Thanks to Helen, who sent in details of Carphone Warehouse’s Mobile Life project, which is certainly worth a look. If you’re not from the UK, Carphone Warehouse is the UK’s largest mobile retailer, so the report isn’t likely to suggest that the state of the future of mobile is anything but rosy.
However, there are some interesting and very plausible results in the research, as well as some blindingly obvious stuff, if you’re a reader of MobHappy. It’s worth flicking through for yourself, but some interesting snippets caught my eye:
* 14% of people have two or more mobile phones. As someone who has four currently sitting on my desk, I shouldn’t find this very surprising, although I don’t generally make the assumption that everyone’s just like me. My new one is the Nokia E61 (pictured) if you’re interested and very nice it is too. No, not a freebie from Nokia - easier to get blood out a stone, I’ve heard.
I’d be interested why you think people might have more than one mobile. We have the Shag Phone, the Hostage Phone, test phones if you’re involved in mobile, roaming phones for regular travellers and who want to avoid operator pillaging roaming charges and I guess, fashion/function phones - if I’m out in that figure hugging dress (metaphorically, obviously), I want something very small and compact, phone-wise. This might contrast with my “real” full-function phone I use in the day.
* 18 - 24’s text, text, text (no surprises there then), but also dislike Internet shopping. Quite worrying, if you run an Internet store. Could it be that they just prefer chillin’ at the mall, over the more functional online experience?
* As a throw away remark, the report also says that some might argue that ”the art of conversation is dying among this tribe”. I’ve noticed this allegation cropping up more and more in the UK media, with various articles decrying the inarticulate nature of people entering the workforce. It’s partly a function of always being entertained (through MP3, portable and console gaming, TV, mobiles), but also an inability to bother with the nicities of social chitchat.
My own observation, based on a ridiculously small sample scientifically, is that there is something in it, for whatever reason. They seem to be happy to sit at social occasions absorbing what’s happening, but not really contributing. This isn’t the usual shyness or inarticulateness of youth - they simply don’t seem to feel a need to participate. Could it have something to do with reality TV?
Anyone else have similar experiences? I hope so, or I’ve just officially turned middle aged and extremely right wing. Hanging’s too good for ‘em, you know.
* A massive 83% of parents agreed that it was OK to track kids via their phones with their permission. Actually, this in unsurprising - I guess it’s OK to make them do 10 hours of math’s homework a day, with their permission. More interesting is, how do you go about getting that permission. I mean is a kid really going to win the argument if a parent is determined to track them?
More controversial is that 56% of parents think it’s OK to track kids without their permission. That’s like saying that 56% of parents in the UK aren’t responsible enough to have kids if they think that building trust is about spying on their charges.
* 42% of parents sometimes ask their kids for help using their mobile phones. The other 58% are probably lying or work in mobile, in my opinion!
Anyway, check it out for yourself if you have 20 minutes or so.