[Isu570-f08-rpf] Study finds many need help with tech gadgets

[Bob Futrelle]

Study finds many need help with tech gadgets

Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, November 17, 2008

If you have problems getting your computer, cell phone or Internet
connection to work, you're not alone.

Nearly half of technology users said they routinely need help setting
up a device or learning how to use it, according to a report released
Sunday by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

The survey highlights the ample difficulties consumers have with
technology despite its central role in their lives. It also
underscores a frequent complaint: Companies sell technology that is
complex and prone to failure, setting up consumers for inevitable
confusion, impatience and frustration.

"If these tech users had more usable devices, they would be more
ardent users to the services," said John B. Horrigan, associate
director of research for the Pew Internet Project.

Respondents reported problems with technology spanning a broad
spectrum of products over the previous 12 months.

-- 44 percent of those with home Internet access said that their
connections had failed at least once.

-- 39 percent of computer owners said that their machines hadn't worked.

-- 29 percent of cell phone users said that their devices hadn't
operated properly.

-- 26 percent of those with personal digital assistants, such as
BlackBerrys, suffered a failure.

-- 15 percent of iPod and MP3 player users experienced a snag.

To be sure, problems with technology aren't new. Virtually every
innovation - whether the telephone, car or VCR - confounded consumers
and, at times, disappointed them by breaking down.

The obvious solution for users is to fix haywire technology
themselves. In fact, 28 percent said that they did so successfully.

But many, 38 percent, had to call customer support for help,
withstanding what can be a lengthy wait on hold. A smaller number, 15
percent, solicited the guidance of family and friends, while 2 percent
looked for a remedy online.

The vast majority of technology victims eventually found a way to get
their products to work again. Still, 15 percent said that they were
not able to fix the problem.

Pew's report was based on a survey of 2,054 U.S. consumers from
October to December 2007 covering a wide range of technology topics.
But it leaves some questions unanswered, such as whether the
technology failure phenomenon is any different in the Bay Area from
the rest of the country and whether some companies are more to blame
than others for failures.

Andrew Johnson, a spokesman for Comcast, a major provider of broadband
Internet service in the Bay Area, was surprised by the high number of
people who said their Internet connections had failed in the past
year. He said that his service has a much lower failure rate than the
survey would suggest, although he declined to offer any specific data.

Johnson questioned whether some consumers are mistakenly blaming
Internet service providers for their interrupted connections without
realizing the problem is something else - like a modem that needs to
be rebooted, or a Web site that is offline.

"A lot of the issues fall in the user error category," he said.

Despite the technology failures, and the need to turn to others for
help, 72 percent of consumers said they felt confident that they would
be able to fix the problem. But they also felt a range of other
emotions: 59 percent were impatient; 48 percent were discouraged; and
40 percent were confused.

Not surprisingly, those who had several devices fail in the past 12
months were far more likely to feel the range of negative emotions as
did those who depend on those devices several times a day.

"We're only part of the way through the technology revolution, and
there's still a long way to go for people to feel comfortable with
these services," said Horrigan, the Pew researcher.

E-mail Verne Kopytoff at vkopytoff at sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/17/BUKM1444GP.DTL

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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