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Comment by lkozma | Hacker News Reader

A long time ago I had taught a class on data visualization, and used this photo as example of creative use of pie charts:

https://www.answerminer.com/static/489716080133492e99fdcb9c8...

Here was another list: http://avoinelama.fi/hingo/kirjoituksia/misleadingvisualizat...

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Those are excellent examples of the evil pie charts do. The one which i've hit most often in the world of tech company business reports is the nefarious two pie chart comparison. The very first question one should ask in that case is if the absolute aggregate (sum) is provably the same from chart A to chart B. In one notable case we finally learned that the total amounts had tripled between the two, and corresponding pie slices which had all but disappeared from A to B actually reflected quantitative growth.

What's wrong with the pie chart?

Edit: I should have read the article before the comments... Apple is using the thick wedge of foreground slice to make their share seem bigger

I think they're also lumping Android into the other category.

Not sure when that was taken but it’s totally possible that Android was legitimately a tiny portion of the market or even not yet released

Judging from the fact that RIM (the makers of the Blackberry line of devices) is shown to have 39% of the market in that chart, this must've been quite a while ago indeed.

My school spent quite a lot of time analysing charts, and the way they can be misleading. I think it was science (GCSE UK), but it was a while ago. Anyway that turned out to be a useful lesson.

I don't find your example too egregious, it has percentages at least.

Loved the 2nd list but I wish all the people who lied got handcuffs too. Don’t let them off so east!

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