THEY
are the first on the block with the latest gizmo. They think nothing of
paying $750 for a Nokia N95—that ultimate of go-anywhere,
cell-cum-everything accoutrements. They upload digital content to
social networks like YouTube, MySpace and Flickr. They write blogs at
home, use wikis at work and gorge on one-segment telly on their mobiles
when not talking or texting. They are the Early Adopters—the 8% of
consumers who cheerfully pay through the nose for the bragging rights
of having the latest and greatest of gadgets.
Their
opposites are just as easy to spot. The Laggards and Luddites are slow
or reluctant to embrace new technology because they can’t afford it,
aren’t interested in it, or actually fear and loathe it. As a group,
they are apparently much bigger than previously imagined. In a
comprehensive study of how consumers use technology, the Pew Internet
& American Life Project reported earlier this week that a
surprising 49% of adult Americans fall into this category.
Even the
researchers were surprised. John Horrigan, Pew’s associate director for
research, was quoted as saying that, when he started the survey, he
assumed that the more digital appliances people had, the more they
would embrace the technology—and the more they would participate in
generating and sharing digital content with the rest of the world.
That turned
out not to be the case. What he found instead was a lot of tension
towards technology, even among those with gadgets galore and high-speed
internet connections.
The recent
introduction of a range of digital tools and services that let people
express themselves online and participate in the “commons of
cyberspace” is being heralded as the next phase of the information
society. The digirati have labelled this new form of online
interactivity as Web 2.0—to distinguish it from the one-way browsing,
searching and shopping metaphor of the original internet. Yet, despite
the implications for society in general and family life in particular,
little is known about who uses Web 2.0’s new social networks and how.
To remedy
this, the Pew researchers polled some 4,000 adult Americans to learn
about their relationship to information and communications technology
(ICT). The pollsters asked them how they used computers, the internet,
mobile phones as well as digital cameras, video cameras, webcams, MP3
players and personal digital assistants. They queried respondents on
what they downloaded, whether they generated their own digital content,
and what else they used their computers and mobile phones for. Finally,
the researchers solicited views on whether ICT helped people become
more productive, pursue their hobbies, keep up with family and friends,
and gain greater control over their lives.
The survey
identified a rich variety of Web 2.0 users and non-users. A third of
the sample turned out to be elite consumers who owned lots of gadgets
and were heavy users of the internet and mobile services. Within the
group, many generated their own digital content, and all seemed
satisfied with the way ICT had improved their lives.
Another
group, a fifth of the total, were middle-of-the-road users who were
more focused on getting things done than expressing themselves. Half of
this particular group found ICT satisfyingly handy, while the other
half used it but felt themselves hassled by the technology.
AFP
More savvy than many Americans
But it was
those with few bits of modern gadgetry, accounting for almost half the
total, who provided the greatest pause for thought. Despite having
mobile phones and online access, some were merely inexperienced. Others
were indifferent to the technology or found it annoying. Others still
(some 15% of the total) had neither mobile phones nor internet
connections, relying instead on television and traditional telephones.
Two questions
explored people’s attitudes about technology, with encouraging results.
The first asked whether respondents felt overloaded with information
these days, given all the TV news shows, magazines, newspapers and
computer-information services. Some 27% said they did, but a healthy
67% said they enjoyed having so much choice.
The other
question addressed whether people think that information and computer
technology gives them more or less control over their lives. Some 48%
welcomed ICT for helping them gain greater control over their lives,
while 29% said it made no difference and only 16% thought it made
things worse.
What emerges
from the Pew study is that it is difficult to make generalisations
about attitudes to technology. Some people may have lots of information
appliances, use them frequently for a range of purposes and like what
the technology does for them. Others may have relatively few of the
latest gadgets, use what they have only modestly and find the
technology to be more of a burden than a blessing.
In between
lies a wide variety of attitudes that make pigeon-holing people nigh
impossible. For instance, your correspondent admits to having all eight
of the gadgets used to define the survey’s topology, and to have
participated, at one time or another, in each of the online activities
highlighted. But he has never considered himself an Early Adopter,
still less the Omnivore that Pew’s online quiz labels him. He likes to
think of himself as a Just-In-Time Adopter, who waits until all the
initial bugs have been squished and the price has tumbled to a more
realistic level.
