More People Relying Even More on Their Cell Phones

I’m currently looking into dropping our landline telephone (I know, really keeping up with the times). The reason is increased cell phone quality. There were just too many dropped calls previously in my basement cave of an office.

Enhanced cell phone quality is having additional impacts, according to a new report.

For many, the cell phone is replacing the computer for Internet browsing. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has identified a "cell-mostly" segment of the population, who read, Web-surf and shop online – chiefly on their phones.

Among adults 18-29 who use the Internet on their phones, fully 45% do most of their Web surfing on phones, while on any day, 41% of all cell owners are using their phones to go online at least once. Of adults 50 or older, 11% of cell Internet users now use their phones for most access, while 29% of adults 30 to 49 do the same.

Noting that the iPhone was introduced in 2007, Pew senior research specialist Aaron Smith observed that "within the space of five years, we’ve gone from basically zero to half the country, with a sizable percentage using cell phones as their main source [to go online]." Pew Internet Project began measuring this behavior in the spring of 2009, at which point, just 31% of cell owners used either the Internet or email on the devices.

The point is that, for all the noise around tablets and complaints around small screens, phone apps and phone-optimized websites are necessary to reach 45% of the 18-49 age group.