What the young folks are using now.....

[3GScottishUser]

A very few have iPhones, mostly handed down original or 3G models. The price and need of a contract puts the IPhone 4 out of the reach of all but the most wealthy teens.

Android I would have thought would have been the next best thing and with prices dropping to as little as £60 on PAYG I would have expected to see lots of these around, but no.

The runaway success of the moment with teens (especially young females) is the Blackberry! It's full querty keyboard is a hit with unlimited teen texters and just about every young female student I see these days has a Blackberry complete with a gawdy pink diamonte skin! Blackberry seem to have the features youngsters want and when asked most of those with them love the style.

[Hands0n]

You know, 12 months ago I would have said exactly the same. But now the teens to twenties are trading in their BBs for iPhones. That may just be a "below Watford" thing I do not know. But the ridiculous amount of texts bundled in these days (typically circa 3,000 a month) seems to satisfy even the most ardent texter. Also, more and more, the kids here are latching on to Facebook and EMail as other forms of messaging that is reducing their reliance upon SMS. This appears to be particularly so when they get the idea [finally] that eMail is a much better medium to transfer picture and video clips than MMS, the latter of which is chargeable at a ridiculous rate. Although, that said, I do observe that all of the kids are now using Facebook to share their pictures - most particularly because they can tag and comment upon them.

What you're seeing seems to be a repeat of the experience in the south of the country.

The thing with the kids, particularly, is that they're so faddy. And they wander the technology plains like herds of Wildebeest ... :D

Expect to see next the likes of Viber begin to pick up - there is a groundswell coming up from the kids, for the first time, in alternative voice and video calling technology across WiFi - for example. It may just be that we're beginning to see the mobile network operators 'miss the boat' ... again.

[3GScottishUser]

I have noticed that these new Blackberrys are getting used for a lot of Facebook activity as well as SMS.

I have asked a lot of the youngsters what they like about what I always considered a business phone and the most common answer I hear is that they don't like touch screens. The push button querty keyboard and navigation keys they say are more accurate and easier to use. Fair point I think and the price is obviously a big issue with an iPhone at £500+ and an HTC or Samsung High Spec Android at £300-400 Vs a 3G Blackberry Curve with GPS, WiFi, Apps, iTunes sync and all the usual BT/Camera/Organiser/Browsing facilities it's a steal at £189 on PAYG. Sometimes you tend to overlook the mid-range with so many high tech wonders at the top end of the market but the young folks have not missed this device and having seen it in use and read the spec I'm impressed with the value on offer.

[miffed]

You know, 12 months ago I would have said exactly the same. But now the teens to twenties are trading in their BBs for iPhones.


Absolutely 100% agree with this ! I run a Gym , and people often ask us to look after their phones - or they leave them laying around in the gym and they (surprisingly ) get handed in !

As the iPhone 3GS was launched , I noted that both 3GS & 3G's became very popular - I think this was partly to do with the 3GS getting huge mainstream success in its own right , and partly because as people were buying 3GS's , they were passing their 3G's onto their kids !
But then , as suggested , Blackberries started to be the handset of choice among teens - and this was the case until late last year - then just before xmas , I started noticing that the majority of phones left / handed in were iPhone 4's
Now , after Xmas it has just gone stupid ! and all the kids seem to have iPhone 4's (How in Gods name they all afford them when we are supposedly a poverty stricken nation is beyond me !!!)
My own daughter (former 3G owner) has had a Blackberry Bold 9700 - had it replaced once and it is currently being repaired again , she got an iPad for Xmas and is now desperate to get an iPhone again.

[Hands0n]

(How in Gods name they all afford them when we are supposedly a poverty stricken nation is beyond me !!!)

There is some strong evidence to suggest that, before a complete crash, that people will spend on things like mobile and TV subscriptions rather than holidays. So, taking that as literal - which may not be wise - it suggests that people can hardly not afford an iPhone 4 in comparison to a package holiday for two weeks. And the mobile network operators make it all too easy to acquire an iPhone 4, albeit on a ridiculously long 24 month contract. There will be tears for some.

I suspect, Miffed, that we are also witnessing the higher affluence of the South. I don't think that it is any secret that people of the South do have a larger disposable income, even in these times, all things being relative.

[3GScottishUser]

There may be some geographic differences but I am as close to the 14-21s as anyone thanks to teaching and I take a keen interest into what the young folks are carrying. Just think how many times a day I have to repeat the instruction to ignorant youngsters to put mobile phones away when they are supposed to be listening to stuff. (The same ignorant clowns will agressively tell teaching staff they were not told stuff when they in fact were tooo busy surfing or texting to have heard it).

In the college where I work there is little iPhone4 penetration (I have only seeen two so far and those were pretty well off kids). Some older models are now evident but the device of choice is the Blackberry in 2010. I think the range of accessories for the Blackberry is a bit of a giveaway as to who is now buying them. In my class of Beauty students (all girls) I counted about 8 Blackberrys last week. Thats massive penetration of that group and the same exists in some other groups with lots of young females. Blackberry seems to be the fashion phone for 14-18 females in Glasgow right now.

[Ben]

Must be geographic differences - iPhone 3GS seems to be where it's at still with the teens, with those with overly generous parents having iPhone 4.

Girls love Blackberrys. I'll not speculate as to why on a public forum.

[miffed]

Of course the Blackberries IM feature is also a winner for the teens - I have witnessed first hand groups of girls swapping their Blackberry PIN 's (or whatever they are called) , and the Girls (despite having better phones !) who don't have a BB PIN feeling left out and looking at their iPhone 3GS (which is , IMO far superior than any blackberry ) with discontent ! ...and saying "I need a Blackberry"

Of course Android has Gtalk , but it is not pushed to the forefront of the OS like BB's IM is , and if you don't use a Gmail address , you have to go out of your way setting it up , the whole thing needs to "just work" , be set up for you and unchangeable.

[Hands0n]

My observations are based in part on the direct experiences of my Uni-going daughter, her peers and several families that have similarly aged kids. Then also the sales being made by my lad in P4U collaborate the experience. They are all migrating as and when they can from BB to iPhone and Android. Moreso iPhone, possibly for its kudos value.

I do think that it is demographics at work. The parochial experience is bound to be different. I don't think money is that much of a factor as these are generally on contract. None of the kids I know buy or have SIM-free or even PAYG. They use the contract like we wrinklies may have used HP in our day :D (thats Hire Purchase to you kids).

As I recount the BBs left in the hands of those youngsters I know or know of the percentage of BB is around 20%. The rest are primarily iPhone with a growing number of Android and one Nokia N8.

As I look around me in my travels this experience is repeated. There is an abundance of iPhone deployment in this region. And absolutely no fear or unhappiness with touchscreen as a concept or technology. Then why should there be. Apple absolutely nailed this technology.

That's it over in this corner of the South East :)

[solo12002]

I ve tried touchscreen myself with a HTC wildfire and thinking of goggle 2 phone , but I cant get away from the BB the keyboard for fast typing and email accounts it does all i want to do. I brought a mate a phone for xmas SE x8 on PAYG he hates the touch screen now using it as a MP3 player, I love the goggle system fast upgrades over the air thee apps etc, but dam slow for typing on have to say

[Ben]

I can't type on my Nexus One for toffee, but I fly on the iPhone and iPad :/

[miffed]

I have similar problems with Android , even with the Dell streak @ varying pixel densities - I find myself putting full stops where I meant to put spaces ! Tried a variety of keyboards and it happens on all the keyboards I have tried , recently switched to swype , but not used it nearly enough to know if it is any better,
I also find any kind of auto correction to be intrusive and annoying , compared to that of the iPhone.

[The Mullet of G]

I don't think its purely financial, as I've worked with school kids from poor areas that have iPhone 4's, the iPhone fad has simply passed, worse still its actually now "uncool" to have an iPhone. Every time I use mine people start sniggering and making jokes about its antenna short comings or the like. Gone are the days when people used to fawn over other peoples iPhones, these days if your lucky no one will notice you using it and you wont be ridiculed. :)

[Ben]

Crikey Mullet, people take the mick because of the antenna issue? Do all your friends come from Redmond?

[Hands0n]

It was probably a slow day :D

[The Mullet of G]

Hey those "people" weren't my friends, and kids can be cruel. :(