4 ms·

Most Young Adults in U.S. Now Own Smartphones, Survey Says

28 points by pjo 15y ago

zitterbewegung 15y ago
I don't (I am 23) am I in the minority now? I wonder what has to happen for the older generation to adopt smartphones (other than the obvious answer of the current generation becoming the older one). Don't we see a bunch of apps and services tailoring to the younger generation? What if we tried targeting the older generation would that increase adoption?
- icefox 15y ago
  At least for those I have asked it seems like it is a combo of their plan going up for renewal so they get a "new phone" or that their work gives them a smartphone. Could be a simple as obtaining a smart phone isn't on the radar of top 10 things that will improve their life.
- bartonfink 15y ago
  I don't either, and although 28 isn't old, I simply don't see the need for one. I'm a software developer, which means that for nearly all day I'm never more than about 10 feet away from a computer. I'm married with a family, so I go out socially maybe once a month. Further, I make plans before I go out, so there's not much reason to have mobile access to the web. I don't have one because I simply don't need it. Honestly, what would drive me to getting a smartphone is a data-only network so I could use Skype or another VOIP program for my telephony, and then have data "for free." I pay $140 a month for a family plan with some extras, but mostly that goes towards voice traffic. A data plan worth having would easily shoot that over $200 a month, and it's just not worth it.
  - cryptoz 15y ago
    I have a smartphone (and tablet) specifically because I'm a software developer, actually. I am probably an edge case, but I'd assume that not to be the case in the HN audience: I pretty much never use my smartphone to make phone calls. In fact, I absolutely hate phone calls and do everything I can to avoid them. Having a smartphone is perhaps the best way yet invented to avoid phone calls! As a software developer, I see the future of our field solidly taking place inside the ecosystems being built on smartphone platforms today. The fact that it's a phone or that it goes in your pocket is 100% irrelevant to why smartphones are interesting or useful from the point of view of a software developer. Their OS and ecosystems represent new models of user interaction, new expectations from software as well as new paradigms in data visualization, etc. Smartphones are extremely exciting and they have nothing at all to do with communication with family or phone calls. They are the new computer.
    - hessenwolf 15y ago
      I have an android. It's an amazing mini-computer, but a shit phone.
    - igouy 15y ago
      > Having a smartphone is perhaps the best way yet invented to avoid phone calls! Not having a phone is "the best way..." Also SMS.
- joebadmo 15y ago
  Social pressure. A friend of mine just got both of her parents iPhones. Why did they want them? Because a lot of people they knew had one.
adriand 15y ago
I'd love to see the breakdown between iPhone vs. Android by age group. Another interesting statistic would be the number of people who have smartphones that use them as smartphones (instead of just as a phone), and how that breaks down between age groups. Looking at traffic analytics for the sites I have access to, there are typically 2 to 3 times as many people browsing the sites using an iPhone than an Android-based device.
- dpritchett 15y ago
  Do your sites have a particular demographic slant? I've seen Android filling the "cheap phone" and the "I like to tinker" demographics, with iOS covering the standard Apple "Just Works, clean UI, I have a bit of extra money" crowd. My first smartphone was an iPhone and my second was an Android. My artist/student/professor wife's first was an iPhone, and she'll probably stay on iOS for the next 5 years at least.
- ZeroGravitas 15y ago
  Most surveys show Android as much more popular with youth, with iPhones more popular with those in their 50s and up. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones/Section-3/Platform-differences-in-smartphone-adoption.aspx http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones/Section-3/Pl...
mikepurvis 15y ago
I can't tell if that's 62% of users who have any phone at all, or 62% of the entire demographic. Either way, I guess I'm in the minority-- I'm 25 and don't actually own any phone at all. My wife and I share a Motorola W835, which has a minimal plan for emergencies, etc, but it's predominantly the "car phone", and the car is also hers during the day. I bike and walk to work, where I have a phone on my desk, so it seemed redundant to pay for a phone in my pocket as well. I work for a small company where everyone uses their personal device for work purposes; I'm happy to wait for work to decide to pay for my device if they need me to have one.

28 points by pjo 15y ago

I don't (I am 23) am I in the minority now? I wonder what has to happen for the older generation to adopt smartphones (other than the obvious answer of the current generation becoming the older one). Don't we see a bunch of apps and services tailoring to the younger generation? What if we tried targeting the older generation would that increase adoption?

icefox 15y ago
At least for those I have asked it seems like it is a combo of their plan going up for renewal so they get a "new phone" or that their work gives them a smartphone. Could be a simple as obtaining a smart phone isn't on the radar of top 10 things that will improve their life.
bartonfink 15y ago
I don't either, and although 28 isn't old, I simply don't see the need for one. I'm a software developer, which means that for nearly all day I'm never more than about 10 feet away from a computer. I'm married with a family, so I go out socially maybe once a month. Further, I make plans before I go out, so there's not much reason to have mobile access to the web. I don't have one because I simply don't need it. Honestly, what would drive me to getting a smartphone is a data-only network so I could use Skype or another VOIP program for my telephony, and then have data "for free." I pay $140 a month for a family plan with some extras, but mostly that goes towards voice traffic. A data plan worth having would easily shoot that over $200 a month, and it's just not worth it.
- cryptoz 15y ago
  I have a smartphone (and tablet) specifically because I'm a software developer, actually. I am probably an edge case, but I'd assume that not to be the case in the HN audience: I pretty much never use my smartphone to make phone calls. In fact, I absolutely hate phone calls and do everything I can to avoid them. Having a smartphone is perhaps the best way yet invented to avoid phone calls! As a software developer, I see the future of our field solidly taking place inside the ecosystems being built on smartphone platforms today. The fact that it's a phone or that it goes in your pocket is 100% irrelevant to why smartphones are interesting or useful from the point of view of a software developer. Their OS and ecosystems represent new models of user interaction, new expectations from software as well as new paradigms in data visualization, etc. Smartphones are extremely exciting and they have nothing at all to do with communication with family or phone calls. They are the new computer.
  - hessenwolf 15y ago
    I have an android. It's an amazing mini-computer, but a shit phone.
  - igouy 15y ago
    > Having a smartphone is perhaps the best way yet invented to avoid phone calls! Not having a phone is "the best way..." Also SMS.
joebadmo 15y ago
Social pressure. A friend of mine just got both of her parents iPhones. Why did they want them? Because a lot of people they knew had one.

adriand 15y ago

I'd love to see the breakdown between iPhone vs. Android by age group. Another interesting statistic would be the number of people who have smartphones that use them as smartphones (instead of just as a phone), and how that breaks down between age groups. Looking at traffic analytics for the sites I have access to, there are typically 2 to 3 times as many people browsing the sites using an iPhone than an Android-based device.

dpritchett 15y ago
Do your sites have a particular demographic slant? I've seen Android filling the "cheap phone" and the "I like to tinker" demographics, with iOS covering the standard Apple "Just Works, clean UI, I have a bit of extra money" crowd. My first smartphone was an iPhone and my second was an Android. My artist/student/professor wife's first was an iPhone, and she'll probably stay on iOS for the next 5 years at least.
ZeroGravitas 15y ago
Most surveys show Android as much more popular with youth, with iPhones more popular with those in their 50s and up. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones/Section-3/Platform-differences-in-smartphone-adoption.aspx http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones/Section-3/Pl...

mikepurvis 15y ago

I can't tell if that's 62% of users who have any phone at all, or 62% of the entire demographic. Either way, I guess I'm in the minority-- I'm 25 and don't actually own any phone at all. My wife and I share a Motorola W835, which has a minimal plan for emergencies, etc, but it's predominantly the "car phone", and the car is also hers during the day. I bike and walk to work, where I have a phone on my desk, so it seemed redundant to pay for a phone in my pocket as well. I work for a small company where everyone uses their personal device for work purposes; I'm happy to wait for work to decide to pay for my device if they need me to have one.