We are increasingly using touch screens for longer – and starting on them earlier, according to the results of a recent survey.
Carried out by an organisation called Common Sense Media, the poll shows how a tech-savvy generation is growing up in a society that’s increasingly driven by the touch screen.
In fact, the study shows that as many as 38% (that’s more than a third) of youngsters under the age of two have used mobile devices to watch a video or play a game. By the time a child is eight, that proportion has soared to nearly three quarters (72%)
Equally, youngsters are operating touch screen monitors for longer. On average, children now spend nearly two hours daily on mobile devices, increasingly using tablets for watching TV rather than physical sets.
There are reports that kids who are not even old enough to talk are toddling up to TVs and trying to swipe them like an iPad or phone. And that’s not just from watching parents – more families are giving younger children their own tablets and Smartphones. In facts, kids are nearly as likely to have their own devices as their mums and dads.
The number of youngsters using their touchscreen devices to play games has also increased – to 63% this year, up from a third just two years ago, although other activities have risen by a similar amount, with TV viewing and book reading also on the up.
Increased Prevalence of Touch Screens
Touch screens are to be found everywhere we go these days, from touchscreen pc monitors to shops and restaurants. High Street store Argos, for example, has removed paper catalogues from six stores in acknowledgement of the digital age. These screens will replace those well-known (and, er, loved?) little blue pens that were always part of shopping at Argos. While shoppers will still write out their orders by hand, details will be inputted into a touch screen monitor. Already, paper catalogues have been binned in one north London branch. A digital Christmas guide is also being launched.
At the same time, traditional office desks have become a thing of the past following the introduction of giant 55 inch touchscreens in the newsroom of Fox News. essentially a very high quality HDTV equipped with a “projected capacitative” multi-touch sensor. The screens are operated by Windows 8 and can be navigated using an “Active Stylus,” which works like a wireless remote control.
The station said the move was a response to shifts in the way viewers consume its programmes, who are increasingly watching on tablets and mobile phones.
A spokesman said: “Like our viewers, we get our news across multiple platforms. Now we can show the place where we sort it all out as it happens.”
If you’re looking for touchscreens for your industry, make sure you talk to a quality supplier. The
Internet makes a good starting point.
Author Bio: Juliet England is a freelance blog writer who writes across a number of different industries and contributes to a wide range of websites, including Distec.
