The average 6-year-old today is more technologically savvy than the average 45-year-old, Salon reported from a new study from communication watchdog Ofcom. The report examines British consumers and was released on Thursday.
The debut of broadband Internet access in 2000 sparked a whole generation of kids whose communication is completely different than older generations, Jan Rumble of Ofcom's media research head told The Guardian. These children have been able to quickly and reliably access the Web since they were born, free of the days of dial-up connection.
Level of tech savvy was measured with Ofcom's "digital quotient" test. It doesn't test intelligence, but rather focuses on awareness and competence with technology. Gadgets, the Internet and smartphone apps were all included in the test. The agency tested 2,000 adults and 800 children.
The Guardian explains the results by stating that amongst 6- and 7-year-olds, who have grown up with YouTube, Spotify music streaming and the BBC iPlayer, the average digital quotient score was 98, higher than for those between the ages of 45 and 40. The older group averaged a score of 96. Digital understanding peaks between the ages of 14 and 15, with a digital quotient score of 113. The score then begins to drop gradually throughout adult before falling rapidly in old age.
The report also found that half of the adults tested in Britain didn't know about the smartphone photo messaging app Snapchat, launched in 2011, Google Glass, or Apple's rumored iWatch. Over half of adults did report knowing about tablets, smartphones and apps. More than half of the children ages 6-15 said they knew about smartphone and tablet apps.
Traditional phone calls seem to be going by the wayside for the youngsters as well. The study concluded that phone calls account for only three percent of device communication for 12- to 15-year-olds. For adults, that number jumps to 20 percent.
Social networking sites seem to be the most popular to access, with the studying concluding that 90 percent of time spent on devices was to browse WhatsApp or Facebook, according to The Guardian.
