I saw a cartoon the other day illustrating a family driving in a car with the mother in the passenger seat looking at her phone and stating to all, “The blender just texted — we forgot to turn off the stove.”
Sound familiar? We may not be there yet, but we are close.
Over the past few years, I have been following a series of surveys from Deloitte, which provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and legal services, and I continue to be amazed. The 2021 survey from Deloitteindicated that the average U.S. household had 25 connected devices, up from 11 in the prior survey.
“Impossible,” I said.
Then I started adding them up. My cell phone. Jolene’s cell phone. Two iPads. Two Apple watches. Two laptops. Two Apple TVs. Three Firesticks. A Ring doorbell. A Nest thermostat. A MyQ garage door opener. Five Amazon Echos. Two wireless headphone sets. That brings me to 23, and I have likely missed some. Yikes.
The 2023 survey found consumers are struggling to find the balance between their digital and physical lives. They are continuing to streamline their household devices, and are slowing down with their device purchases. Many have embraced virtual experiences for the long term. At the same time, they’re trying to manage the drawbacks of too much tech.
Here are a few findings from the 2023 Deloitte report:
- Forty-one percent of consumers revealed they dislike managing their devices (updating software, handling security, or fixing problems).
- Twenty-eight percent said they are overwhelmed by the devices and subscriptions they need to manage — an uptick from 24% in 2022 but not quite reaching the 32% in 2021 when households had even more devices.
- Adults aged 18-40 are feeling more overwhelmed (37%) than older generations (23%). Some of this sentiment may stem from 18- to 40-year-olds managing a larger collection of household devices (26 on average) than older generations (18 on average).
Ready or not, the future is here. Meet George Jetson.
A sincere thank you
I appreciate the efforts so many of you made to attend our open house at our new facility at 104 Industrial Road in Guthrie Center. More than 100 of you braved the rainy weather and joined us for food, drink and fellowship while learning how we are currently using the updated space and what we have in mind for the future. I especially enjoyed hearing from several guests who worked in the building decades ago and offered insight to many of the questions I had about the building’s configurations. Thank you again.
Have a futuristic Friday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707