Home networking is too hard, and here’s the numbers to prove it
My column today in The Independent deals with the hell of home networking. (After my travails yesterday with AOL vs iChat - thanks for the advice, but I still haven’t had a chance to try it).
In the article I mention some numbers from MORI, which Hotwire PR provided. Well, here’s the analysis I did on those numbers, using the population statistics from the ONS.
It’s a bit perplexing at first, so here’s how it works. There’s a figure given for what percentage of people have broadband, a mobile phone, etc. What I did was to dig into the data that MORI, because it’s careful, had done, because it balances its survey to make sure that it’s representative of the population as a whole.
Interestingly, the age groups from 15-44 and 45-99 are almost equal. 44 is one of those interesting tipping ages where technology seems to run away from you.
I looked at what proportion in each age group had whichever technology, and compared that with the size of that age group in the overall population. This tells you how important or widespread a technology has become; or which languish, unusable.
What’s clear is that mobile phones and DVDs are broadly spread, though digital TV does better than DVDs in terms of age spread. But MP3 player ownership or desire, and home networking, are miles behind, and show significant age dropoffs - which to me says they’re too hard to do. (Or that older people have better things to do, but I think home networking is one of those things you may wish you could do at 44+ as your kids get older.)
Message to Microsoft and others seeking to do home networking: if it’s not three clicks and in, you’re history.
| Do you have broadband at home? | Do you have a mobile phone? | Have you, or will you, got an MP3 player? |
Do you have a DVD or DVD recorder? | Do you have digital TV? | Do you have a home network of one or more PCs etc? | ||
| Age group | % of population aged 15-99 | 35% of population | 83% | 19% | 68% | 56% | 12% |
| 15-24 | 15 | 20% of those saying yes are this age ( = +5 cf % of overall) | +3 | +15 | +8 | +1 | +10 |
| 25-34 | 17.5 | 22.5% (= +5) | +2 | +8 | +6 | +2 | +2 |
| 35-44 | 18.4 | 23.4% (= +5) | +2 | +3 | +2 | +4 | +7 |
| total 15-44 | 50.9 | 65% (= +15) | +7 | +26 | +16 | +7 | +19 |
| 45-54 | 16.2 | 19.2% (= +3) | +1 | -3 | -1 | +1 | +2 |
| 55-64 | 13 | 10% (= -3) | -1 | -8 | -4 | 0 | -4 |
| 65+ | 20 | 5% (= -15) | -8 | -17 | -12 | -8 | -18 |
| total 45-90+ | 49.2 | 34% (= -15) | -8 | -28 | -17 | -7 | -20 |
| total | 100 (rounded) | 0 | -1 | -2 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
- These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
- Here's my Heather Mills anecdote... (1 November 2006; score: 43.5%)
- WSJ caught out using 15-year-old data to "prove" uncertainty about global warming (23 June 2005; score: 40.22%)
- Factoring: test your speed! (6 September 2004; score: 37.81%)
![[Valid RSS]](wp-includes/images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}