Some interesting data from Pew. Note that we're not just consumers, but creators thanks to mobile, as evidenced by the photo / video / text growth. Full source is here. Internet access over mobile also is experiencing statistically significant growth. -cfc
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"Cell phone ownership has remained stable over the last year, but users are taking advantage of a much wider range of their phones’ capabilities compared with a similar point in 2009. Of the eight mobile data applications we asked about in both 2009 and 2010, all showed statistically significant year-to-year growth.
This year Pew also asked for the first time about seven additional cell phone activities. Among all cell phone owners:
- 54% have used their mobile device to send someone a photo or video
- 23% have accessed a social networking site using their phone
- 20% have used their phone to watch a video
- 15% have posted a photo or video online
- 11% have purchased a product using their phone
- 11% have made a charitable donation by text message
- 10% have used their mobile phone to access a status update service such as Twitter"
It’s interesting how quickly smartphone are changing the way people access and share content. Gartner says the number of mobile devices connecting to the Internet will surpass the number of PCs by 2013.
Another recent Pew report indicated that 33% of Americans now access news on mobile devices: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Online-News.aspx
john, exactly. mary meeker’s presentation on slideshare from last fall had a similar prediction, showing smartphones outselling PCs by 2012.
http://www.slideshare.net/Devcorporate/mary-meeker-mobile-internet-report-key-themes
yes, it’s actually 671 slides. 🙂
I’d be a bit more interested in Pew’s usually-excellent research if some recent usability work I did didn’t tell me that most people can’t, for example, distinguish between “text messaging” and “instant messaging” on their phone.
It’s fun to smirk at that from Silicon Valley, but the reality is we’ve forced people into feeling dumb if they can’t make distinctions based on implementation decisions, rather than their goals.
As for the video numbers…really….really? Are there really that many video-capable phones out there relative to “send and receive and email” or “access the Internet,” whatever that’s supposed to mean?
Color me skeptical — not about the overall trend, mind you, but any of these specific numbers.
Best,
dbk
The video pattern in particular skews young, and in the youngest demographic the video creation usage is quite high, so it might all hang together:
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Access-2010/Part-2.aspx?r=1
One of the things I am always fascinated by is the fact that people, in the act of creating, don’t classify themselves in this way. As individuals, we’re quite happy to describe our behaviour rather then label it – so what we are seeing is evidence of a shift in what we do with technology and how it impacts our lifestyle (for work or for pleasure). And because “thinking” follows “behaviour”, we are in fact witnessing something quite profound that is bound to challenge us all at some point in the future.
I was just talking about his with my hubs… I have a theory (well, I have lots of them, but I have one on this too 🙂
Is there going to be a line of demarcation between generations who are digital-preference readers versus those who are print-preference? Has it already happened?
When does the switch occur… are public schools handing out digital textbooks now? Do students still print?
What’s happening out there!? Ugh, I feel so old!
I’ll share my theory if you share yours!
things are trending that way:
http://news.suite101.com/article.cfm/barnes-and-noble-textbooks-rentals-and-etextbooks-program-details-a272799
I’m slightly surprised by these findings; not that people are embracing more features on their phones, but that the spike in accessing the internet wasn’t higher. For anyone who has a smart phone, you spend the majority of your time checking email and browsing the web while using the device. Features like recording videos/taking pictures are almost forgotten. It could be that people with new phones may try out all features in the first 30 days (like recording videos) but quickly focus on other options (like web browsing) over time.