Rubicon Consulting came out with an interesting study earlier this month about the iPhone and how people are using it. There were a number of key findings you can read about there or on PSFK. But the one I want to focus on–because I see it happening more and more–is that people are carrying two phones.
In fact, according to Rubicon, around one-third of iPhone users keep a second phone around “either for basic voice calling, or for other functions like composing e-mail.”
This confirms something I’ve long noticed anecdotally: people with PDAs, be they iPhones or Blackberries, often keep a second phone on hand to make calls. One reason for is the desire to keep their work lives separate from their personal lives.
For many, the two-phone strategy stems from a desire to leave work behind. I admit to falling into this category myself: the Blackberry gets my work email. When I leave it on the dresser on weekends and just take my Razr with me, it gives me the opportunity to forget about work for a while.
Other people I know see it more in terms of a privacy or respect issue: they feel guilty making personal calls on a device their employers provides to them for work-related calls and emails only. Or, they worry about the fact that the phone isn’t theirs and somehow their calls (to headhunters?) could be tracked.
Finally, there’s the fact that conventional cell phones still feel more like, well, phones, where iPhones and Blackberries feel more like walkie-talkies. So using them for conversation still doesn’t feel all that natural, especially since most people don’t/won’t use a Bluetooth headset.
It’s an interesting stat to bear in mind as we move forward with mobile technology. Because in addition to the work/personal split, I suspect that people will start to intuitively separate technology on the basis of how they receive it, rather than by size or location of the actual device. Because we read very differently than we watch or listen. And we either read, listen and watch things for very different reasons.
To wit: At Blogger Social 08, I was discussing the video microblogging service Seesmic with three 22 year-old bloggers (Seni Thomas, Ryan Karpeles and Nathan Snell) and they all had the same reaction I did: it was way too much work to watch each Seesmic mini-video to see if there was any value to it, whereas reading through tweets on Twitter did not present the same problem.
Why? Because reading and watching are two fundamentally different actions. Much like reading email and reading websites are fundamentally different than talking on the telephone. We do them in different locations using different social rules with different levels of involvement and engagement.
That’s a huge distinction that everyone from marketers to engineers to user experience gurus seems to overlook, and it may just wind up being the main way we categorize our use of media. And for that reason alone, it definitely bears keeping an eye on.
Funny thing. While reading your post over “lunch,” I was able to do the following things:
1. Go cut up an apple
2. Read
3. Dress up my apple
4. Read
5. Backtrack
6. Read ahead
7. Take a few bites of my apple
8. Find my place
9. Read
10. Finish my apple
11. Start on my grapes
12. Start typing this reply
13. Eat some more grapes
14. Finish my comment.
Different media types require different levels of attention. With reading, people can (and often do) multitask. Trying to get the same information out of a video demonstration of this excellent essay would have required the use of different senses, and my ability to backtrack (and my motivation to do so) would be greatly reduced.
Consequently, my ability to consider it as thoughtfully as it deserves would be reduced proportionally as my motivation to dedicate the time and energy necessary to do so.
It’s funny you mention the work/life separation. As I move on from College, one of the most important things for me is to have at least 2 bedrooms that are my own. One is the office, the other is my actual bedroom. The reason is because, knowing myself, I need the physical separation of space between work and life, otherwise work will too easily spill over into life.
To follow what Cam said, video is simply too time consuming. I personally focus more on the fact that it takes more “personal bandwidth” to consume a video than it does to consume a blog post.
While consuming a video, I am drawn in to the video that is occurring in the event that I miss a potentially important visual aid. Not to mention if the conductor of the video is lallygagging, going off on tangents, and so forth. When it comes down to my personal bandwidth, I can read through at least 3 articles of this length, devoting appropriate analyzation time to each, within the same amount of time it takes me to watch a video of approximately 5 minutes in length, AND I will retain more from the articles. I think this is a similar reason why podcasting hasn’t taken off as much as people may have thought.
Btw, any chance you can change “Nate Snell” to “Nathan Snell”? I’ve updated my tracking, but I still prefer the latter
Boy, if you have to carry two phones, it’s not much of a phone . . .
I guess it all depends on what your needs are.
MrAchievement
Stanley Bronstein
Attorney, CPA, Author, Blogger & Professional Motivational Speaker
@Cam – that’s a great illustration of the point I was trying to make.
There are many times where I’ve found myself multitasking while reading, something that’s not easily done with video that I’m interested in.
Maybe it’s that with reading, the pause button is mental, rather than physical, but it’s something I hope the people who design technology take into account.
@Nathan- you are now “Nathan” in the post and forever.
@Stanley- that was the point. For many people one is a phone and the other is, well, not-a-phone: it’s an email device, a video screen, an internet browser and a calendar all in one.
As an event producer it seems as if there is no separation between work and personal life. That is just the way it is and, perhaps that is why I love this business. I am on the road most of the time and the iPhone helps we stay in touch with clients and my family.
Anyway, I cannot imagine how I survived without my iPhone. If I were to carry two phones, they both would be iPhones.
It is always interesting to see the difference between how product developers think about usage of products and how products are actually used.
I never understood why people are having “home” and “work” email. Now, to which address should I write “Hi John, how are you?” and to which “Can you please deliver these products?”. Should I write 2 emails or just stop being kind and friendly business partner?
Yet these differences are the reason why programmers will never be able to make programs that fit our lives 100%.
Anyway, I’m using all-in-one amazing Qtek (HTC). It’s just too much for me to think of when do I stop work and am allowed to switch to “private” phone. And there are again costs of two phones and…