Pew study: Tech failure should not be an option

'Still some progress to be made'
The problem is, in part, problems tied to the most necessary gadgets and services. More than half of adult Americans have high-speed Internet connections at home now, Pew said recently. Having 44 percent of tech users say they experienced some kind of failure with those connections during a 12-month period is troubling.

“It says there’s still some progress to be made in terms of keeping that home broadband connection running with the same sort of seamlessness that we expect from electricity, or even just the TV when we turn it on,” said Horrigan.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Pew also found that “younger users are generally much more optimistic than older adults when their gadgets fail.”

The breakdown: 85 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds “reported being confident about solving their device problem,” compared to 67 percent of those age 30 and older.

When it comes to cell phones, those in the 18- to 49-year-old age groups also reported more problems with their devices than older adults, Pew said.

That’s probably because “younger people are much more likely to make the majority of their phone calls on cell phones,” Horrigan said. “Plus, they’re more likely to get cell phones with a greater number of features (such as Web and e-mail) that might have failures.”

Cell phone: Teens' choice
Pew’s study comes on the heels of two others, one from the Consumer Electronics Association, and another done by the Opinion Research Corp. for Sprint.

The Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group, said that 25 percent of teenagers ages 12 to 17 say they plan to buy a new cell phone within the next six months, “making it teens’ most popular consumer electronic product."

Steve Kidera of CEA said that 600 teenagers were queried online about their tech activities and habits.

Seventy percent of teens use their cell phones for texting, as well as for taking videos, watching videos and listening to music, CEA said in a press release.

“Based on teens’ current cell phone usage and interest in more advanced features, growth can be expected in teen ownership of smartphones,” such as the BlackBerry, iPhone or Treo, which have e-mail and Web access, CEA said.

Meanwhile, Opinion Research Corp. polled 2,010 adults about the use of text messaging and e-mail on their cell phones. Both features are important revenue sources for wireless carriers like Sprint.

More than half of those under age 30 use e-mail on their cell phones, Sprint said in a press release. But, “While people clearly understand the value of having e-mail access on their mobile device, we’ve found they also perceive it as one of the most difficult functions to use,” said Kim Dixon, Sprint’s senior vice president of retail.

So, there’s work to be done just about everywhere. Sprint, of course, is promoting its “Ready Now” free service to help customers get more comfortable with the technology they buy. And, considering Pew’s findings, it’s not a bad idea.

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