MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile analysis results for subscribers
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, October 30, 2018 Vinyl turntables?! Windows XP?! Basic cell phones?! Is it true that users of older technology are uninterested in new technology? We tested that hypothesis using several indicators, and found that this stereotype is partly true, and partly not true. We’ve found an interesting group that spans the…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 13, 2018 Age matters when it comes to voice assistant use, and it’s overly simplistic to say that they’re mostly being used by younger adults. Yes, there’s a strong age difference between active voice assistant users, former users, and those who’ve never even given one a try. Age by…
Many home PCs arrive wrapped with a bow, having been a gift from some well-meaning friend or family member. In our most recent wave of TUP/Technology User Profile (2017 US), we found that 11% of recently acquired (2016 or 2017) home PCs were acquired as a gift.
Many of the gift Home PCs came with more than wrapping, with a higher-than-average share bundled with a scanner, monitor/display, and printer. It stands to reason that these generous donors are including their used scanners, monitors, and printers.
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 13, 2017 The terms “free” and “unlimited” continue to entice consumers and employees alike, in offers of faster bandwidth to larger data storage. The promise of enormous, convenient, and always-available storage space is helping Google, Apple, and Microsoft attract and retain customers within their fold. It’s also helping Amazon…
Baby steps count, as long as they’re in the right direction. Digital health promises positive outcomes for a wide range of people. However, like gym memberships and home treadmills, they don’t do much unless people use them. A first step for many is to use what’s handy. Most smartphones can track a user’s steps, and many are being used for that purpose, although use isn’t as widespread as fitness trackers or smartwatches.
“How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways.” So begins the 43rd of Elizabeth Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. After more than 160 years, this poetry still inspires.
This classic poem seems fitting for a research-based understanding of customer loyalty and, well, mutual loyalty and love. One might hope that love and loyalty would flow in both directions – between customers and company – and in turn would result in more delighted customers, better products and services, and more customers actively using more of a brand’s offerings. In addition to brand footprint measures such as market size and intensity, MetaFacts measures the shape, loyalty, and quality of technology users.
It can be exciting to see the hockey-stick charts, with everything up and to the right. It’s important to put the numbers into context, though, through a more grounded analysis of the active installed base. Yes, Apple’s long-climb into broader use of their triumvirate is substantial, Smartphones are quickly replacing basic cell phones, and PCs and printers persist. Their market size confirms their importance.
We, humans, are wired to notice a change. Our very eyes send more information about motion than the background. While life-saving should tigers head our way, this capability can be our undoing if we miss gradual changes, like the slithering snake in the grass creeping towards us. Watching an installed base of technology has some parallels. For some, it can seem as if nothing is really changing even while important shifts are taking place.
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 22, 2017 Mobile phones dominate home-owned connected devices like the ones used by the greatest number of U.S. adults. As of our MetaFacts TUP 2016 US survey, 87% of U.S. adults used a smartphone or basic cell phone that was home-owned. Slightly trailing mobile phones, 81% of adults use…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 15, 2017 Who are the biggest spenders – Windows-Only, Apple-Only, or some other segment? (MetaFAQs) Google went high, Apple went higher, and Microsoft is left with the rest. That’s an oversimplification, and yet is reflected in household technology spending. Users of certain combinations of operating systems spend differently. Lowest-spending…
Creativity eludes definition, yet we know and admire it when we see or feel it. Well beyond simple clicks, creative activities greatly add to the collective oeuvre while also giving voice to expression.
It might well be argued that creativity is shown in the clever use of hashtags, emojis, or Snapchat video filters. I’m choosing to identify creativity broadly and practically – how the most-creative, most-involved tech activities get done. Activities such as creating presentations and videos require forethought and a blending of skills. Some activities such as taking photographs are now so widely commonplace that the activity spans the professional photographer to the budding amateur. So, for this analysis, I’m considering this a moderately-creative activity.