Commentary

The Outfront Conference and Pew Internet's new report

Hi. First I want to say thank you to everyone at the Outfront conference two weeks ago for having us. Most importantly I want to specifically thank Jane Clarke for being our moderator and an all around wonderful person. You made the panel and conference fun. Also thanks to Joe Mandese for allowing us a spot at the conference and being very welcoming to our thoughts and ideas. Thank you.

At the conference I heard a man say only 30% of people own iPods. While this may be true, everyone I know owns an iPod. It’s my generation that IS that 30%. We are the future consumers, business owners, workers.

Another interesting thing I heard was that we, my panel, have all the same technology as everyone else in the room. Which is a good valid point. But the main difference is how we use it compared to how everyone else at the conference uses technology. I bought my own cell phone, iPod and CPU; a company didn’t issue it to me, I bought it because I wanted to use it, be entertained by it, and create with it.

Take a look at the new Pew Internet report: “Fully 85% of American adults use the internet or cell phones - and most use both. Many also have broadband connections, digital cameras and video game systems. Yet the proportion of adults who exploit the connectivity, the capacity for self expression, and the interactivity of modern information technology is a modest 8%.”

I am one of the ones who ‘exploit’ the connectivity. And if you look deeper into the report the name of this 8% of the population is ‘Omnivores’, one who consumes damn near everything. And the age median for this group is 28. My generation, the youngsters, are using this technology different then people who are 40, 50, and 60.

Thoughts?

Here is a link to the whole report.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/213/report_display.asp

2 comments about "The Outfront Conference and Pew Internet's new report".
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  1. Larry Downes from Emmis Communications, Indianapolis, May 14, 2007 at 9:19 a.m.

    Hello Betsy,

    Interesting thoughts... One question. Median age of Omnivores is 28. While there are surely many reasons for this, is it possible that one of those reasons is simply life stage? As one marries, has children, aquires more at-home and at-work responsibilities could it be that the time to 'exploit' connectivity becomes, well, too burdensome?

    I'm a self-described old-fart, but I do remember the days when I would create my own "mix tapes" from my albums. Looking back, it doesn't really seem that much different than what my daughters are doing with their mp3 players (except it's a little easier for them). As a busy professional, I found that my own mp3 experience lasted about 60 days. At that point it was simply not worth the effort and time to maintain the technology. Luckily I had the foresight to get one with an FM radio so it's not a complete loss :-)

    Maybe Ominvores will always be primarily under 30 and generations will simply age out of that stage of life. For what it's worth.

  2. Jeff Rohwer, May 14, 2007 at 8:39 p.m.

    As long as we're all looking into the crystal ball here about whether Omnivores will continue to be Omnivores as they get older, my 2 cents is yes, they will. Those that utilize web 2.0 technology will continue to use it. My guess, and it's a guess, is that the thing that may change is HOW it is used, not whether or not it is used at all.

    When I was a kid, I listened to Black Flag (hardcore music). Now that I'm a little older, I listen to Chet Baker (mellow jazz). But I didn't stop listening to music altogether. You get the analogy...

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