It’s a "Gadgets on the Go" World

A majority of American families take a variety of electronic gadgets with them on vacation, a new study released yesterday found.

• 85 percent bring cell phones
• 75 percent bring digital cameras
• 35 percent bring portable CD players
• 33 percent bring portable gaming devices

On top of that, 87 percent of those surveyed said they plan to check personal e-mail, with 36 percent keeping up on work-related e-mail.

“In this age of connectivity, it’s not surprising that 63% of all respondents and a full 75% of the ‘wired vacationers’ own three or more electronic devices,” InsightExpress, the online market research firm who conducted the study, reported in a press release.

InsightExpress surveyed 530 adults over the age of 18. Each participant had at least one child under the age of 18 and planned on taking a family vacation this summer.

“Although the study deliberately focused on families,” Erik Sass wrote in his article about the survey in Online Media Daily, “it contradicted conventional wisdom that children adopt gadgets more readily than adults: according to Insight, only 7 percent of respondents said that “love of technology is just a kid thing” during vacations.”

“As technology continues to creep into every aspect of our lives,” said Kevin Kruper, Group Director of the Technology Sector at InsightExpress, “it’s clearly becoming harder for Americans to take a vacation without it.”

Of course, as genre travelers, we probably were ahead of the back, since people with an interest in speculative fiction are more likely to be early adopters of technology products.

“While some vacation purists might balk at the idea of packing a charger in their carry-on,” said Kruper, “the reality is that Americans embrace technology because it makes their lives easier. And since the point of most vacations is to relax and have fun, it makes a lot of sense for families to incorporate their favorite devices into travel plans.”

The online study was conducted from June 15 – 22, 2006.

For More Information:
InsightExpress: www.insightexpress.com
Online Media Daily Article: publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=45139&Nid=21415&p=361241