely well-known, with four stores in the region serving our customer base and a fifth store on the way, as we’ve reported.

Perhaps its Santa Maria, California that has it worst; its 140,00 Apple users would have to travel 116 miles—more than two hours—to reach the nearest Apple store in Thousand Oaks.

[h/t PhillyTechNews]

Montgomery County's Department of Public Safety publishes emergency incidents online in several formats including a Google Map mashup.

The Montgomery County Department of Public Safety is using its Web site to post up-to-the-minute details of dispatched emergency calls, like fire, EMS and traffic incidents, garnering some attention from national government tech glossy Government Technology.

Along with a map of incidents (pictured), an RSS feed of activity, and a live audio feed of the department’s EMS and fire scanners, the department even offers a mobile version of the incident list.

According to department officials, the site was developed to reduce incoming calls from media inquiring about incidents. The site has “dramatically reduced” the number of calls, the publication reports, from 50 to 100 calls to sometimes two calls per day. The site gets 60,000 hits per month, officials say.

News to us is that Philadelphia’s police, fire and EMS audio feeds are also available online.

Since business mag Fast Company began running a five-part series about cities where entrepreneurs should consider starting companies, several folks have been proactive in getting Philly on that list.

Venture capitalist and AsktheVC publisher Brad Feld predicts that Fast Company will feature Philly in a next batch of coverage, having already made introductions for the magazine here in Philadelphia, according to a follow-up blog post written by Philly Startup Leaders co-founder Blake Jennelle,

The magazine so far has featured three of its top choices, including New York, Boulder and Seattle. Feld says Boston and Austin are next.

Speculation that Philly wouldn’t be featured fueled rampant discussion on Jennelle’s original open-thread. Yesterday, Innovation Philadelphia blasted to email subscribers to contact Fast Company about getting the city included in the coverage.

The community’s reaction is not out of place, of course. Philly tends to make some terrible lists.

But the situation brings to light another discussion. Inviting business to the region can be difficult considering the obstacles in place, but does Philadelphia need outside confirmation to know this is a great city to work? Sound off in the comments.

The Philadelphia Inquirer will launch a paid-content model on its Web site before the end of the year, according to a commemorative online package that will appear Sunday.

Philadelphia’s paper of record will debut the special multimedia presentation on Philly.com to commemorate its 180th anniversary, which Technically Philly was given a preview of today.

See our sneak peek at the project here.

The presentation includes a news story attributing the mention of paid content to Brian Tierney, Philadelphia Media Holdings Publisher and Chief Executive. Further details about the plans were not provided.

Inquirer Executive Online Editor Chris Krewson could not confirm the time line or the decision, but said that Tierney has spoken publicly about the possibility.

“In the past three months it’s been pretty clear from Brian’s statements that there will be a move to paid content on the Internet,” Krewson said in a telephone interview with Technically Philly.

“It would not surprise me at all to see us do something with paid content by the end of the year.”

Still, Krewson said that there are no plans for paid content in the immediate development pipeline. “There won’t be a pay wall anytime soon. For various technical reasons, we actually couldn’t do that if we wanted to.”

Top executives of the newspaper industry, including Philadelphia Media Holdings, met discreetly in Chicago Thursday to discuss online content monetization strategies, The Atlantic reported.

Though Tierney has been mum about PHM’s plans for online monetization, he has spoken to the importance of a paid online model.

While speaking at the Wharton Leadership Lunch at the University of Pennsylvania in February, Tierney contended that if the Web is to be the primary mode of content delivery, a paid subscription form would have to develop, according to Akkam’s Razor, a Philadelphia blog.

“Everyone wants content to be free,” he explained, “but you can’t do what we do and have content be free.”

The 1800-word commemorative article, written by Inquirer staff writer Jeff Gammage, reports on how the newspaper will continue to exist in years to come. Tierney is quoted in support of a paid content model.

“This idea of free access to your content is fundamentally as silly as we all thought it was 10 years ago,” Tierney said. “I think people will be willing to pay for quality journalism.”

Staff writers Sean Blanda and Christopher Wink contributed to this story.

Full Disclosure: All three founders of Technically Philly have done work for the Philadelphia Inquirer.