The latest computer and Internet use data collected for NTIA shows that the number of Americans using IoT devices is still small. But we are seeing an interesting snapshot of early adopters. These new insights into how Americans are utilizing IoT are drawn from data collected in July 2015 as part of our Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
As we previously noted in April, few Americans—just 1 percent—reported using a wearable, Internet-connected device, such as a fitness band or watch, as of July 2015. While the market for this type of device is clearly in its early stages, we found notable differences between early adopters of wearable technology and the population as a whole (see Figure 1). Unsurprisingly, wearable device users exhibited many characteristics associated with higher levels of computer and Internet use. Wearable device users tended to have higher education and family income levels compared with all Americans, and they were more likely to live in metropolitan areas.
Additionally, 88 percent of wearable device users also used an Internet-enabled mobile phone in 2015, compared with 53 percent of all Americans. This may be expected because many wearable devices benefit from or even require communication with a mobile phone. The use of other types of devices, including desktop computers, was also significantly more common among wearable device users. In fact, while 34 percent of all households used desktop computers, 55 percent of wearable device users reported using a desktop computer in 2015. This suggests that early adopters of wearables are intense adopters of technology and devices more generally. Source: NTIA Blog (June 15, 2016)
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.