Our smartphone addiction, by the numbers
One in ten smartphone owners in Britain checks the device the moment they wake up. Sky News, reporting on Deloitte’s research of the matter, calls it an addiction. (I thought everyone checks their smartphone the moment they wake up, but I guess I was wrong.)
Deloitte’s research on how much Britons use smartphones has shown some crazy statistics: a third of smartphone owners look at their device more than 25 times a day. Even worse, a sixth check it more than 50 times each day.
Which means, if an average person sleeps an average of eight hours, he’s awake the other 16. That amounts to 960 minutes every day. Divided by 50, it turns out some people check their smartphone every 20 minutes.
Hey, that’s not so bad, especially with all the notifications ringing and vibrating all the time, right? But don’t let me make any conclusions, let’s stick to news reporting here.
Deloitte, which carried out the research, says the extent of smartphone usage shows that it is one of the best-value devices that people can own.
The firm’s head of technology, Paul Lee, said: "The modern, touchscreen-based smartphone is less than a decade old, but it is more intertwined with our lives than ever. Constant technological improvements are allowing us to delegate more and more tasks to our phones, from ordering taxis to browsing catalogues and paying for a meal".
“The frequency of consumers glancing at their smartphones arguably makes it one of the best value devices available. For the sixth of smartphone owners who look at their devices 50 times or more a day, the cost per glance is less than two pence a day for a £700 handset kept for two years. And that’s before allowing for trade-in value", adds Lee.
The usage intensity is higher for the younger population -- 80 percent of young people use their devices on public transport and 43 percent while eating at a restaurant.
A fifth of 18 to 24 year-olds admit to checking their phones when crossing the road.
They also check their phones around 52 times each day, compared to 12 times a day for those aged over 55.
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