Gadgets have a major impact on our lives, and now two thirds of adults in the U.S. own a smartphone, the numbers doubling within the last four years.
- Researchers polled a number of 2,000 adults in the U.S.
- Smartphones have gone from 35% to 68% since 2011
- Tablets have also seen an increase to 45%
- MP3 players declined to 40%, e-book readers to 19%, and portable gaming platforms to 14%
Smartphones have seen a distinct upsurge that could not be compared to any other type of device. The Pew Research Center has conducted a study on over 2,000 adults in the United States, between 18 to 49 years old, inquiring about their ownership of various devices. It has established the dominance of smart mobiles since their first appearance.
At their last study, 80% of the population owned regular old mobiles.
Back in 2011, the number of adults in the U.S. who owned a smartphone stood at 35%. Only 4 years later, the statistic has now shown that it has leaped over to 68%. This means that two thirds of Americans now own a smartphone. While that perhaps is unsurprising, their incredible upward streak in popularity certainly is.
The numbers differed where it concerned certain group ages though. For adults between 18 to 29 years old, it stood at 86%, or 87% for people in households that made more than $75,000 per year. It’s an impressive trend that seems to be growing, while others have been left behind.
With the multiple uses of a smartphone, certain other gadgets become less practical. One example would be MP3 players. Considering smartphones have perfectly decent abilities to play music, mostly with headphones, separate players are seeing a decline. Since 2010, when their numbers stood at 47%, MP3 devices have fallen to 40%. It’s likely expected for that to continue decreasing.
Tablets, on the other hand, have fared much better. Since 2010, their figures have seen an increase to 45% of adults owning at least one tablet.
E-reader ownership, however, is down to 19% from the 35% that it was in 2014. It’s an interesting observation to the fact that digital books are still a growing trend. The written word will most likely end up completely digitized at one point.
Gaming platforms were also included in the Pew research. For one, PC or laptop ownership have remained virtually the same since 2004. Their numbers have only seen a slight rise, from 71% to 73% in the last eleven years. The difference is statistically insignificant, which shows that the number of people owning a computer has remained mostly flat.
The same goes for consoles. Since 2009, their numbers are steady at 40%, though portables, like Nintendo 3DS have seen a decline from 18% to 14%.
Technology has a major impact on our everyday lives, and smart gadgets are becoming a staple for our society. Smartphones, for one, revolutionized the way we communicate or receive information. Be it for better or worse, they’ve had an incredible cultural impact that will likely continue for years to come.
Image source: idigitaltimes.com
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