Four out of Five of You Can’t Live Without Your Angry Birds
From infatuation to romance to ultimately being taken for granted and, in all likelihood, ignored.
That’s the circle of life, according to a recent study from MTV Networks. The only surprise is that the study wasn’t referring to our relationships with our spouses, but rather our apps.
MTV actually characterized the stages in an app’s life in a little less cuddly terms, highlighting the transition from discovery and adoption to trial and, ultimately, either abandonment or long-term usage.
The network group surveyed 1,300 people who use mobile apps daily to find out their usage patterns, with 83 percent of respondents saying they are addicted to their apps.
“One participant went so far as to say that ‘apps are like Xanax in a phone,'” MTV said in a summary of its survey.
The MTV study asked users to go without their apps for three days and then imagine what it would be like to go without their beloved programs for two whole weeks.
“I don’t think you’d find me alive after the second week,” said one young woman. Asked whether they they would rather give up their favorite app or another treasured thing for a year, more than half of respondents said they would forego coffee, a trusted news source or favorite TV show rather than their favorite apps.
Of course, there are lots of apps and only a few favorites, meaning there are a lot of programs not even worth the memory they are taking up on the phone.
Among the other findings:
