Researchers: Adults 31 and Older Hate, Fear Cell Phones

Wired: Gadget Lab

After surveying 75 people in one area, a research firm has concluded
that adults over 30 years old are luddites who hate their cell phones with a fiery passion.

Bowen Research conducted the interviews mostly in San Francisco and classified 40 participants older than 30 as "quite vehement about
[their phone,] have problems they can’t solve, and feel the phone does
things randomly by accident." Some complained that text messaging requires them to "think too much" because they have to spell words correctly.

The other 35 participants were ages 30 and
younger, and they "generally have no problem with their phone
interface."

The study also found that the under-30 participants used at
least 50 percent of their phones’ features, while the 31-and-up group used
about 40 percent of their handset features. Quite an astounding disparity.

Bowen Research is
selling its study for $5,000 to anyone who wishes to peer into
groundbreaking research suggesting that young’ins are generally better with technology than older folks.

I’m sure my 32-year-old
friend Trisha would be interested in buying this study. Let me just
call her and hope her teeth don’t fall out and she doesn’t curl up in a fetal position and cry, "The
horror! The horror!" when her phone rings. Oh, wait — she lives in Sacramento. Maybe this
study won’t apply to her.

Bowen Research [via ComputerWorld]

(Photo credit: NCavillones/Flickr )