{"id":39863,"date":"2013-11-30T12:15:08","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T12:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=39863"},"modified":"2013-11-30T12:17:01","modified_gmt":"2013-11-30T12:17:01","slug":"see-tomorrow-holds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/see-tomorrow-holds\/","title":{"rendered":"See What Tomorrow Holds … Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow’s Trends
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\"Untitled-1\"<\/a><\/span><\/b>\u201c<\/span>NO! Don’t go in there! You don’t have to die! No one has to die at 30! You could live! LIVE! Live, and grow old! I’ve seen it! She’s seen it!\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u2013 Logan, \u201cLogan\u2019s Run,\u201d<\/i> MGM, 1976<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A few Saturdays back I visited consumer electronics stores\/departments to research buying patterns\/activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a lot of showrooming \u2013 using the mobile device to check reviews, store\/product comments, competitive pricing \u2013 but with price matching being almost universal, we didn\u2019t see anyone leave the store to buy somewhere else.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were there to buy!<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

If I was intent on selling a product\/device today, the sweet spot would be Millenials\/Gen Xers (24-49).<\/span><\/p>\n

But even these people had help:<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>A father struggled with several different tablets to determine which was best for him and after getting very frustrated, his son (8-12) took it, showed him all the features and advised him which to buy \u2026 he took the advice<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>On three occasions, I saw youngsters (5-10) walk up to monitors and TV sets and attempt to move images around<\/span><\/p>\n

A friend told me about their 4-year-old and the family tablet: <\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>He could only use it for an hour a day to play games<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>The father found him going online and getting other stuff so he moved the kids favorites into an encrypted folder and he could use them by being good otherwise\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>The father went to use the tablet for some downtime and the little urchin had deleted 10 of dad\u2019s games.\u00a0 <\/span>NBD?\u00a0 <\/span>He had to go through two steps each to delete them and dad had never<\/b> shown him how to do it!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you want to develop the next killer product, don\u2019t waste your time with a focus group, spend your time in school (K-12) studying how Gen C (the connected generation) uses\/interacts with their devices.<\/span><\/p>\n

You know they\u2019re out there, you struggle on how to reach them, you try to figure out what makes them buy and what drives them to recommend their purchases to others.\u00a0 <\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

More importantly, if you can earn their loyalty, they can be customers longer and they seem to have the greatest influence with both boomers and tomorrow\u2019s up-and-comers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Untitled-2\"<\/a><\/span><\/b>Age of Influence \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>The connected generation (Gen C) never knew life without being constantly connected to everyone, everywhere. They\u2019re more casual about their personal information, have a strong influence on boomers and often guide others\u2019 purchases.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s your kids or a friend\u2019s kids, the first thing you notice is \u2013 they\u2019re different.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019re connected almost every waking hour, according to a recent Wikia report.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessica tried to tell them, \u201cWe’ve been outside! There’s another world outside! We’ve seen it!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s teens are very multicultural and, according to the U.S. Census, in the next few decades, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics will represent the majority of the U.S. population.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

They already have solid purchasing power: 29 percent live in high-income households and while there has been an increase in middle income households, there are fewer in low-income homes.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Untitled-3\"<\/a>Busy Kids \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>If you observe teens\/pre-teens at home, at school, everywhere; you may wonder when they are disconnected. It turns out they aren\u2019t very often.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Fully 95 percent of teens are online and that percentage that has been consistent since 2006. However, the way they use the Internet has changed dramatically during that period and it is going to accelerate.<\/b><\/p>\n

Teens and pre-teens drive the number of devices that are used in the household.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Untitled-4\"<\/a><\/span><\/b>Average of Five \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>In the U.S., the average household with children has five mobile devices. In other countries, the average is three. They use them from the moment they get up until the time they go to bed. In between, they\u2019re also busy with their other entertainment-connected devices. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Teens have represented the leading edge of mobile connectivity and they will have a profound effect on the sale\/adoption of wearable technology.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Old Man looked at the devices and said, \u201cWell, that’s what she told me. I have to, I have to believe her.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not enthused about things like Google Glass or the iWatch but the Nike Fuel Band and Pebble Watch are finding their champions in the younger crowd, so expect to see a lot of wearables at next year\u2019s Consumer Electronic Show (CES).<\/p>\n

For now, teens are more likely to have a cell phone (increasingly, a smartphone) and while they have a desktop\/laptop computer available to them at home, the phone is becoming their always-on, mobile access to the Internet.<\/p>\n

Whether they are \u201cforced\u201d to rely on a feature phone or can get a smartphone is always a factor of the device\u2019s cost. But it is far from the only consideration. How they weigh the various features and make their purchasing decision varies.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled-5\"<\/a><\/span><\/b>Different Strokes \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Life for design\/development engineers would be a lot simpler if everyone, everywhere liked the same things; unfortunately, that\u2019s not the case–especially when it comes to Gen Cers and their smartphones. Price is always an important consideration but in various countries, more importance is placed on their buying criteria. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The operating system (OS) really doesn\u2019t have much to do with which phone is selected (of course, it\u2019s important to Apple, Google, MS and \u2026). The decision has much more to do with style, look\/feel and word of mouth recommendations.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Among teens, smartphones in the Americas have increased to over 53 percent, according to Pew Research; and they\u2019re going to continue to serve as their primary point of access for years to come.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The newest addition to their backpacks is the Tablet. Nearly one in four teens uses them for games, videos, school work, staying in touch.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Untitled-6\"<\/a><\/span><\/b>Everything \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Asking Gen Cers to give up their smartphones is like asking them to completely cut themselves off from the world. The smartphone is their go-to device for connecting with others and keeping current. What they do very seldom is use it to make a phone call. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In addition to spending more time online, teens are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they did in the past. However, they\u2019re also taking a variety of technical and non-technical steps to manage the privacy of that information. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite what government rulemakers and parents seem to feel when it comes to teen privacy, they are largely unconcerned about third-party people accessing their information. In fact, according to Pew Research, only 9 percent say they are very concerned.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably because as Logan said, \u201c<\/span>There… is… no… sanctuary.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably a good thing, according to a recent study of teens\u2019 Facebook pages by \u201cThe New York Times<\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Untitled-7\"<\/a><\/span><\/b>Reduced Privacy \u2013 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Teens and pre-teens monitor their Facebook and other pages very closely; and increasingly, publish more and more personal information. At the same time, they also feel they are better equipped to manage who views their personal information. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Teen social media profiles have really expanded:\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n