Technological necessities have changed massively in three years
Technology moves at a frightening pace. The fact is that keeping up with the new gadgets and devices available can be a scary prospect, especially as we get older. However, certain pieces of technology are necessities which a lot of people need in their lives, rather than the luxuries which are completely optional.
The technological devices classed as necessities change over time, and the latest research into the subject indicates that is more true now than ever. Due to a combination of the pace of change and the recession affecting our ideas of what is essential and non-essential, the last few years have seen many changes to our concept of what can be considered luxury items.
Researchers conducted a poll as part of Pew’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. 1,003 U.S. adults aged over 18 were asked, “Do you pretty much think of this as a necessity or pretty much think of this as a luxury you could do without?”
Percentage of respondents rating each item as a necessity:
Car – 88%
Home air conditioning – 54%
Cell phone - 49%
Clothes dryer – 66%
Home computer – 50%
High speed Internet – 31%
Landline phone – 68%
TV set – 52%
Dishwasher – 21%
Microwave – 47%
Cable or satellite TV – 23%
Flat screen TV – 8%
iPod – 4%
The same poll was taken in 2006 and since then the numbers have changed substantially. Overall, more people saw most of the items on the list as non-essential luxuries. This indicates what a change of mindset the economic slowdown has prompted. Essential? Not when I’m having to watch the pennies.
The only items which bucked this trend were the cell phone (which stayed the same), high-speed Internet (a 2 percent rise), a flat-screen TV (a 3 percent rise), and the Apple iPod (a 1 percent rise). All relatively new products which are still on the rise in popularity – although the cell phone market has reached saturation point in some countries.
Adversely, the biggest fallers in terms of being regarded as necessities were the microwave (21 percent), the clothes dryer (17 percent), home air-conditioning (16 percent), and a dishwasher (14 percent). Interestingly, these are all home products invented to make life easier, but their claim to being essential items is obviously dropping fast.
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