Younger adults own more gadgets like cell phones, laptops and music devices, according to a PEW Research poll.
Cell phones are the most popular gadget, with 85 percent of adults owning one. For adults age 18 to 34 in the Millennial generation that number increases to 95. The study also found that younger adults make more use of a variety of cell phone functions like web browsing, photos and texting.
Millennials are in the lead or tied in five of the seven categories: Cell phones, laptops, iPod/MP3 player, game consoles and tablets. Older adults own more desktop computers and e-Book readers, but only marginally.
Millennials and Generation X adults (age 35-46) are the two demographics that own game consoles in a significant amount, with 63 percent each. There is a 42 percent ownership overall.
Only one percent of Millennials do not own any of the gadgets. For the Silent Generation (age 66-74) and G.I. Generation (age 75 and older) the number is 20 and 43 percent respectively.
Tablets and e-Books are the only gadgets without significant numbers of ownership. They “have not seen significant differences in ownership between generations,” according to the poll findings. E-Books have an overall five percent ownership and tablets and iPads have an overall four percent ownership.
Ownership of iPods and MP3 devices has increased the most in the period between April 2006 and September 2010, according to a similar study also by PEW Research. The 20 percent ownership at the start of the survey ended at nearly 50 percent.
Desktop computers are more popular with older adults than with Millennials. For Generation X, Young Boomers (age 47-56) and Old Bloomers (age 57-65) ownership is in the mid-60 percent range.
The poll was taken between Aug. 9 and Sept. 13, 2010. It was conducted in English and Spanish to 3,000 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
I wrote this article for my Journalism class at school.
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