London – Smartphones have become so ubiquitous that a third of adults now feel the need to check them within five minutes of waking up in what experts are calling a “landmark moment” in the development of the devices.
Eighty-five percent of adults have consulted their smartphones within the first hour of the day and 34 percent of adults – 49 percent for under 24s – feel the need to check their phones within five minutes of waking up, according to research released this week by Ofcom.
Asked by the UK broadcast regulator if they were “completely hooked” on their phones, 61 percent of under-24s and 48 percent of all adults agreed they were.
2014 was the year in which the smartphone overtook the laptop as the favourite device for getting online. “It is a landmark moment in the development of these devices,” said James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of research. Only 12 months ago, the laptop was twice as popular as the phone for accessing the internet.
Today 66 percent of Britons own a smartphone, rising to 90 percent among 16-24s. Only a year ago it was a relatively luxury item, owned by only 39 percent of adults. The Apple iPhone was the UK’s most popular smartphone brand, especially among the young, while Samsung devices scored highly among older users.
The transformational impact of the smartphone is affecting almost all areas of communication and entertainment. “These devices are becoming more and more an important, vital hub,” said Jane Rumble, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence.
But there are concerns that the devices are having a detrimental effect on aspects of human relationships. Ofcom said 59 percent of people view smartphone use at restaurants in company as “unacceptable”, with 55 percent taking a dim view of checking the phone while eating communally at home.
For 69 percent meeting family members face to face is preferable to any digital communication and 32 percent of those aged 16-24 admitted they “spend too much time online”.
The importance of the TV set is suffering, the research found. Television viewing declined for a second year in a row, with the amount watched by children (aged 4-15) tumbling by 12 percent last year to less than two hours a day. – The Independent