THEY are the first on the block with the latest gizmo. They think nothing of paying $750 for a Nokia N95—that ultimate of go-anywhere, cell-cum-everything accoutrements. They upload digital content to social networks like YouTube, MySpace and Flickr. They write blogs at home, use wikis at work and gorge on one-segment telly on their mobiles when not talking or texting. They are the Early Adopters—the 8% of consumers who cheerfully pay through the nose for the bragging rights of having the latest and greatest of gadgets.

Their opposites are just as easy to spot. The Laggards and Luddites are slow or reluctant to embrace new technology because they can't afford it, aren't interested in it, or actually fear and loathe it. As a group, they are apparently much bigger than previously imagined. In a comprehensive study of how consumers use technology, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported earlier this week that a surprising 49% of adult Americans fall into this category.

Even the researchers were surprised. John Horrigan, Pew's associate director for research, was quoted as saying that, when he started the survey, he assumed that the more digital appliances people had, the more they would embrace the technology—and the more they would participate in generating and sharing digital content with the rest of the world.

That turned out not to be the case. What he found instead was a lot of tension towards technology, even among those with gadgets galore and high-speed internet connections.

The recent introduction of a range of digital tools and services that let people express themselves online and participate in the “commons of cyberspace” is being heralded as the next phase of the information society. The digirati have labelled this new form of online interactivity as Web 2.0—to distinguish it from the one-way browsing, searching and shopping metaphor of the original internet. Yet, despite the implications for society in general and family life in particular, little is known about who uses Web 2.0's new social networks and how.

To remedy this, the Pew researchers polled some 4,000 adult Americans to learn about their relationship to information and communications technology (ICT). The pollsters asked them how they used computers, the internet, mobile phones as well as digital cameras, video cameras, webcams, MP3 players and personal digital assistants. They queried respondents on what they downloaded, whether they generated their own digital content, and what else they used their computers and mobile phones for. Finally, the researchers solicited views on whether ICT helped people become more productive, pursue their hobbies, keep up with family and friends, and gain greater control over their lives.

The survey identified a rich variety of Web 2.0 users and non-users. A third of the sample turned out to be elite consumers who owned lots of gadgets and were heavy users of the internet and mobile services. Within the group, many generated their own digital content, and all seemed satisfied with the way ICT had improved their lives.

Another group, a fifth of the total, were middle-of-the-road users who were more focused on getting things done than expressing themselves. Half of this particular group found ICT satisfyingly handy, while the other half used it but felt themselves hassled by the technology.

AFP

More savvy than many Americans

But it was those with few bits of modern gadgetry, accounting for almost half the total, who provided the greatest pause for thought. Despite having mobile phones and online access, some were merely inexperienced. Others were indifferent to the technology or found it annoying. Others still (some 15% of the total) had neither mobile phones nor internet connections, relying instead on television and traditional telephones.

Two questions explored people's attitudes about technology, with encouraging results. The first asked whether respondents felt overloaded with information these days, given all the TV news shows, magazines, newspapers and computer-information services. Some 27% said they did, but a healthy 67% said they enjoyed having so much choice.

The other question addressed whether people think that information and computer technology gives them more or less control over their lives. Some 48% welcomed ICT for helping them gain greater control over their lives, while 29% said it made no difference and only 16% thought it made things worse.

What emerges from the Pew study is that it is difficult to make generalisations about attitudes to technology. Some people may have lots of information appliances, use them frequently for a range of purposes and like what the technology does for them. Others may have relatively few of the latest gadgets, use what they have only modestly and find the technology to be more of a burden than a blessing.

In between lies a wide variety of attitudes that make pigeon-holing people nigh impossible. For instance, your correspondent admits to having all eight of the gadgets used to define the survey's topology, and to have participated, at one time or another, in each of the online activities highlighted. But he has never considered himself an Early Adopter, still less the Omnivore that Pew's online quiz labels him. He likes to think of himself as a Just-In-Time Adopter, who waits until all the initial bugs have been squished and the price has tumbled to a more realistic level.





Out of curiosity, Tech.view would like to hear from readers who have taken the Pew quiz—and feel it is an accurate assessment of their techno-wizardry or not. All results, please, to letters@economist.com.