Age Groups – MetaFacts

March 30, 2023June 24, 2023

Brief profile of Americans regularly playing games using connected devices

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 30, 2023

Summary

Fun is a major pastime for most, but not all, American adults using connected devices. Whether they use a game console, gaming PC, regular computer, tablet, or mobile phone, most Americans regularly play immersive or other games.

This TUPdate briefly profiles Americans who regularly play immersive/video or other games, detailing their age, gender, employment status, presence of children, life stage, and use of game-specific devices such as a VR headset.

Americans that play games skew young

Playing games using a connected device is a regular activity by two-thirds or more of Americans under the age of 45
- Connected devices include computers, mobile phones, tablets, and game consoles
Beyond age 55, playing games is done by less than half of these older adults

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March 17, 2023June 24, 2023

Long-term printing trends and generational shifts – 2011 to 2022 – US

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 17, 2023

Summary

Most Americans use a printer at home, school, or in a workplace. However, market penetration has sagged over the last five years, and the divide between printer users and non-users has widened.

This TUPdate looks at the long-term trend of printer usage among each generation of Americans. It addresses the question of whether people born around the same time and having grown up with certain technology are increasing or decreasing their printer usage more or less than other generations. The analysis is based on twelve years of TUP user surveys (TUP 2011 through 2022) as each successive generation grows, evolves, and chooses the technology products and services that they use.

The next generation will not save printers

Not all Americans behave the same. Many pundits espouse that each next-younger generation will be the savior, the ones to quickly adopt any newest technology products and services. However, history has not borne this out, especially concerning printer usage.

Although Gen Z came out of the gate strongly upon reaching adulthood, with 82% using a printer upon reaching maturity, their penetration rate only slowly climbed until 2018. TUP uses the widely accepted definition of Generation Z as adults aged 18 or higher who were born in 1997 or later. As this younger generation met the pandemic and recession, many encountered roadblocks in the workplace and in schooling. Along with those blocks came reduced printer usage.

Millennials, well, are being millennials. Their printer usage crested in 2015 at 87% and has slid steadily ever since. At only one brief point since 2011 has this group of Americans used a printer as often as the next-older generation – Gen X. Millennials have experienced many technological advances in their lifetimes and found ways to leverage what they know in newer ways.

In fact, in only a very few cases has a younger generation used a printer more than their older counterparts.

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September 16, 2021October 17, 2021

Demographics of those working from home [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, September 16, 2021

Age, education, and teamwork favor working from home

Those who are working from home are demographically distinct from those who are not. We found many demographic differences in our survey of 13,918 respondents across the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China for TUP/Technology User Profile 2021.

Workers working from home are younger than workers not working from home and those not employed outside the home. Those working from home are also more likely to have a partner and higher educational attainment.

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May 21, 2021June 9, 2021

Geriatric millennials lead in using connected devices [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 21, 2021

The term “geriatric millennials” recently spiked in awareness across social media. Although generational subgroups don’t often draw attention from the general public, this one seemed to strike a nerve. Are the oldest group of millennials – those born from 1981 to 1984 – really that different from other age groups in the technology they use? This MetaFAQs reports on the number of connected devices each generational age group uses. The device measured include any PCs, mobile phones, tablets, or game consoles.

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March 28, 2021

iPad and Android tablet use by generational age group [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 28, 2021

Are iPads more deeply penetrated among younger or older adults? How have Android tablets fared among older versus younger adults? This MetaFAQs details the market penetration of Apple iPads and Android tablets by generational age groups of online adults in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan.

About MetaFAQs

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

Indexing

TUP Lenses: Tablets, Devices, User Profile

Tags: Tablets, Apple, Google, Android, iPad, Age Groups, Millennials, Generations, GenX, GenZ, Boomers, Baby Boomers

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March 12, 2021

Communication platforms – fast, now, or visible? [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 12, 2021

The frustrated plea “can you hear me now?” has evolved to include “can you see me now?” During pandemic and suddenly-working-at-home times, video calls have driven home the importance of having a robust, fast, and synchronous connection. Asynchronous activities such as text messaging and email don’t have the same need for speed and an instantaneous persistent connection.

It got me wondering – are people choosing one device over another for communication that demands higher-bandwidth or low-latency connections? Is there an age difference preference for right-now synchronous versus later-on asynchronous communication activities? Furthermore, are there other aspects beyond bandwidth and immediacy that encourage people to choose one device over another for certain types of communications? Are video work meetings, for example, more PC-based than smartphone-based?

So, I investigated our results from TUP/Technology User Profile 2020 to compare how widely communication activities are in regular use. I netted together asynchronous activities separately from synchronous ones. Then, I looked at differences by device type – smartphone, home PC, and tablet. I also looked at differences by age group, knowing that younger adults often have different sensibilities and experiences around communication than older or the oldest adults.

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December 11, 2020February 9, 2021

Synchronous or asynchronous communication – checking age preference [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 11, 2020

Communication is a vital and regular activity for connected devices. There are many choices – email, phone calls, video calls, video meetings, group chats – and the experience is different for each type. This MetaFAQs looks at asynchronous communication activities – those where the communicators don’t need to be engaged at the same time – to see how widespread their use is by age. It also looks at synchronous activities – where communications are in touch at the same time – to see how their usage levels vary.

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December 5, 2020February 18, 2021

Home printer pages by age group [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 5, 2020

Online Americans don’t all use their home printers at the same rates. Not only users vary by age group, but they have also changed over time. This MetaFAQs reports on the average number of paged being printed with home printers by the age group of the respondent for each year from 2015 through 2020.

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November 5, 2020

News, sports, and weather-for all ages, not all devices [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 5, 2020

Some information such as news, sports, and weather are most useful when they’re current and easily available. There are many ways to get this information across smartphones, PCs, or tablets. Some users are more actively intent on tapping into this information, and different age groups prefer different devices. This MetaFAQs reports on the active use of checking the news, sports, and weather information by smartphone, PC, tablet, or across all three. Further, it reports on activity levels by age group and country.

About MetaFAQs

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October 13, 2020February 9, 2021

American iPhone carriers – a generational divide [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, October 13, 2020

Apple iPhones appeal more strongly to some age groups than others, just as certain wireless carriers have attracted more of some age groups than others. This MetaFAQs looks at the age distribution of American Apple iPhone users by their wireless carrier.

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