• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 26, 2003

Americans Would Rather Have a Toothbrush Than a Cellphone

According to the Invention Index Survey from Lemelson-MIT, conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), 34% of teenagers and 42% of adults in the US believe the toothbrush is the invention they could not live without. TNS survey results indicate that teens and adults favor the toothbrush over cars, personal computers (PCs) and even cellphones as the most valuable invention. Only 10% of teens say they could not live without a cellphone and just 6% of adults say they could not live without PCs.

TNS surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,042 US adults and 400 US teenagers between 20 and 30 November 2002 and also determined that 36% of teenagers say they have had a creative idea for an invention. However, only 10% of girls day they would choose being an inventor as a career, whereas 19% of boys would as well.

Important Inventions for Consumers (% respondents)

	Adults	Teens
Toothbrush	42%	34%
Automobile	37	31
PC	6	16
Mobile phone	6	10
Microwave oven	6	7

Source: Lemelson-MIT Program, January 2003

You can find out more here at eMarketer.