This is the Tech We Never Thought We’d Want 20 Years Ago

In a new shift from the last several years of research, the most commonly owned technology in households this year were screen devices: TVs, smartphones and notebook PCs. TV ownership is virtually ubiquitous, as one would expect, with 96 percent of households reporting ownership, while smartphones (87 percent) are quickly approaching a similar level of adoption.

Notebook computer ownership has been helped by affordable pricing and new takes on the notebook computer, like Google’s Chromebook, among other factors, compelling more consumers to buy. And outside of these widely owned categories, newer products like smart speakers, media streaming devices and smartwatches are among the products exhibiting the fastest growth in adoption this year compared to last according to CTA’s recently released 20th Annual CT Ownership and Market Potential Study, our yearly tracking study measuring ownership and purchase intent across a range of consumer tech products.

#TBT (Throwback Technology)

Twenty years ago, consumers owned a vastly different line up of technology products. According to the First Annual Ownership and Market Potential Study published in 1998, the most commonly owned tech in consumer households were:

1. Color televisions
2. VCRs
3. Cordless telephones
4. Answering machines
5. Home CD players

TV ownership levels have changed very little since 1998. However, consumers were largely unfamiliar with high-definition picture quality and the flat screen display form factor back then. When respondents were asked when they expected to buy “a flat panel TV that hangs like a picture,” 60 percent of consumers polled in that first study said, “never.” This turned out to be more an indication of consumers’ lack of awareness than actual purchase interest (who doesn’t want a TV that hangs like a picture?) because by contrast, households today own an average of 2.7 HDTVs and many own displays larger than 50 inches.

Mobile phone ownership in 1998 was similarly interesting. A third of households reported owning a “cellular phone” and a quarter of those polled said they owned a pager. When asked when they might become interested in owning “a combination telephone with a screen to browse the internet,” 71 percent of respondents said, “never.”

To be fair, many were just getting used to the idea of the internet on a computer at this time and the use case for an internet connected cell phone was hard to envision without some idea of what it could be used for (for context, this question predates the invention of the Apple iPhone by nine years and HQ Trivia by 19).

More than anything, the list of commonly owned products from 1998 illustrates a significant evolution of consumer hardware. Advances in screen technology have turned color televisions into 4K Ultra High-Definition (UHD). VCRs have given way to 4K UHD enabled digital media streaming devices. Almost all of the products on the list can be replaced by a smartphone. The technology industry thrives on innovation with little use for nostalgia in developing products we as consumers don’t even know we need yet. One wonders what the next 20 years will bring.

This column originally appeared on the CTA Blog on June 25, 2018