The Mobile Difference – Research Study

June 18, 2009

I recently read an incredible article that for me really shed light on trending and patterns toward a complete mobile experience. Many of these trend we always share with our clients. However, this in-depth look at each facet of the mobile population really helps to form concrete patterns and models around the concept of mobility.

Here’s an introduction to the latest Pew Internet Research Study called “The Mobile Difference” published March 25, 2009.

Before you read, please take note that the dates of the two surveys used to formulate this report concluded in December 2007. Of course, we know that things change at such a fast clip these days that these results can be seen as a precursor to the change in habits that have been formed since this study. Again, the iPhone didn’t even hit the market, quick text phones with full keyboards were only found on a smartphone and 3G wasn’t full deployed allowing fast connectivity for mobile users. Enjoy the study.

In the early 1980s, Americans started spending more time on the telephone. From 1980 to 1987, the number of minutes spent on the phone increased by 24%, three times the rate of population growth. At first, the reasons first seemed mysterious. Yes, fax machines were entering the workplace and the personal computing revolution was getting off the ground, both of which might have spurred growth voice traffic. But these factors were thought to account for no more than 10% of the growth.

The cause? The telephone answering machine. Although just 28% of homes had answering machines for their telephones in 1987, these new devices meant once-missed calls were returned and now-completed calls encouraged more phone calling.

This episode shows how relatively small changes in society’s technology portfolio in one area can have significant impacts in a related one. The answering machine served as an accelerant in to Americans’ existing calling patterns.4 In a similar way, mobile internet access is drawing people into more frequent online use. The information nugget initially discovered on the handheld device might prompt a user to open the laptop at home to explore further. Conversely, the fascinating blog post discovered on the desktop at home might be pursued further on the mobile device on the train to work and then taken along new pathways once online at the office.

This finding that mobile internet access is drawing people further into the digital world is the cornerstone of the Pew Internet Project’s second typology of information and communication technology (ICT) users.5 Some five groups in this typology – making up 39% of the adult population – have seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased. Across those groups, there is a lot of variation on what these changes mean to users. Some find this extra connectivity a Pew Internet & American Life Project   The Mobile Difference | 18 platform for self expression. Others are not entirely positive about ICTs’ impacts on their lives. communication technology (ICT) users.    Some five groups in this typology – making list of 10 actions on their cell phone and whether they had, on the prior day, done a up 39% of the adult population – have seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased. Across those groups, there is a lot of 2006. In 2006, respondents were asked about the various capacities (e.g., to take a Pew Internet & American Life Project    The Mobile Difference | 19 picture or record video) with some follow-up questions on whether they actually used variation on what these changes mean to users. Some find this extra connectivity a platform for self expression. Others are not entirely positive about ICTs’ impacts on their lives.

Then there is the other 61% of the adult population who do not feel the pull of mobility – or anything else – further into the digital world. Across the five groups that make up this part of the population, several have a lot of technology at hand and have seen their tech assets grow in recent years. Yet ICTs remain on the periphery in their lives, suggesting that some adult Americans reach a plateau in their technology use. Some groups are content with this distant relationship to technology. For others, even a little modern gadgetry is too much.

Read the complete study here: The Mobile Difference