ThinkTWENTY20

According to recent PEW research, the numbers of smartphone users is increasing while home broadband usage is declining. Increasingly people are declaring that smartphones are a reason for not having broadband at home.

In the analyses, the usual expected variances arise, for example, young people make greater use of smartphones than older groups. In fact, among the 18 – 29 group, smartphones are essentially ubiquitious. At the other end of the scale, those over 65, smartphone usage has increased dramatically, now standing at 53% of the people in that age group, while 91% own some kind of cellphone.

The research is interesting, but raises many questions. For example, what are they being used for? Research is needed on uses for texting, email, web based research, reading, watching TV and movies, etc. Is there a preference for tablets for some of these usages? Or for computers. How does the decrease in home broadband square with the decline in cable subscriptions? How do these usages vary by age group? There has been research on these issues, but the field is constantly changing. More is needed. For the Pew Survey, check out this link. https://www.pewinternet.org
- G Trites