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Gadgets convicted of making us miserable, dodgy stats used as evidence
Gadgets need to be rounded up and thrown in a cell right alongside meat glue, child pageants and other notorious public enemies. The crime? Stressing people out, according to researchers at Ipsos Mendelsohn. The evidence? A survey of affluent Americans with a household income over $100,000 who moaned that their lives are more "complicated" than they were a decade ago. Damningly, the vast majority of these respondents also admitted that their lives are more "technology-infused" than a decade ago. The researchers also highlighted evidence from a separate poll of affluents, showing the growing prevalence of certain gadgets that add to the "complex calculus" of our lives: E-reader ownership has doubled over the last eight months, smartphone ownership is up to 52 per cent, and a third of affluents either own a tablet or expect to buy one soon. Sufficient proof, it seems, to send these poor devices down for life -- especially if we disregard all the other things that have stressed out rich Americans over the past decade (recessions, deficits, bad TV serials) and the possibility that busier people might actually need more technology to help them cope.
Consumer survey says iPhone owners more likely to shop online, go snowboarding
This little list of factoids from last fall's Survey of the American Consumer is pretty interesting. It runs down a few of the things that iPhone owners are more likely to do than the average American. Some of them are obvious (iPhone owners are more likely to make calls over the Internet, see their phone as entertainment, or even pay a subscription to watch live TV on the device), but did you know that iPhone owners are even more likely to own an elliptical trainer or be snowboarders? In fact, they're 282% more likely than the average American to order a product from Zappos. Maybe they just wanted to save money. At any rate, these stats are really more of a novelty. We already know that most iPhone and Apple product users tend to be male, older, and affluent; it's not surprising that pastimes and activities that also appeal to that segment are popular among iPhone owners. In the end, the most interesting stat may be the last one: iPhone owners are 52% more likely than other people to want to "wow" others with their devices. We know that iPhone owners have more money and more resources than others, but I'm interested to know more about just how vain we are and how Apple cultivates its own image to target that audience.
