Survey for owners of eReader devices

[jacy]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Interesting survey....

I am surprised you didn't mention the readers available from Bookeen and PocketBook in your list of devices. Okay they may not be World 'beaters' but they are closer to your home ....

erm ... No 'over 50's allowed'

They're in the german version of the survey, and there's an option for "50 < " (greater as 50)

Originally Posted by DMB

Did it and assumed "<50" actually meant ">50". I am almost 71. You could have had more age categories. In many ways ereaders are ideal for older people, and people of my generation and older grew up without the modern dependence on TV, so we're reasonably likely to be readers.

It actually says "50<*" (all greater than 50), but I'll change it to (*>50) to fix the confusion. Thanks for the feedback.

You're absolutely right about the age issue. Before I started administering surveys, I was mistakenly focused on 18-25 international design and business students, as I thought they would be the most likely to show high interest, acceptance, rate of ownership, and lowest indication of distrust towards the intangible (so eBooks, for example). I was surprised to find in my original survey ("Books & E-Books Semantic Differential Survey v2.2"): less acceptance of eBooks and eReaders by the younger 18 - 21 surveyed people than by older groups-- especially people 33+. Current market research confirms this, but this information only became available within the last year. I started back my masters in 2008 on this topic. I will most likely shift my target to 33+ or seniors. Thank you for reminding me of that.

Last year, I was involved in a team project with a focused specifically on seniors and social sustainability. The topic was sharing and communication of seniors (65+) in urban neighbourhoods in Berlin. Come to think of it, maybe it'd be interesting to work with seniors again.

[Jellby]

What should I choose for an age if I am 34?

[jacy]

Originally Posted by Jellby

What should I choose for an age if I am 34?

"33 < *" (all greater than 33)

[mountain_lion]

Survey completed

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by jacy

"33 < *" (all greater than 33)

I only found:

< 18
18 - 21
22 - 25
26 - 29
30 - 33
35 - 40
41 - 49
50 <

(I would have written "> 50" for the last)

[jacy]

Originally Posted by Jellby

I only found:

< 18
18 - 21
22 - 25
26 - 29
30 - 33
35 - 40
41 - 49
50 <

(I would have written "> 50" for the last)

Oh, thank you for pointing out that mistake! I'll fix it ASAP. I thought you were referring to the second survey.

[unboggling]

jacy, just the kind of surveys i like: short, sweet, clear, unambiguous. I'll be interested in your results, too.

[jacy]

Originally Posted by dapriuk

Filled in the first survey - didn't spot the second though. I hope you find the material from everyone useful and I'd be interested in seeing the results.

The responses are very useful-- especially the more long-winded, self-reflective, candid responses of some. Some of the most helpful survey responses have come anonymously. The candour of some of the survey participants helps me empathize with them and will guide the direction of my research. I'm at the point in my studies between understanding the current situation (peoples' current relationship with intangible things---so in this instance, eBooks) and taking action about it. Ideally, there will be a designed outcome in the end-- most likely a service.

My hope is that through these surveys and interviews, that I'll be able to narrow down which group of people I want to focus on and design for. Originally I had intended to focus on people who are resistant towards intangible goods but highly-mobile, highly literate, and between 18-25 years old. I have been working on trying to understand this resistance --- it's partly distrust of the intangible and partly emotional attachment to material things. So now I'm trying to understand people who have made this shift from tangible to intangible (printed books to eBooks).

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by DMB

Did it and assumed "<50" actually meant ">50". I am almost 71. You could have had more age categories. In many ways ereaders are ideal for older people, and people of my generation and older grew up without the modern dependence on TV, so we're reasonably likely to be readers.

Originally Posted by jacy

The responses are very useful-- especially the more long-winded, self-reflective, candid responses of some. Some of the most helpful survey responses have come from anonymously. The candour of some of the survey participants helps me emphasize with them and will guide the direction of my research. I'm at the point in my studies between understanding the current situation (peoples' current relationship with intangible things---so in this instance, eBooks) and taking action about it. Ideally, there will be a designed outcome in the -- most likely a service.

My hope is that through these surveys and interviews, that I'll be able to narrow down which group of people I want to focus on and design for. Originally I had intended to focus on people who are resistant towards intangible goods but highly-mobile, highly literate, and between 18-25 year olds. I have been working on trying to understand this resistance --- it's partly distrust of the intangible and partly emotional attachment to material things. So now I'm trying to understand people who have made this shift from tangible to intangible (printed books to eBooks).

with statements like the one above it sounds like you are getting a lot of additional beneficial information! I think the reason that you are not finding more in the 18-25 age is that they are more gadget oriented (things need to move and make noise), and that that may be a group with less time for pure leisure reading (?)