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Tag: Survey

  • Results of 2016 LinkedIn Job Fulfillment Survey

    LinkedIn surveyed over 1,000 US professionals to determine their level of job satisfaction and found some interesting results. Apparently, Charlotte has the most satisfied white collar workers with 65% of them feeling fulfilled at work.

    screen-shot-2016-12-07-at-2-20-16-pm

    Charlotte is followed in the most satisfied list by Boston, Indianapolis, New York City and Denver.

    Career Fulfillment

    Chefs apparently are the most fulfilled professionals, with 84% saying so in the survey:

    1. Chef – 84% fulfilled
    2. Real Estate Agent – 75% fulfilled
    3. Doctor – 68% fulfilled
    4. IT Consultant & Support – 59% fulfilled
    5. Architect – 58% fulfilled
    Fulfillment Factors

    Not surprisingly, a persons salary ranks as the number one factor in job satisfaction:

    1. Salary
    2. Positive relationships with colleagues
    3. Doing work that has a positive impact
    4. Work-life balance
    5. Feeling challenged at work

    The survey also looked at age ranges and didn’t find much of a difference in fulfillment between age groups. Interestingly, young people age 16 – 24 were the most fulfilled (58%). Perhaps that’s because the full brunt of life and all of its bills hasn’t caught up with many of those in this group just yet.

  • Judge Judy-Survey Reveals ‘Alarmingly Ignorant’ Responses From College Students

    Judge Judy – also known as Judy Sheindlin – the irrepressible legal TV icon, has become so popular among college graduates that they actually think she is a Supreme Court justice.

    Almost 10 percent of 1,000 college graduates surveyed believe that Sheindlin holds a position in the highest federal court of the United States.

    However, Judge Judy is actually an American attorney who plays the role of a judge in a court show that features small lawsuits being tried in a courtroom.

    The survey was conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni back in 2015 but was released in January. They included in a statement that their survey revealed a “crisis in American civic education.”

    In addition, the group also pointed out that recent graduates are “alarmingly ignorant” of some very important information such as America’s heritage and history.

    Aside from facts about the identity of Judge Judy, the respondents were also asked some details about American politics and the Constitution.

    The survey said that about 28 percent of respondents were correct when they chose James Madison as the father of the Constitution, while 59 percent picked Thomas Jefferson, when in fact he was the one who penned the Declaration of Independence.

    The results of the survey also revealed that 60 percent of the graduates did not know any requirements in order to ratify an amendment in the Constitution. Meanwhile, 40 percent of the respondents also did not know that aside from the President, Congress can declare war as well.

    The report also explains why student groups are claiming that the government can ban freedom of speech if the message being conveyed is offensive to minority groups.

    The ACTA also proposed a possible solution to the problem.

    “Instead of demanding content-based coursework, our institutions have, in too many places, supplanted the rigorous study of history and government — the building blocks of civic engagement — with community-service activities,” they said in a statement.

  • Strata Survey Looks At Agency Ad Trends

    Strata has a new report out finding that, unsurprisingly, Facebook leads social media in advertising by agencies, with 86% saying they will likely use the platform in client campaigns. YouTube is in second place with 62% followed by Twitter at 57% and LinkedIn at 38%.

    The survey of agencies found that confidence in the ad economy is the highest it has been in the past five years. 62% of these agencies said they see business increasing this quarter compared to the same period last year, which is the highest that number has been as long as Strata has been conducting the survey.

    53% of them projected future growth to be better in the first half of this year than the last half of last year.29% are increasing their ad budgets from last year, which is the most Strata has found since 2008. 32% plan on hiring staff this year, and only 3% plan on reducing staff.

    “Ad agencies revealed an interesting dichotomy within the advertising industry; agencies are displaying high levels of confidence and are increasing their ad spend while they question the accuracy of reported Web traffic numbers and the inflated CPMs they may command,” said Strata president Joy Baer. Another interesting parallel was the optimism many agencies felt while they looked cautiously at rising ad costs as a major concern. The strength that our clients are reporting bodes well for the rest of the year.”

    As far as agencies’ plans for social media go, 49% of advertisers said they’re most likely to use Promoted Posts for their Facebook ad purchase, followed by Page Post ads (27%). YouTube is obviously the top online video site at 76%, followed by Hulu at 34%. 51%, the survey found, are more interested in streaming/online radio.

    BIA/Kelsey recently projected social ad revenues to hit $15 billion in 2018.

    Via MarketingCharts

    Image via PR Newswire

  • Less Than 25% of Americans Prefer a Female Boss

    Gallup today released information from its annual “Work and Education” survey showing that Americans still prefer to have a male boss.

    The pollster’s results show that 35% of Americans in 2013 prefer to work for a man, while only 23% would prefer to have a female boss. That is the highest proportion of Americans that would prefer a female boss that Gallup has seen since it began asking the question. Though the majority of Americans expressed a gender preference for their boss, 41% stated that it wouldn’t make a difference to them.

    These results are similar to those seen by Gallup throughout the past decade. They are drastically different, however, from the results seen when Gallup began asking the question in 1953. That year, 66% of those surveyed stated they preferred a male boss, while only 5% would prefer to work for a woman. Just 25% of Americans in 1953 did not have a gender preference for their boss.

    Gallup’s survey results have also been broken down by demographics, providing an interesting look at gender preferences in the workplace.

    Females seem to be even more adamant in their preference for male bosses, with 40% saying they would prefer a male boss and 27% preferring a female boss. Men have a lower preference for female bosses, with just 18% saying they prefer a female boss to 29% who would prefer a male boss. A majority of men, though, (51%) say they don’t have a preference, while 32% of women say it wouldn’t matter to them.

    Politics was another area where the issue had an interesting breakdown. Democrats are fairly even in their boss gender preferences, with 32% preferring a male boss to 33% preferring a female boss. Though a similar percentage (33%) of independents prefer a male boss, only 20% said they would prefer a female boss, with most of them (46%) saying they don’t have a preference. The Republican preference for male bosses was 40%, while the Republican preference for female bosses was just 16%.

  • Health Insurance Marketplaces Open Tomorrow, Fewer Than Half of Americans Know

    Tomorrow one of the biggest changes in U.S. healthcare in decades is scheduled to take effect. Millions of Americans who have never had access to health insurance will be able to shop health insurance marketplaces in advance of the coming insurance mandate that is part of the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as “Obamacare“). However, it seems that most Americans aren’t even aware of the new health insurance marketplaces.

    A new survey from healthcare advocacy organization The Commwealth Fund has found that only around 40% of Americans know about the new healthcare marketplaces or the fact that financial assistance for insurance premiums is available to for low and moderate income Americans. Those currently without health coverage were particularly ignorant of the coming programs, with only 32% of Americans who did not have health insurance during the past year aware of the health insurance marketplaces. This is despite the fact that a full 76% of those same Americans surveyed were aware of the Affordable Care Act’s individual health insurance mandate.

    Once told about the marketplaces, the survey found that 61% of potentially eligible Americans were likely to use them shop for insurance. Older Americans are more likely to use the markets, and adults with health problems are more likely to use them than healthy adults.

    “These survey findings demonstrate that people who need the health insurance coverage the marketplaces will offer want to shop for plans and find out if they are eligible for financial help,” said Sara Collins, lead author of a report on the survey and vice president of the Commonwealth Fund. “However, more work needs to be done to ensure that people who may be eligible are aware of the marketplaces and the subsidies. State and federal efforts to educate people about the marketplaces during the six-month enrollment period beginning in October need to be intensive enough to help close the information gaps this survey highlights.”

    Along with the marketplaces, many U.S. states are expanding Medicaid coverage for more Americans. The survey found that Americans are strongly in favor of expanded Medicaid, with 68% of Americans in favor of expanding Medicaid in their state. However a full 85% of American surveyed did not know whether their state would be expanding Medicaid.

    “The strong support for expanding Medicaid is consistent with past studies showing that Americans generally like the individual components of the Affordable Care Act when they understand them,” said Dr. David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund. “This study also shows that there is a great deal of work to be done to ensure that Americans have a clear, accurate view of the law and what it offers the American people.”

    (Image courtesy the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

  • 15% of American Adults Don’t Use the Internet – And Most of Them Never Will

    A new survey out this week from the Pew Research Center found that 15% of American adults (age 18 and older) do not use the internet or email. At all. A further 9% use the internet only in places outside their home.

    Of those 15% who do not use the internet, few of them ever expect to start. A full 92% of them stated that they are “not interested” in using the internet or email at any point in the future.

    “A lot of people are surprised to discover that not everyone is online,” said Kathryn Zickuhr, lead author of the report and a research associate for the Internet Project at Pew. “Most offline adults either don’t see the internet as relevant to them, or feel that it would not be worth the effort. And though many have had some experiences with the internet in the past, most non-internet users say they are not interested in going online in the future.”

    The survey respondents’ reasons for their internet deficiency were varied, though most boil down to simply not caring. Of the 15% who don’t use the internet, 34% of them say they aren’t interested, don’t need it, or simply don’t want it. Another 32% are physically unable to access the internet, said that they believe the internet is hard to use, or are scared of online dangers such as spam or malware. A further 19% stated that it simply costs too much to own a computer or access the internet.

    Also, though they don’t access the internet themselves, much of that 15% still use it in some way. 44% of them were found to have asked a family or friend to look something up for them online.

    As might be expected, age is also a major factor in who is online and who is not. The Pew survey found that 44% of Americans over the age of 65 do not use the internet, making up nearly half of that 15% of adults who aren’t online.

  • Entertainment, Social Media Top Tablet Use Survey

    Entertainment, Social Media Top Tablet Use Survey

    With tablet sales now taking a bite out of traditional PC sales, it’s worth it to ask the question of what exactly consumers are using the devices for. Market research firm Gartner has done just that, and the results shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone familiar with mobile device use.

    The top use of tablets, according to the survey, is entertainment. Consumers are spending 50% of their time on tablets playing games, watching video, listening to music, or reading books. The “communication” category came second, taking up 26% of consumer time on tablets. This includes social media and email use. “Production activities” (writing or editing video) came in third with 15% and tasks such as news-reading, weather watching, and product research came in fourth, taking up 9% of consumer tablet time.

    “Of the different types of activity, people spend by far the most time on entertainment, and people often use several devices at once, so it seems we are turning into a society of multitasking, multiscreen users,” said Meike Escherich, a principal research analyst at Gartner. “Tablet users, for example, continue to use tablets most in the evening, between 7pm and 10pm. This suggests the use of tablets as companions to television viewing and other living-room activities. Smartphones are used more for ad hoc research or quick sessions on social media websites while on the move or engaged in another screen activity.”

    Oddly, the survey found that consumers with Apple or Samsung tablets spend more time than others on entertainment. Those tablet owners spent an average of 30 extra minutes viewing entertainment on their tablets each day. This may have something to do with the fact that 80% of Apple tablet owners were found by the survey to be “heavy users” who use their tablets 10 or more times per day.

    “Other tablet providers need to understand why owners of their tablets spent significantly less time on their devices,” said Annette Jump, a research director at Gartner. “Unless consumers use tablets regularly and find them valuable for specific activities, they are unlikely to purchase the same brand or, indeed, any replacement tablet after a couple of years.”

  • Tablet Owners Prefer to Multitask With TV, Shows Survey

    A new survey by NPD DisplaySearch has shown that 88% of tablet owners use their tablet while watching TV. 82% of smartphone owners also multitasked online while watching TV. The analyst firm’s “Quarterly Multi-Screen Usage Study” found that the most common tasks device owners perform while watching TV include email, texting, Facebooking, and just surfing the web.

    “The rise in connected mobile devices has changed the way consumers view TV and online content,” said Riddhi Patel, research director at DisplaySearch. “For many people around the world, multi-tasking with apps on smartphones and tablets while watching TV has forever changed the traditional TV-focused viewing experience.”

    In addition to those that use mobile devices while watching TV, the majority of tablet and smartphone owners also use their devices to watch content instead of watching it on a TV. According to the survey, 65% of smartphone owners and 85% of tablet owners now admit to watching online content on devices rather than TV, citing the mobility and personal nature of the devices as reasons.

    The survey also found that tablet and smartphone owners in emerging markets (BRIC nations) were more likely to to watch content on mobile devices instead of on TV. Patel pointed out the survey shows that owning mobile devices can affect the purchase of smaller TVs, but not larger ones that may be found in more “mature” markets such as the U.S.

  • Americans Are Warming Up To Google Glass And Its Ilk

    Do you like Google Glass? Are you scared of its privacy implications? Turns out most Americans fall into both camps.

    USA Today reports that a new survey out of Rackspace has found that Americans love wearable technology like Google Glass. By and large, 82 percent of wearable technology users think that devices like Google Glass have had a positive impact on their lives. People also feel that this technology has helped to boost their confidence, advance their careers, and improved their fitness.

    That all sounds great, and it’s probably something Google envisioned with Glass. It’s obvious that the company wants to make computing far more personal. The above survey responses are just some of the potential perks of merging your real identity with your online persona.

    Even so, the people surveyed aren’t all seeing rainbows and gumdrops when it comes to Google Glass. A large group of Americans feel that Google Glass presents some significant privacy concerns into the equation. The survey found the 53 percent of those who don’t use wearable devices do so because of privacy concerns. Another 45 percent think that Google Glass and the like are “too much like Big Brother.”

    We’ve been seeing this response since Google Glass was first introduced. People are naturally scared of anything that’s always on. It’s even worse when that device has a camera that can take pictures and record video. Google may have banned facial recognition on Glass over privacy concerns, but people are still going to be distrusting of it.

    That being said, Rackspace CTO John Engates thinks that a future dominated by Google Glass is inevitable. He says that the children being born today are going to grow up in a world where wearable computing is the norm and won’t see anything wrong with it. He even goes so far as to say that the trend of wearable computers is “unstoppable.”

    Well, we’ll see how unstoppable it is once Google Glass and the rumored wearable computers from Apple and Microsoft hit the market over the next few years. It’s going to be the young adults, not the generation growing up now, that must set the stage for a potential wearable computing revolution. If they adopt it, then its place in culture is set.

  • Obamacare Starts Next Year, Opposed by Over Half of Americans

    Obamacare Starts Next Year, Opposed by Over Half of Americans

    Major segments of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as “Obamacare” – are set to go into effect by January 1, 2014. Programs such as health insurance exchanges; insurer prohibitions against pre-existing medical condition discrimination and annual spending caps; and an expansion of medicaid eligibility are all scheduled to roll out.

    Over half of Americans, however, seem wary of the changes coming to the country’s healthcare system.

    A new poll conducted by CNN and ORC International earlier this month found that 54% of Americans generally oppose Obamacare. 35% of survey respondents opposed the legislation for being “too liberal,” while 16% opposed it for being “not liberal enough.”

    The survey polled 923 adult Americans by telephone. Of those polled, 648 were interviewed through a landline telephone, and 275 were reached through a cell phone. 24% of respondents described themselves as Republicans, 33% described themselves as Democrats, and 43% described themselves as either independent or a member of another party.

    Though Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, conservatives have since used the bill as a rallying point for their stated opposition to larger government programs. The legislation has most famously been opposed by retiring U.S. Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, who has filed multiple bills to repeal the act, and once hyperbolically stated that it should be repealed “before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens.”

  • American Consumers Really Hate Their ISP

    American Consumers Really Hate Their ISP

    Internet service providers are pretty awful. It seems that most Americans agree if a recent survey is to be believed.

    The American Customer Satisfaction Index has released its report for 2013. This year is particularly interesting as ISPs have been rated for the first time. How did they do?

    The survey shows that Vierzon FiOS, the company’s fiber-based wired broadband service, has a satisfaction rating of 71. From there, the scores keep getting lower and lower until it bottoms out with Comcast at a 62.

    What about the other major ISPs like Time Warner Cable and ATT? Time Warner came away with a 63 while ATT scored a bit higher with a 65. The average aggregated score among all ISPs was 65.

    To put this all into perspective, ISPs were one of four industries to have an average score below 70. The others were the airline, subscription telephone and social media industries. It’s really kind of sad when ISPs are lumped in with an industry that has been the subject of bad standup comedy for decades.

    So, why do consumers hate their ISPs so much? The ASCI lists the usual suspects – reliability, speed and highly monthly costs. It doesn’t help that many are also unsatisfied with the current monopolies or duopolies held by many ISPs preventing them from switching to somebody else.

    There is hope, however, and that hope is Google Fiber. The ASCI says that services like Google Fiber may eventually shift ISPs to offering faster service for lower costs. It’s probably not going to happen anytime soon, but I can dream, right?

    [h/t: BGR]

  • How Much Would You Pay For Google Glass? Most Say $200

    How Much Would You Pay For Google Glass? Most Say $200

    In its current state, Google Glass is incredibly expensive. Those who signed up for the Google Glass Explorers program last year had to fork over $1,500 to get a crack at the device. The price will come down when it’s made available to consumers next year, but a new survey suggests that the price will have to come down a lot before consumers bite.

    Last week, TrendBlog posed a question to its audience – “How much are you willing to pay for Google Glass?” The respondents were given a wide variety of price options ranging from below $100 to more than $2,000. The end result found that most were willing to pay near the bottom of the price spectrum.

    Overall, 48 percent of respondents would pay between $200 to $300 for Google Glass when it launches next year. Going lower or higher than that causes interest to drop dramatically with only 13 percent willing to pay less than $100 with only one percent willing to pay between $1,200 and $2,000. Unsurprisingly, nobody would pay more than $2,000.

    How Much Are People Willing To Pay For Google Glass by trendblog.net
    How Much Are People Willing To Pay For Google Glass by trendblog.net

    Pricing is incredibly important, especially when it comes to consumer electronics. Microsoft has learned this lesson the hard way as Windows 8 PCs have failed to take off partly due to the high cost. Apple was able to sell high priced electronics because it was able to convince consumers that its products contained exceptional software value. Google will have to do the same if Google Glass is priced above $300.

  • Millennials Are Willing to Barter Their Privacy, Shows Study

    A new study shows that the current debate about online privacy may wane as those who grew up online begin to take over. The survey, conducted at the University of Southern Calfornia (USC), shows that members of the Millennial generation hold very different conceptions of privacy compared to their parents and grandparents.

    Millennials, defined as those aged 18-34, were found to be more willing to allow companies track them or access their personal information compared to those 35 and older. Millennials were also found to be more receptive to the idea of targeted advertising, and were much more active on social media. All of this, though, is predicated on receiving some benefit for the lack of privacy.

    “Millennials think differently when it comes to online privacy,” said Elaine Coleman, managing director of media and emerging technologies for Bovitz, the research firm that conducted the survey in conjunction with USC. “It’s not that they don’t care about it – rather they perceive social media as an exchange or an economy of ideas, where sharing involves participating in smart ways.”

    Though the social benefit of most social media is clear, even more tangible benefits still don’t seem to entice those over 35 as much as they do Millennials. One question, for example, asked whether a survey respondent would reveal their location to a company in exchange for coupons to nearby businesses. 56% of Millennials would share their location, but only 42% of older respondents said they would.

    “Online privacy is dead – Millennials understand that, while older users have not adapted,” said Jeffrey Cole, director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. “Millennials recognize that giving up some of their privacy online can provide benefits to them. This demonstrates a major shift in online behavior – there’s no going back.”

    Millennial privacy infographic
    (Infographic courtesy the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future)

    (via BGR)

  • Not Many Developers Are Working On Wii U Games

    The Wii U has a few obstacles it needs to overcome, but the biggest is definitely its lack of software. A recent poll of developers shows that the Wii U’s software drought may not be ending anytime soon.

    A new survey out of the Game Developers Conference polled a number of developers asking which platforms they’re developing for. Surprisingly, the Wii U came in dead last with only 4.6 percent of developers saying they were working on a title for Nintendo’s console. Other consoles didn’t fare too well either as only 13.2 percent of developers are making a game for the Xbox 360, whereas 13 percent are working on the PlayStation 3.

    Drops in console development leave plenty of room for PC and mobile development to pick up the slack. An astonishing 55 percent of developers said that they’re making their next game for smartphones or tablets. Another 48 percent said that their next game would be on the PC and/or Mac.

    Now, before everybody starts freaking out, these numbers need a little context. For starters, GDC is no longer attended exclusively by people working at a major publisher. In fact, most of the attendees at GDC these past few years have been indie developers. The latest numbers only reinforce that fact as over 53 percent of respondents to the GDC survey identified themselves as an indie developer.

    So, how does tie into the low console numbers, and high mobile numbers? It shows that indie developers are flocking to the PC and mobile markets because they’re easier and cheaper to develop for. It doesn’t hurt that PC and mobile platforms are far more open than consoles, despite Sony’s and Nintendo’s best efforts to fix that.

    In short, the high number of indie developers attending GDC ensures that the numbers for indie platforms, like mobile and PC, are going to be higher. Now this doesn’t mean that Nintendo gets away without any criticism. It needs to do a better job of courting third-party developers and indies. The Wii U launched with a great selection of indie titles, and the hardware maker needs to continue that trend going into the future.

    As big AAA games start to cost more and take more time to develop, the smaller indie titles will become increasingly more important to the livelihood of any platform. Sony seems to embracing the indie developer with the PS4 saying the console will support any kind of game. Nintendo is reportedly doing much the same with the Wii U. Now these hardware makers just have to prove it by securing quality indie content while supporting these developers with the help they need to realize their vision.

    [h/t: Gamasutra]

  • Consumers Don’t Even Know Windows 8 Exists

    Consumers Don’t Even Know Windows 8 Exists

    What’s the biggest threat facing Windows 8 in today’s marketplace? Is it the rise of Apple? Is it perhaps the move away from desktop computing? All of these things may be contributing, but the biggest threat may just be that nobody knows or cares about it.

    The AP and market research firm GfK recently surveyed 1,200 US adults over the phone about Windows 8. The big takeaway – 52 percent of respondents have never heard of Windows 8 despite Microsoft’s $1.5 billion marketing blitz.

    Such a higher number may be cause for alarm, but Microsoft may have already accounted for the kind of people that don’t follow operating systems too closely. What they should be worrying about it are those who knew about Windows 8 since its introduction over two years ago. The survey found that 61 percent of those who knew about Windows 8 have no interest in upgrading. Even more damning, only 35 percent believe it’s an improvement over Windows 7.

    The folks at Microsoft have their work cut out for them over the next few months as they try to sell the new operating system to consumers and enterprise customers alike. Early reception has been mixed with some enterprise customers adopting the new operating system for its consumer-friendly tablet integration. Others are reluctant due to the amount of retraining required to get employees up to speed.

    Windows 8 was never a solid sell for desktop users, but Microsoft can still pull out a success in the mobile market. The company’s Surface tablet seems to be doing well with early adopters and the Windows Phone 8 event scheduled for later today will shed some light on Microsoft’s strategy with smartphones, a market that it has consistently failed to gain a foothold in.

  • Over Half Of Windows 8 Users Still Prefer Windows 7

    Windows 8 is finally launching next month. It’s do or die time for the folks at Microsoft, and they need this to be a hit. The response to Windows 8 has been relatively positive, but the new OS has had its fair share of detractors. It’s even rumored that Intel’s CEO privately stated that Windows 8 isn’t ready. A new survey indicates that more people may dislike Windows 8 than initially thought.

    Forumswindows8.com, the self-proclaimed “largest Windows 8 help and support forum on the Internet,” recently surveyed over 50,000 Windows 8 users. The survey covered everything from strengths and weaknesses to general thoughts on Windows 8 versus its predecessors.

    The good news is that Windows 8 isn’t universally hated. The bad news is that a majority of Windows 8 users still prefer its predecessor with 53 percent saying that they like Windows 7 more. In comparison, only 25 percent chose Windows 8 as their favorite.

    That being said, those surveyed dumped a fair amount of praise on the operating system. A majority of users (56 percent) chose the fast boot and shut down of Windows 8 as their favorite feature. Fifty percent of users listed the easy installation as their favorite. From there, the numbers drop somewhat dramatically with only 35 percent of users listing Internet Explorer 10 as their favorite feature.

    In what may be more damning than anything, only 23 percent of users listed the Windows Store as their favorite feature. The Metro WIndows 8 UI doesn’t fare much better with only 22 percent claiming the feature to be their favorite. These are the two big selling points of Windows 8. Without support from users, Microsoft doesn’t have much of a chance.

    The theme of hating the new UI carries over to the answers supplied by respondents when surveyed on weaknesses. A relatively small, but still significant, 18 percent say that Microsoft needs to improve the two UI style system on desktops. A much larger 35 percent say that the price of Windows 8, which is set at $199 after a promotional price of $69, is too high.

    Despite the complaints about the desktop version of Windows 8, Microsoft seems to have made the right move with their Surface tablet. Out of all of those surveyed, a sizable chunk of respondents (25 percent) said that they would choose the Microsoft Surface tablet over the competition.

    Overall, this survey represents something that Microsoft should be concerned about. They’re less than a month away from launch and people still prefer Windows 7. To some extent, it’s to be expected. Every new operating system is met with trepidation, but Windows 8 was supposed to be different. It represents a cool, hip new Microsoft that’s focused on the consumer and entertainment.

    We’ve reached out to Microsoft to find out if they have any plans leading up to launch to get people excited about Windows 8. We also asked if they have any plans to help fix or allieve the complaints that the respondents had. We’ll update as soon as we hear back.

  • Consumers Want The iPad Mini To Launch This Month

    One of the more consistent rumors surrounding the iPad Mini is that it will be revealed in October. The iPhone 5 will be revealed next week on September 12. Apple is supposedly holding two separate events so they won’t cannibalize either product’s launch. They also probably feel that consumers don’t want to pony up for two Apple devices in the same month, but consumers apparently wouldn’t mind.

    PriceGrabber recently surveyed over 1,500 U.S. online shoppers about the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini. It turns out that consumers want both devices. That’s not really much of a surprise, but it shows that consumers are ready to go above and beyond the call of duty to snag the latest gadgets from Apple.

    The most interesting statistic from the survey found that 38 percent of respondents would prefer to have both the iPad Mini and iPhone 5 debut this month. As far as separate devices go, 34 percent would prefer to have just the iPhone 5 debut this month compared to 28 percent who would prefer the iPad Mini.

    Interestingly enough, only 13 percent of respondents would actually buy the iPad Mini if it launched this month. A higher 21 percent would buy the iPhone 5 if it were to launch this month. The iPad Mini’s chances of success are much higher among respondents throughout the rest of the year though. A whopping 45 percent said that they would buy an iPad Mini before the end of the year. A smaller, but still respectable, 22 percent said that they would buy one within a year of its launch.

    The iPhone 5 enjoys a similar amount of consumer demand with 36 percent of respondents saying they want one before the end of the year. Sixteen percent of respondents said that they would buy the iPhone 5 within the first week of its release. The response fits with a recent analyst’s predictions that said the iPhone 5 could sell 10 million units in its first week.

    The reasons people have for buying an iPad Mini or iPhone 5 are pretty surprising. Steve Jobs was confident that consumers didn’t want a smaller iPad, but the survey says otherwise. The majority of respondents (61 percent) said that they plan to buy an iPad Mini because it’s smaller and more portable.

    Unsurprisingly, 50 percent of prospective iPhone 5 buyers are upgrading from a previous iPhone. They want to take advantage of all the new features that the device has been rumored to sport. In what might be a worrying trend for Android, 34 percent of respondents said they would switch to the iPhone 5 from their current brand. It’s unfortunate that we can’t see how many people were planning on switching from iPhone to Android.

    I think it’s safe to say that the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini will both enjoy a lot of success. It seems that consumers don’t really care if they’re released at the same time or not. Either way, they want to own both devices by the end of the year. The competition had better get to wowing consumers away from iOS if they hope to make a dent in holiday sales this year.

  • Americans Think Cloud Computing Comes From Actual Clouds

    Americans Think Cloud Computing Comes From Actual Clouds

    Cloud computing has been on the minds of everybody in the tech industry for the past few years. The infrastructure has been slowly growing, but 2012 has seen tremendous growth in the sector. All the major tech companies now offer some form of cloud storage and computing for consumers and businesses. Even though it’s everywhere, Americans still don’t really grasp it.

    A recent survey of 1,000 Americans was conducted by Wakefield Research for Citrix. The results suggest that Americans like to think they’re on top of the latest innovations in cloud computing, but in reality know little about it. Unfortunately, even more people think that the cloud is tied to the weather in some way.

    To get the embarrassing statistics out of the way first, the survey found that 51 percent of respondents believe that stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing. A plurality of respondents (29 percent) also think that the cloud is an actual cloud. A paltry 16 percent actually knew what the cloud was.

    “This survey clearly shows that the cloud phenomenon is taking root in our mainstream culture, yet there is still a wide gap between the perceptions and realities of cloud computing,” said Kim DeCarlis, vice president of corporate marketing at Citrix. “While significant market changes like this take time, the transition from the PC era to the cloud era is happening at a remarkable pace. The most important takeaway from this survey is that the cloud is viewed favorably by the majority of Americans, and when people learn more about the cloud they understand it can vastly improve the balance between their work and personal lives.”

    Even worse, it appears that we live in nation of cloud posers. The survey found that 22 percent of respondents pretend to know what the cloud is during everyday conversation. Most of the faking takes place during work, but strangely enough, 17 percent have pretended to have knowledge of the cloud during a first date. Let’s be honest here, your relationship is not going to last long if you have to brag about knowing what the cloud is during a date.

    Cloud computing also shares a distinction with Linux. It’s everywhere, but people seem to think that they never use it. The survey found that 54 percent of respondents claimed to never use the cloud in their everyday lives, but 95 percent actually use something powered by the cloud everyday. Most of the cloud action comes from people using Facebook or online banking, but playing online games and file sharing are also big cloud activities.

    What has this survey proven so far? Americans are pretty stupid when it comes to the cloud. Thankfully, even some divine intelligence can shine through the darkest clouds. The survey found that 68 percent of Americans see cloud computing as the future and the key to saving the economy. That may be taking the benefits of cloud computing a bit far, but it does show that Americans are warming up to the idea of pushing businesses and networks to the cloud.

    Interestingly enough, 40 percent of respondents see the major advantage of the cloud is being able to work from home in the nude. I don’t know what kind of work they’re doing, but we can at least rest easy that the cloud enables them to do it from the privacy of their own home. Respondents also said the cloud helps them keep embarrassing videos off of their personal hard drive and allows sharing of files with people they’d rather not deal with in person.

    Finally, respondents seem to grasp the major concerns that cloud computing still has to deal with. Thirty-four percent of respondents said that cost is the largest concern while security and privacy concerns follow closely at 32 and 31 percent respectively.

    The future is inevitable. Everything is going to move to the cloud in one way or another. We’ll still have local storage solutions for a lot of data, but storage on the cloud is getting cheaper all the time. People will also soon become comfortable with the idea of storing their data on cloud servers as it’s far more convenient and sometimes more secure than local storage.

  • Inactivity Health Risk Concerns Greatest For Children, Survey Says

    A survey released this week indicates that U.S. adults rate “not enough exercise” as their leading concern for children’s health. The survey, the National Poll on Children’s Health, was conducted by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. The results are culled from a nationally representative household survey and reflect health concerns that Adults have for children and teens.

    According to a C.S. Mott report on the the survey, “not enough exercise” has, surprisingly, never topped their list, though 39% of survey respondents considered it their top concern this year. From the report:

    “Not enough exercise” is new to the top of the list of biggest child health problems, as measured in the Poll. From 2007 to 2011, childhood obesity, drug abuse and smoking have consistently been rated as the top 3 health problems for kids from the perspective of adults (not just parents) across the United States.

    Childhood obesity was still a major concern, coming in at the number two spot with 38% considering it a “big problem” for children’s health. Smoking and drug abuse were also considered a big problem, with over 30% of survey respondents. Bullying rounds out the overall top five, concerning 29% of adults.

    The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has released a helpful infographic listing the top ten concerns cited in the survey. As you can see below, the list is also parsed out by ethnic group. Though different concerns top the race-specific lists, adult concerns for children’s health are generally uniform, except for the worrying 27% of black adults concerned about childhood racial inequality and gun-related injuries.

    (image)

  • Study Claims That 1/3 Americans Believe In UFOs

    Do you believe in UFOs? I know that I certainly do even though I have never even come close to seeing one. It is very hard for me to believe that in the billions of years that this universe has been around, there is not on species that has figured out interstellar travel. A new study that was released finds that 80 million Americans, or 36 percent of the population, believe UFOs are real and that 1 in 10 Americans believe that they have seen one.

    Also the study found that if aliens were to invade the country sometime in the next four years, 65 percent of survey respondents said President Obama would be better suited for handling the invasion than Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The survey was commissioned by the National Geographic Channel to promote its new series “Chasing UFOs.”

    To me what is even more astounding than the fact that 36% believe, is that 48 percent aren’t sure. Which means that the perception of aliens visiting our planet is becoming more and more accepting as time goes on. The new NatGeo survey found that a whopping 79 percent of people think the government has kept information about UFOs a secret from the public, and more than half (55 percent) believe there are real-life “Men in Black”-style agents who threaten people who spot UFOs.

    So to wrap it up, lots of people believe in aliens, and even more believe that the government is hiding secrets from us.

    Photo courtesy of Paramount

  • Teens Love Technology, Don’t Want Tech Jobs

    I got my start in technology through video games. From there, I began to become increasingly involved with more forms of technology from computers to televisions and now my recent fascination with Android. Despite all of that love for technology, I gave up on my dreams of working in technology due to all the math that’s required. That’s why I became a writer.

    I share that personal story to illustrate a recent study that confirms I’m not alone. A recent study from CompTIA found that an overwhelming 97 percent of teens and young adults love technology. Out of that 97 percent, more than half are not just mere consumers. These teens are harbingers of technology that love to show friends and family members the newest gadgets while helping diagnose problems with computers and the like. That sure sounds like IT job material, right?

    Unfortunately, teens are just not that interesting in getting a job in tech. Only 18 percent of the respondents said they were interested in IT jobs. So why are kids just not interested in IT jobs? It’s the math and science – the kryptonite of high schoolers everywhere. Over 64 percent of respondents associated technology with requiring good math and science skills. While the survey was not exactly clear over whether teens saw this requirement as a positive or negative; I think we can all guess which one it was.

    In more encouraging news, 59 percent of teens perceive IT jobs as a way to help their fellow man. That’s more than 51 percent of teens who only perceive IT as a means to a good big paycheck. In between, there was more good vibes as teens seem to perceive IT as a fun job that lets them play with cool technology.

    Teens Technology Tech Jobs

    Beyond how awful math and science are, why aren’t more teens looking for tech jobs? It seems that the sluggish economy has gotten to them. They think that there’s no demand for IT jobs when, in fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Take a look at the App Economy – it’s one sector of IT and has already created over 460,000 jobs with many of those jobs belonging to people who work from home on their own terms.

    So now we know that teens love technology, but hate science and math. They would love to get IT jobs to help their fellow man, but don’t see it as economically viable. Those are all broad strokes within the huge IT sector though. Are there any specific jobs that teens are clamoring for?

    Why yes, teens are interested in all kinds of specific tech jobs. Nearly half of all respondents were like me and want to make video games. Video game job interest has some competition though from the ever growing app economy with 41 percent of teens seeing themselves making an app.

    So how does this all break down among the genders? You would think that girls would traditionally not be very interested in technology jobs, right? Well, you’re right and wrong. People just say technology, but we have to apply specific fields once again. Sure, 69 percent of boys want to get into video games. That’s a given. Conversely, more women (40 percent) want to get into Web design. That’s more than the 38 percent of boys who want the same thing.

    All of this presents a unique challenge that the IT industry and those of us who write about it have to address. How can we get more teens interested in studying some form of technology? I’m already a lost cause as I chose my path long ago, but many teens are still trying to choose. The biggest thing, in my opinion, is making math and science more approachable. It’s sad to think that I’ve seen hundreds of kids drop out of college altogether because of the way math and science are taught today. If the freshman math class can’t make the subject fun and engaging, what are the chances that the higher level courses will be able to?

    Even though I may be a lost cause, I can still do my part as tech writers also have an obligation to the next generation of IT professionals. Many of these kids who love technology depend on us for news and the latest trends in technology. If we can keep them excited and engaged with technology, they have a chance of sticking through whatever is thrown at them.

    If the tech industry and the tech writers can both keep their end of the bargain, we’ll hopefully see these numbers on an upward trend this time next year. The current statistics are at least encouraging, but I know that we can all do better.