Study: Americans Embrace Technology

We still have a love affair with our PCs--and the information they provide.

Rita Chang, Medill News Service

Complaints about information overload notwithstanding, it's clear Americans are in love with technology.

A recent study shows that Americans are increasingly seeking out electronic gadgets that collect, process, and manipulate information.

The study, conducted every two years by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, goes on to note that American culture is increasingly defined by the widespread consumption of goods and services that provide information. That information consumption is demonstrated in the myriad electronic gadgets that we buy, and the technology fads that continue to emerge.

Cell, Internet Adoption Booms

By 2002 the percentage of all Americans using the Internet and cell phones hit 60 percent--an 18 percent increase for each technology since 2000. Meanwhile home computer adoption remained steady at 60 percent during the same time.

"These numbers demonstrate a traditional adoption curve," says Steve Jones, a University of Illinois communications professor who has studied the history of technology. He now expects adoption of these technologies, particularly the Internet, to slow the same way adoption of home computers has. "We've leveled off in Internet adoption. Until there was a critical mass of users, we didn't get the utility we now have [with the Internet]."

Today, the trend is toward more personalized technology, experts say. For example, land-line phones in the past provided access to a home or office, but we now have mobile phones that provide direct access to individuals, regardless of where they are, says Barry Wellman, a sociology professor who directs the Centre for Urban and Community Studies at the University of Toronto.

And, belying concerns that technology would isolate people, it has actually made it easier to stay in touch. "We're more connected than ever," Wellman says.

Early Adopters Flourish

Another trend the study notes: Tech-savvy people are more at ease with the volume of information available today.

About one-third of the U.S. population comprises the "technology elite," a group the study says is made up of the "most voracious consumers of information goods and services." They're also the early adopters of technology.

Members of this group say they are better equipped to deal with the amount of information that technology puts at their fingertips. While only 13 percent of the technology elite say it is a challenge to manage today's wealth of information, 35 percent of the remaining population says it feels overwhelmed.

"Those with the most technology have little problem in coping with information and managing it," says John Horrigan, the study's author.

The technology elite are increasingly connecting to the Internet wirelessly and paying for online content, such as music and magazine subscriptions, the study found. They also tend to take an active role in steering their online experiences. They're picky about their ISPs, and switch as they notice quality variations among the different providers. More than 50 percent of the technology elite has switched ISPs.

While the majority of the technology elite has an average age of 22, about 20 percent is made up of older, weathier empty-nesters, dubbed "Wired Baby Boomers" by the study's researchers.

Horrigan found that this group tends to be male, well-educated, and financially well off. They are as sophisticated as the young technophiles when it comes to their use of tech gadgets and the Internet. Like their younger counterparts, nearly half of them get their daily news online and most of them have bought something online.

"This shatters the myth that only young people use technology and old people don't," says Wellman.

The so-called "Young Tech Elites" tend to live in cities and go online several times a day. They have been Net surfers for seven years, compared with five years for the average Internet user. An overwhelming percentage of the Young Tech Elites (82 percent) has downloaded music from the Internet, and more than a third get their news from online sources.

But not all young people live and breathe technology. The study identified a socioeconomic group, whose average age is 24, that uses fewer information technology goods and services than the Young Tech Elites. They are generally less educated and live in households with lower incomes. In this group, 20 percent are Latino, 16 percent are African American, and more than a third are married with children.

The "Wired GenXers," those in their 30s, tend to rely on their gadgets to help manage their busy lives. Whereas other groups tend to be predominantly male, this group is split evenly between male and female. The Wired GenXers use the Internet and other electronic devices to accomplish their tasks and juggle their lives, unlike the other groups, which go to the Internet and gadgets for entertainment.

Life Without the Internet?

Interestingly, the study does suggest that most Americans can do without computers or the Internet if required. About 40 percent say it would be "very hard" to give up their computer and Internet access. Thirty-six percent say it would be tough to give up e-mail, and still fewer--24 percent--say they would be able to give up their PDAs.

Those less predisposed toward technology tend to be older female baby boomers, "unwired" younger baby boomers (who are often married with children and working), and the "low-tech elderly." As a group, they also tend to be in the lower-income brackets than those who use technology frequently.

"The biggest factor in technology adoption is money. There are certain costs associated with using the newest technology," Jones says.