Study reveals the older the person, the more likely they own and use a tablet

The younger the person, the less likely to have a tablet

With new technologies cropping up every day, and younger and younger folks growing up with cell phones, computers, tablets, and other technologies, those of us born before the new millennium can often be found shaking our heads in disbelief as mere toddlers manipulate devices with greater ease than we do.

And yet, despite the seeming effortlessness and comfort with which young people use gadgets, new statistics released by the GWI reveal that when it comes to tablet ownership, the older set are over-represented.

Tablet ownership is widespread

The survey found that 44 percent of internet users between the ages of 16 to 64 own a tablet. Considering that the first tablets were introduced a mere five years ago, the fact that almost half of internet users now own one is pretty impressive.

But when you break up the statistics by age, things get interesting. Contrary to what you might think, teens and early twenty-somethings are actually the least likely of all age groups to own a tablet. Only 36 percent of internet users aged 16 to 24 own a tablet, with all other age groups surpassing that number. Even 55 to 64 year olds are more likely to own a tablet than their kids and grandkids.

But why aren’t youngsters on tablets?

It’s unclear why youngsters, usually eager to adopt new technologies, aren’t sweeping up tablets like their older siblings and parents are. Is it a lack of interest, a reliance on smartphones, or are tablets unaffordable for teens with after school jobs and twenty-somethings just getting started as independent breadwinners?

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Other statistics in Global Web Index’s study divided survey respondents into income brackets, and found that the highest income set were twice as likely to own a tablet as the lowest. This may indicate that lower income folks (including younger consumers) may simply find tablets to be beyond their budgets.

As with other technologies, developers will perhaps eventually create an “economy” tablet to encourage widespread tablet use across income brackets.

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