While high-tech gadgets may be getting some bad press from their adult users these days -- some claim the devices are stealing from their personal time, for example -- teenagers seem to be embracing the devices. Many teens and young adults find the appliances essential to daily life, according to new research. And solution provider executives who eschew high-tech gadgetry may not only find themselves alienating their young workforce -- but may also be missing out on the customer and employee base of the future.
According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a whopping 89 percent of online teens say the Internet and devices in their lives such as cell phones, iPods, and digital cameras make their lives easier, while only 71 percent of their parents say these technologies make their lives easier.
In addition, while a majority of parents reported that digital technology makes their lives easier, their children are even more positive about the benefits of digital devices. Close to nine out of ten teens (88 percent) reported that information and communication devices make their lives easier, compared with 69 percent of their parents.
Interestingly, the types of devices used by parents and children were often different. That difference is most evident with iPods and other MP3 playing devices, the one technological device that teens are more likely to own than their parents. More than half of the teens surveyed reported owning an iPod or MP3 playing device compared with 29 percent of parents.
However, 22 percent of parents who own iPods or similar devices live with children who also own a digital music-playing device. According to the report, the data suggest that parents who own more sophisticated and costly technology devices such as PDAs and laptops do not tend to give "hand-me-down" gadgets to their children. Rather, teens who own sophisticated gadgets have convinced their parents to buy these devices for them or have earned money to purchase these devices for themselves.
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