consumer

Over the past decade, we've heard a lot about the coming consumerization of information technology. Well, it's here. The Web, e-mail, mobile phones, automated teller machines, GPS navigators, supermarket self-checkouts, online banking, digital cameras, instant messaging, chat rooms, online shopping, airline e-tickets, iTunes, YouTube, Facebook--you name it. Every one of them puts large swaths of the population in direct, frequent contact with sophisticated IT systems and interfaces. And this is just the short list.

It's an overstatement to say "everyone's on Facebook" or "everyone has a smartphone"--but not by much. Something like 50 percent of the U.S. population is on Facebook … Read more

This past Thursday I attended an informal "summit" hosted by Craig Kallman, Atlantic Records' CEO and Chairman, to learn more about the label's plans to start releasing high-resolution music. Kallman is passionate about improving the sound of music, and I was impressed by his candor about the industry's appalling track record and declining sound quality standards.

I think the widespread overuse of dynamic range compression is far more musically destructive than the low sampling rates used in formats like MP3. I fear that if the new formats are just higher-resolution versions of the dynamically compressed MP3 … Read more

Though the consumer PC market may be in the doldrums, you can't pin the blame on the iPad, at least according to the folks at research firm NPD Group.

Many analysts have attributed the latest slump in portable PC sales to cannibalization by the iPad, claiming that consumers are opting for the popular tablet instead of buying notebooks and Netbooks. But in a report issued yesterday, NPD's Stephen Baker disagrees, saying that the rate of cannibalization has actually dropped in recent months.

Surveying Apple iPad owners in March, NPD's "Apple iPad Owner Study II" report found that only 14 percent of early iPad buyers (those who've owned one six months or more) chose an iPad instead of a PC. And over the recent holiday season, that number dropped to 12 percent, according to Baker.

Looking further, the cannibalization of Netbooks by the iPad has actually fallen by 50 percent among recent iPad buyers compared with the earlier adopters. Overall, more than 75 percent of the people polled said they bought an iPad without any intention of buying anything else.

So if the iPad isn't the culprit, what's to blame for the downturn in PC sales? Baker looks a bit farther back in time.… Read more

A survey published in the June issue of Consumer Reports (available now) found that "of the 20 million minors who actively use Facebook," 7.5 million were younger than 13 and more than five million were younger than 10. Facebook's terms of service require that users be at least 13.

The report tracks with other studies including a 2010 study by McAfee that found 37 percent of 10 to 12 year olds are on Facebook and a study (PDF) released in April from the London School of Economics EU Kids Online project that found that 38 percent … Read more

Honesty is the best policy--unless you're dealing with someone you can't trust.

The sad fact is, you can't trust anyone on the Web. Just ask the millions of people who signed up for Sony's PlayStation Network and who now must protect against possible hack attacks on their bank accounts and other private data lost due the recent data breach. CNET News reporter Erica Ogg explains the company's response to its customers in her Circuit Breaker blog.

Sony claims the credit card information was encrypted and did not include the cards' security codes; the company also … Read more

It looks like Google has taken an interest in a start-up called Recyclebank, which offers points and rewards for "green" actions like joining curbside recycling programs and installing eco-friendly appliances--it's using it as a test bed for a new beta version of its Google Analytics tracking tool.

More specifically, along with a consumer research company called ROI Research, Google Analytics will be parsing the progress and results of Recyclebank's impending "Green Your Home Challenge," and then releasing a research paper about the whole process. The contest in question is taking place over the course … Read more

In a decidedly different outcome from recent Consumer Reports findings regarding Apple products, the iPad 2 has topped the Consumer Reports charts for tablet computer devices, handily defeating all the new iPad competitors.

Despite a wide array of highly touted and heavily marketed iPad rivals, including Motorola's Xoom and others from Samsung, Archos, Dell, and HP, Apple reigns supreme in the Consumer Reports rankings. Citing quality and (perhaps surprisingly for Apple) price, the independent nonprofit magazine gives iPad 2 top marks. The magazine said in a statement today:

Best Buy saw its revenue and profits slide, again, in its fiscal fourth quarter.

During the three-month period ended February 26, Best Buy generated a profit of $651 million on revenue of $16.26 billion. During the same period in 2010, it tallied $16.55 billion in revenue and a $779 million profit. Comparable store sales were down 4.6 percent year over year. In 2010, they were up 7 percent over 2009 figures.

On an annual basis, Best Buy didn't perform so poorly. The company reported today that its fiscal-year revenue was $50.27 billion, up from the $… Read more

Beyond the widespread damage and loss of life, the earthquake and tsunamis that hit Japan today are having an effect on technology and electronics companies in the country.

Japan plays a central role in the high-tech and consumer electronics industries, home to heavyweights such as Sony, Toshiba, and Nintendo. Many U.S. and European tech companies also have significant offices and operations in Japan. Overall, Japanese factories produced $216 billion worth of electronics last year, according to market analysis firm IHS iSuppli. That includes 16.5 percent of worldwide consumer electronics factory revenue.

All those companies are still in the … Read more