When Technology Fails

by John B. Horrigan, Associate Director & Sydney Jones, Research Assistant
November 16, 2008

It is often the case that new technologies become popular well before the technology itself is understood by the general public. As these technologies gain traction, it is not always intuitive for new users to know how to use them, much less fix them when they break. And there are always some users who catch on faster than others to new technology.

A new technology becomes mainstream at the time that it becomes easily accessible, affordable and usable to the general population. Electricity caught on in America around 1880-1920, though it was more or less "discovered" in 1771 and harnessed in 1821. The telephone was invented in 1876, but it did not become widely used in America until the early 1900s. And, while the first American patent for photography was issued for an early version of the camera in 1840, it was not until 1900 that the camera was first mass-marketed.

When the Edison light bulb was introduced in 1880, it was regarded not only as a novelty, but as a phenomenon bordering on the supernatural. People stared in awe, and some fell to their knees in wonder, as the court house in small-town Wabash, Indiana, put on one of the first displays of harnessed electric light.¹

When the telephone was taking off in homes in the early 1900s, subscribers were given specific instructions by telephone companies for how to make a call -- something we now do automatically several times a day. These instructions ranged from technical directions, such as speaking directly into the mouthpiece, to proper etiquette, such as avoiding banging the receiver when hanging up.²

Most Americans probably still do not know the science behind the flip of a light switch. But they probably know that when the lights are out to check the breaker, and, when the breaker fails to fix the problem, to call the electric company. Nearly all Americans know how to pick up a receiver and dial a seven-digit combination of numbers, but most do not know how those numbers add up to connect their phone with another phone across the country.

So where would computers, cell phones, Blackberries, MP3 players and the internet fit in to this picture? Do owners know enough about their Blackberries to fix the devices themselves when they break? Do users know enough about what goes on inside their computers to even know when they need a checkup? Could Americans still get the information they need, or be able to communicate as easily with their friends and family, if their cell phones broke or their internet connection failed?

Modern information and communication technologies open doors to a wealth of information. But many users find it difficult to set up these devices and frustrating when they break. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project,³ nearly half (48%) of adults who use the internet or have a cell phone say they usually need someone else to set up a new device up for them or show them how to use it. And many users of various devices and services encounter breakdowns from time to time. Specifically:

44% of those with home internet access say their connection failed to work properly for them at some time in the previous 12 months.
39% of those with desktop or laptop computers have had their machines not work properly at some time in the previous 12 months.
29% of cell phone users say their device failed to work properly at some time in the previous year.
26% of those with Blackberries, Palm Pilots or other personal digital assistants say they have encountered a problem with their device at some time in the previous 12 months.
15% of those with an iPod or MP3 player say their devices have not worked properly at some time in the prior year.

Respondents from all demographic groups who own a certain device are about equally likely to have that device fail, but younger cell phone owners are significantly more likely than seniors to have their cell phones break:

30% of 18-29 year old cell phone owners say their cell phone failed to work at some time in the previous year.
33% of 30-49 year old cell phone owners had a cell phone break at some time in the previous year.
26% of 50-64 year old cell phone owners report cell phone failure at some point in the previous year.
18% of cell phone owners 65 years old and older report a broken cell phone in the previous year.

How did people deal with tech breakdowns? Some 15% of those experiencing problems with any of the five devices or services listed above said they were unable to fix the problem. However, the majority of users found solutions in a variety of ways:

38% of users with failed technology contacted user support for help.
28% of technology users fixed the problem themselves.
15% fixed the problem with help from friends or family.
2% found help online.

Users whose technology had failed also reported a mix of emotions during the course of trying to solve the problem:

72% felt confident that they were on the right track to solving the problem.
59% felt impatient to solve the problem because they had important uses for the broken technology.
48% felt discouraged with the amount of effort needed to fix the problem.
40% felt confused by the information that they were getting.

Read the full report including topline questionnaire and methodolgy at pewinternet.org.

Notes

¹ David E. Nye, Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1995).
² Claude S. Fischer, America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992).
³ This data memo is based on a survey of 2,054 adults between Oct. 24, 2007, and Dec. 2, 2007. Some 734 respondents in the survey were technology users who had experienced at least one device failure in the past year.