TECHWEB

May 2, 2007 Wednesday 6:48 PM GMT

Gen Y and Baby Boomers Hold Similar Attitudes Toward Technology

LENGTH: 528 words

HIGHLIGHT: A new survey shows both generations agree that experience is more important to business success than being tech-savvy.


While baby boomers report less ease with technology than their generation Y counterparts, both generations agree that experience is more important to business success than being tech-savvy, according to a recent survey.

American Express released a survey last week showing that 66% of generation Y entrepreneurs consider themselves tech-savvy compared to 47% of baby boomers. Still, 59% of generation Y respondents said older entrepreneurs have an advantage because of their experience, according to theOPENAges Survey by anAmerican Expressteam dedicated to small business owners. Eighty-eight percent of baby boomers agreed.

Generation Y business owners were more likely (86%) than baby boomers (76%) to agree with the statement "Technology is vital to my business." Sixty-nine percent of the younger entrepreneurs agreed that technology is vital to their personal lives, compared to 54% of theirolder counterparts.

Both groups agreed that it is important to disconnect from technology during parts of the day. Seventy-one percent of generation Y respondents and 74% of baby boomers said so. More than half of respondents in both groups said technology intrudes on their personal lives, but benefits their businesses (56% among generation Y respondents and 58% among baby boomers).

The generations disagreed on America's global status in technology innovation. Only 38% of generation Y respondents said the U.S. is the most technologically advanced country in the world. Fifty-seven percent of baby boomers said they believe the U.S. has retained its lead in the forefront of technology innovation.

The survey, conducted by telephone by International Communications Research between March 8 and March 23, polled 602 business owners from companies with less than 100 employees. Half were between the ages of 18 and 29. Half were between the ages of 42-64.

NWC ANALYSIS:

Clearwire has emerged as a primary player in the U.S. mobile WiMAX market. A March initial public stock offering provided a new infusion of capital and now it's up to the company to deliver on the promise of WiMAX. Unfortunately, this announcement is much less than meets the eye. The company is exercising creative marketing by referring to its new PC Card wireless modem as a "WiMAX-class" product. This product, which won't even be available until the second half of 2007, is not compatible with the WiMAX 802.16e standard and it never will be. Instead, it operates over Motorola's proprietary Expedience network, which Clearwire has deployed in 13 states. None of the five largest U.S. metro areas are covered by their network. We're hopeful that Clearwire and Sprint will achieve market success eventually with their WiMAX mobile broadband solution, providing much-needed competition for established wireless carriers. This newest offering may be worth a look if you live in one of the metro areas where service is available and you don't have significant needs for data access outside your home area. But most mobile business professionals will find that 3G service offerings available from AT&T, Sprint and Verizon offer comparable performance and much better coverage.

Dave Molta

Contributing Editor