RSSStudy: Adults Increasingly Cell-Savvy
by Ed Oswald
Adults are becoming increasingly cell addicted, with four out of 10 considering dropping their landline service. The findings were part of a larger mobile lifestyle survey released on Monday by America Online, the Associated Press, and Pew Research Center.
In previous studies AOL had focused on children and teenagers, which AOL Wireless director of emerging technologies Raine Bergstrom called "the trendsetters." Mobile use among this demographic is highest, and thus gauging their cellular activity has proven to be the most logical way of measuring the success of mobile features.
He said that the group wanted to peer into cellular use among adults, marking the first time a study aimed at those 18 or older was commissioned. Some of the results in the survey came as a surprise to researchers, Bergstrom said.
Just over half of all adults keep their mobile phones on continuously. Additionally, among those ages 18 to 29, the study found 40 percent say they likely will get rid of their landline phones.
"As the mobile phone becomes an ever-more essential communications tool, we are beginning to get measures on some important societal impacts," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "The cell is playing a key role in our daily lives, whether it's used for emergencies or as the primary technology for our most basic interactions with others."
Surprisingly, the most commonly cited "must-have" feature is not a camera phone or text messaging. Rather, 51 percent of respondents cited the capability to use mobile maps from the device. Bergstrom speculated that the addition of GPS features in phones was driving much of this demand.
Other must-have features include text messaging, 48 percent; camera phone, 47 percent; games, 34 percent; and mobile e-mail and mobile search with 32 and 31 percent, respectively.
Three in 10 also expressed interest in browsing the Web from their phones. Bergstrom said such high interest in the mobile Web was surprising. "Until recently, browsing the Web on the phone was a very poor experience," he explained.
AOL may take interest in another finding in the survey: 18 percent of users say that they would either like to, or have used a mobile IM service on their phones. To many, SMS text messaging is not enough, the study found.
8 Comments
No landline in this household. Now if only I could get rid of cable, and not it per se, but the ^&#@* cable company.
The bottom line is you are really just paying for a phone number in most households. Given that, I can purchase an entire year of "number" from an entity like Skype (which is slowly getting its act together now that eBay has stepped in) for less than I paid for just one month of POTS. A year ago I was paying about $525 USD per year for a POTS number, but now only $40/year for a Voip number.
I also now use prepaid cellular service instead of signing a contract. That runs me approximately $300 for a full year vs. $525 for a cellular contract. (I bought a carrier-compatible cell phone at eBay for all of $50 more.) And should Voip go down for some reason, cellular service picks up the unanswered/forwarded calls without anyone ever knowing there is a problem somewhere. However, I think even that has been required only two or three times over the past nine months.
So I now have essentially the same telephone service at approximately $350/year instead of approximately $1200/year beforehand. (And who said I would never need second grade math?)
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"In previous studies AOL had focused on children and teenagers, which AOL Wireless director of emerging technologies Raine Bergstrom called "the trendsetters.""
Hey.....didn't tobacco companies do that too? Hmmmmmm...is this just another piece of evidence that AOL is the devil?
"Surprisingly, the most commonly cited "must-have" feature is not a camera phone or text messaging. Rather, 51 percent of respondents cited the capability to use mobile maps from the device."
So...Market research shows that most users would love to have a PHONE device that fits in a cradle, can reliably give you directions, and play MP3's?
YET the Ipod is selling like wildfire at around $100 for the minimalistic version!?! :Shrug Shoulders:
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Given the exellent coverage here and the fact it was only 7 bucks more with unlimited nights and weekends plus some daytime minutes i skipped the landline all together years ago.
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We use vonage--$15/month is a great deal. Don't know why I didn't do it years ago.
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"Additionally, among those ages 18 to 29, the study found 40 percent say they likely will get rid of their landline phones."
I bet it neglected to mention that they are going with that digital cable/phone package...or 40% of young adults are dingbats, perhaps. Landlines are good because they work 100% of the time, while cell phones--at least in my area--will not in many areas. We have plenty of coverage, yeah, but too much interference from other sources nearby.
Needless to say I am troubled by this report.
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The UK has a much higher mobile phone usage than the US. I finally got one about a year ago, after nearly five years of people saying "Really, you don't have one?" as if I was discussing walking around with my heart missing.
I see them as a necessary evil, and use it infrequently. Unlike seemingly most people around me who can't stop fiddling with their damn phones for ten seconds!
And yet if I was to run amok with a shotgun, silencing all those kids with their Crazy Frog ringtones, *I* would be the one to go to jail... ;-)
Good luck, USA...
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Land lines can be reliable but they are very expensive at least in US. I was paying a base fee of 30$ a month for just the simplest landline phone service (without any usage). I am paying 30$ for my cell phone and it comes with free weekends, free minutes so on.
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Yes but if you have a VOIP (Voice Over IP (Internet Protocol)) service it's only good for about two hours with a built in batery into the cable modem. The only time we've really needed it is durring a MAJOR catastropic power event such as the big power outage of 03 where the entire east coast from the entire East half of Michigan all the way to the east coast went dark.
These days the POTS (Plin Old Telephone Service) is only good for letting telemarketers annoy you.
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