Voice Appliances May Replace Screen Time
One reason media time might decline is the growth of alternative interfaces, notably voice devices like Amazon Alexa. A study by the Walker Sands marketing agency found that 24% of consumers currently own a voice controlled device, 19% have already made a purchase through a voice device, and 33% are likely to make such a purchase in the next year. Meanwhile, National Public Media found that 65% of smart speaker owners wouldn’t go back to life without one. (They also found that one-third of non-owners fear the government would listen in on them.) On the other hand, even the latest conveniences may no longer be enough to sell new tech: behavior measurement company Verto Analytics found that phone-based personal assistant like Apple Siri are slowly falling in popularity, except for navigation and mapping apps. They also found the most avid users of personal assistant apps are 52 year old women, which the report delicately describes as “a demographic population that traditionally falls outside of the expected early adopter user base.”