The latest federal statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are telling us that cellphones are quickly becoming the communications medium of choice in U.S. households. According to this news piece, almost half of U.S. consumers – over 47% to be exact – are cutting the cord on landlines. Another 42% are still using both. And the days of having just a landline seem to be dwindling (a mere 8%).
You may ask yourself why in the world the CDC is offering up numbers on mobile device usage. Here’s an interesting side story that answers that question. It turns out that in 2003, they realized telephone-based surveys were missing an increasing number of survey respondents as they switched to cellphones. So they wanted to find out more about this population and their health characteristics as part of their overall mandate, which meant they had a front row seat for tracking cellphone usage in homes as their database grew.
But here’s one intriguing item of interest that has come out of this: wireless-only users are more likely to smoke, binge drink, and be uninsured. In other words, they’re more likely to engage in risky behaviors.
So we’d love to hear your thoughts on that one: Why do you think mobile users are bigger risk takers?
By the Cel-Fi Team