Gadget ownership broken down by generation

[SensualPoet]

As always with such surveys ... it is what it is. Pew Research are highly respected; use statistically valid sampling; and are independent of the bodies being researched (ie this isn't a Sony paid for study).

Pew also updates this on a regular basis, using the same methodology, and publishes these. These are "generalizations" but that doesn't mean they aren't worthwhile. The fact that they raise many other questions points to their value as a way of thinking about these issues.

[Catlady]

If I'd been part of the survey at the time they took it, I would have answered no to an e-reader and no to an mp3 player. I now have both, and both have quickly been moving into the "indispensable" category for me.

I think this sort of survey is really useful only when it's repeated periodically to show trends.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I think this sort of survey is really useful only when it's repeated periodically to show trends.

It is part of ongoing studies by Pew. You can see more and explore past Generations reports here: http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/Generations.aspx

[Worldwalker]

Does having a netbook count as sort of a tablet?

[Xanthe]

Once your doctor prescribes bifocals, a dedicated ereader starts to look like a good gadget to get, and the young boomer generation is when that starts happening.

I just like tech, that's all there is to it Got my first transistor radio as a gift when I was 6 and my fascination with gadgets has never ended. I need new furniture, I need new clothes, but I'll spend my money instead on tech.

[Lemurion]

I'm a younger boomer - and skipped bifocals entirely (went straight to progressives/tri-focals). I've got everything on the list except a tablet - and may be getting a Nook Color and hacking it by the end of the month.

[silasgreenback]

Originally Posted by Girl Read Write

I'm a Millenial? I always thought I was a part of that fabulous Generation X!!!

I can't help but wonder if Pew Research defined generations according to targeted marketing groups. 18-35 is the coveted audience, and they may just find it convenient to label it however they want.

As far as I'm concerned, if one is born before 1980, it's Generation X. Some dates are even as late as 1982.

If I watched American Bandstand, it's a stretch trying to sell me Beyonce.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Noooooo. . .

I'm Gen X! Don't take that away from me!!!

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by silasgreenback

If I watched American Bandstand, it's a stretch trying to sell me Beyonce.

My understanding is that Madison Ave. thinks it's a stretch to try to sell you anything if you watched American Bandstand!

[Lemurion]

Does it matter that I was pretty young and I didn't really like American Bandstand?

[silasgreenback]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Does it matter that I was pretty young and I didn't really like American Bandstand?

Maybe the best way to differentiate Boomers, GenX, and Millenials is with the Mr. Potato Head method.

My Mr. Potato Head smoked a pipe, but wasn't a real potato.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

Noooooo. . .

I'm Gen X! Don't take that away from me!!!

I think it's more to do with the values/culture you share with whatever generation, especially for those on the cusp. I fall pretty squarely into "Millennial" (though I prefer "Gamer Gen" or "Gen Y"). I have a brother-in-law who is about 11 years younger than me, and this survey places us in the same generation. But when you really compare us, he's very clearly the next generation, whatever you want to call it. Gen Z? Internet Gen?

[Namekuseijin]

Everyone got a cell phone. The only true indispensable personal computing device ever.

as soon as it gets past its still mostly dumbphone status to smartphone and just gets named phone, it'll be the one truly ubiquitous personal computer/phone/ebook reader/game machine/multimedia player/photo/video shooting/GPS navigating/etc device conveniently packet in a small format with quite usable screen and always connected.

Captain Kirk knew it all too well..

[JeremyR]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Yeah, those definitions always change. In Douglas Coupland's "Generation X," (1991) which was the book that invented the term, he described Generation X as being those people born in the late '50s or early '60s and who basically lived in the shadow of the baby boomers, but had nothing to do with the baby boomers, even though, technically, they were probably considered baby boomers.

Sorry, this is a late reply, but I don't see how a 1991 book could invent a term that already existed well before 1991.

Billy Idol's original band (before he went solo) was called Generation X...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X_%28band%29

And he picked the name from another book (from 1965)...which apparently applied the term to the Mod fad of the 60s. But I think Mr. Idol pretty much gave the term the modern meaning

[Catlady]

Today (February 7) is an important anniversary for USA boomers--the Beatles arrived in NYC on February 7, 1964.