Survey

"Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards"- Aldous Huxley

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/aldoushuxl101185.html

Does he mean, “Going back” to more simple times? It can be agreed upon that technology’s purpose is to make the task of the user less challenging. The “next best thing” in technology, in its essence, is meant to alter the world’s perspective on how to complete a task. This technology of the future that we speak of is meant to get the task done with less effort and time as well as risk of error, therefore making it more difficult for technology to progress each time. The world hides many failures, and reveals only the successes such as Facebook, Apple and Android technology etc. Humanity, to some extent, has been brainwashed into a single channel of thinking.

In this modern age, individuals make use of personal information systems (P.I.S.), which consist of various mediums, ranging from electronic mediums such as smart phones and laptops to non-electronic mediums such as notebooks and diaries, which allow them to gather, organise, store and share media that they deem useful or relevant. However, individuals and their tasks are dynamic, which forces technology to change all the time to meet the needs of society. 

It’s in this frame of mind that our survey is based. The purpose of our survey is to determine what factors contribute to a device being crowned the “next best thing in technology”. We want to find out if the “next best thing” in technology is in fact unique to an individuals’ P.I.S. or just general among the public as a result of effective marketing. The “next best thing” for one individual isn’t necessarily the same for another. In this survey we also aim to determine if there is a correlation between a persons’ demographics and their use of technology in their P.I.S. and what they regard will be the “next best thing” in technology. The survey will be conducted on SurveyMonkey, allowing participants to answer it online at their leisure. Our audience is drawn from male and female students aged 18-22, this restricted range will give us a more accurate result. 

This survey comprises on nine questions, please answer all nine honestly and comment fully in the text boxes provided, if need be.

Question 1:

How old are you?

(62 people answered)

Question 2:

What is your gender?

(60 people answered)

We chose the age range of 18-22 as we believe that is the age of people who are most excited about the newest technology trends and the youth are more eager to explore new technology and experience what the next big thing will be in technology.

A possible reason for the big difference in the amount if males and the amount of females that answered the questionnaire is that females are generally seen as more approachable as well as kind and willing to answers it.

We decided that each group member should get 5 students to answer the survey as it will give us enough feedback to make our conclusions accurate without each student have to ask an excessively large amount of students which would take up a lot of time so 5 students each was enough to be able to draw conclusions but not too much that it became a huge inconvenience.

Question 3

What type of internet access do you have at home, if any?

(62 people answered)

From this survey, we can see that a huge majority (65%) of students have access to wireless internet (wifi) at home. This will give them immediate, quick access to the internet which will allow them to keep up to date with the latest trends and newest technological apps or devices. Wifi will allow the student to be able to have easy access to information and be able to be up to date with current affairs. This will lead to a well informed, technologically savvy group who will want to keep up to date with any cutting edge technological advances.  The second largest amount of internet access is through the use of a 3G network. In the future, this amount will decrease, as ADSL is faster and easier to use.  1,61% of students did not have access to internet, however, they are likely to have internet access at their university or college.

Question 4:
Which types of electronic devices do you have access to at home? (You may pick more than one)
(62 people answered)

From this question, we can see that Smartphones being at 95.16% is the most used electronic device at home. Being small and compact, smartphones allow students to access a large variety of websites from social media applications to accessing their e-mail accounts. The second most popular are Laptops at 87.10%, then table Devices at 61.29%, Desktop computers at 51.61% and lastly others at 4.84%. 

Overall, this shows us how the many prefer small, portable devices to use at home like smartphones rather then desktop computers. 

Question 5:

How much time do you spend on your personal information system a day?

(62 people answered)

Out of 62 participants that answered this question, a majority of them swayed to an average amount of hours spent on a personal information system a day. The categories are:

1.     A large amount (>5 Hours)

2.     An average amount (1-5 Hours)

3.     A little (<1 Hour)

4.     Other (which participants are given the option to specify)

35.48% of the respondents, or 22 out of the 62, said that they use personal information systems for more than 5 hours a day.

53.23% of the respondents, 33 out of 62, said that they only use personal information systems for 1-5 hours a day.

And finally 11.29% of the respondents answered less than 1 hour a day, that being only 7 people. 

Question 6

What’s your primary use of Technology?
(62 people answered)

As per the results of the survey conducted, the number one use of technology is for social purposes like Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram and etc. at 45.16%. Followed by Work and Study Purposes at 37.10%. Lastly it’s used for entertainment like gaming and Movies at 17.74%. This survey reveals that mostly technology is used as a means of interacting with others.

The high percentage of people that said that they use technology for social networking shows that it is most likely that the next big thing in technology will be something that will take social networking to another level because it is clearly in demand.

Question 7:

Which of the following factors would you consider when purchasing a new device for you P.I.S? ( You may pick more than one)  
62 people answered. 

The vast majority (80.65%) of the responses to this question chose affordability as the main contributing factor when purchasing a new device. Ease-of-use was the next biggest contributor. 

Social Status(12.9%) and other (4.84%) were the least contributing factors.

There are indeed many contributing factors in deciding to purchase a new device, but the overall decision is based on the affordability of the device and also largely on the ease-of-ise. According to the students who participated in this survey, the 'next best thing' in technology is therefore largely dependent on its price. 

Question 8

How do you discover new systems and devices to include in your P.I.S.? (Choose one)

(61 people answered)

Question 9:

What primary attribute, do you think, will be a part of the “next big thing” in technology? (Choose one)

(62 people answered)

This particular question asked: “What primary attribute, do you think, will be a part of the “next big thing” in technology? Audience could only choose one option.

The question basically asks its audience, in colloquial terms, what the most important factor is to them when considering a new technological device.  Social status was the most popular answer, as the graph suggests. It’s clear that the audience is self-conscience about what kind of technology they are seen using. Common explanations for this occurrence are that the audience is afraid of damaging their reputation among their social groups. Modern society is to blame for this outcome; adolescents succumb to the “trend” of judgment. An Individuals fear of being excluded from their social group or being considered inferior forces them to consider the social status that the device will create over affordability, accessibility and effective marketing.

The second most popular answer, the devices effect on one’s personal information system, proves that individuals consider how the device will improve their lives and maximize their satisfaction before actually purchasing it. Therefore, leading to the conclusion that individuals also care about themselves, contrasted to how others perceive them.

Although the graph only takes into account the thoughts of a minute fraction of the population, the trend can be identified in greater reality if you keep a close eye in stores selling technological devices.