Age Group of Users for Pro1

[rejujacob 77]

It will be interesting to know the age groups of users of this Keyboard Phone. Generally older people maybe more interested as they can relate to this technology, as they may have either used it before or seen others use them. 

I do not expect many from the younger generation to buy this. But I would love to be proved wrong! 

[Hook 3,020]

As a 60+, I find it interesting that you had 5 year intervals and then 40+ 😂

[netman 1,424]

13 minutes ago, Hook said:

As a 60+, I find it interesting that you had 5 year intervals and then 40+ 😂

@rejujacob can't be that old himself since 40+ is implied to be "older" :D.
 

 

39 minutes ago, rejujacob said:

I do not expect many from the younger generation to buy this. But I would love to be proved wrong! 

I also thought so in the past, but on forum and discord there are some people who never owned a keyboard phone before even and age group seems all over the place 🙂. My bet is that the somewhat even distribution of the poll will not change much even when the amount of votes becomes meaningful.

[rejujacob 77]

9 minutes ago, netman said:

@rejujacob can't be that old himself since 40+ is implied to be "older" :D.

I also thought so in the past, but on forum and discord there are some people who never owned a keyboard phone before even and age group seems all over the place 🙂. My bet is that the somewhat even distribution of the poll will not change much even when the amount of votes becomes meaningful.

Unfortunately 40+ may mean that you are old! I am 50 🙂

Interesting trend at the moment with younger 18-24 group at the top alongwith 25-30 group.

[netman 1,424]

9 minutes ago, rejujacob said:

Unfortunately 40+ may mean that you are old! I am 50 🙂

Interesting trend at the moment with younger 18-24 group at the top alongwith 25-30 group.

36-40 being strangely scarce, if that stays I really wonder what the reasons are.

[Doktor Oswaldo 904]

4 minutes ago, netman said:

36-40 being strangely scarce, if that stays I really wonder what the reasons are.

The reason is: the sample size is too small...

[netman 1,424]

2 minutes ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

The reason is: the sample size is too small...

We do not know that yet, the sample size is too small to draw conclusions :D.

[Krzysieq 55]

This poll will be a lot more interesting if it's done only between the people who actually do end up buying the phone. Right now it looks like 50% of user base are <30 years old, which I find quite odd.

[cboehm91 14]

3 minutes ago, Krzysieq said:

This poll will be a lot more interesting if it's done only between the people who actually do end up buying the phone. Right now it looks like 50% of user base are <30 years old, which I find quite odd.

What's odd about it?

[theo.hallenius 31]

I bet a lot of <18 year olds don't know phones used to have a keyboard xD

[netman 1,424]

The 30+ people:

[Krzysieq 55]

I recently read about a study during which teenagers were given a "walkman" device and a stereo casette, and they were asked to make use of these items. Most of them didn't have a clue about how to work with them which was really amusing. Technology has been progressing at a frightening pace in recent years, and the demise of keyboard phones is just one symptom of that. I'd be really surprised if the Pro1 catered to market of people <30 years of age.

 

But I'm more than happy to be wrong for the sake of FXtec's marketing success and more forgotten designs being brought back to life on the back of that :)

Edited October 30, 2019 by Krzysieq

[Doktor Oswaldo 904]

2 hours ago, Krzysieq said:

I recently read about a study during which teenagers were given a "walkman" device and a stereo casette, and they were asked to make use of these items. Most of them didn't have a clue about how to work with them which was really amusing. Technology has been progressing at a frightening pace in recent years, and the demise of keyboard phones is just one symptom of that. I'd be really surprised if the Pro1 catered to market of people <30 years of age.

 

But I'm more than happy to be wrong for the sake of FXtec's marketing success and more forgotten designs being brought back to life on the back of that 🙂

Well technology evolves that is true, but often what we get an use is dictated by the profit of companies, not by technological Progression. A slab is just easier and cheaper to make. Often the best things are still hand crafted and out of wood. Technological progression is just the reason the big companies are selling us, but often it is economic progression not technological. The funny thing is, people always believe them. Keyboard has died because Touchscreens became better? Not really. Sure there was a technological progression needed, but the  Goal was not necessarily to improve phones.

An interesting example are Pinball machines. Williams/Bally also told everybody they had to close down the pinball segment because of video games. The truth is, they started doing slot machines in 1994. Which was way more profitable that pinball ever was. So they moved their programmers and designers over there.
Now 20 years later there are multiple manufacturers again. It is still niche but also young people play it.

If we are lucky FxTec does that to smartphones.

 

[Siani_8 105]

I keep checking back to see if my age group is 'winning' lol

[rejujacob 77]

33 minutes ago, Krzysieq said:

This poll will be a lot more interesting if it's done only between the people who actually do end up buying the phone. Right now it looks like 50% of user base are <30 years old, which I find quite odd.

It's not possible for us (except FxTec staff) to know if anyone has bought this phone or not, and as a forum member, anyone can participate. But most of us are here because we may like the technology or would like to own one or already placed the order. This is what is important and the poll should throw some light on the age segments.

[magicafternoon 38]

I'm at the high end of the 25-30 range.

I've seen the idea of the Pro1 trashed on other websites for not appealing to the "younger" crowd. That notion is complete nonsense as the Pro1 is a niche phone for a niche market (those who want physical keyboards), which isn't necessarily tied to the user's age.

I'm not at all surprised to see several people in the 18-24 range responded to the poll. The current polling seems to suggest a rather spread out distribution of age groups, further supporting the idea that the Pro1's niche market isn't all just "old people" like the cynics on those other sites have argued.

[ksal95 227]

I think what a lot of people tend to forget, is that the younguns

who were probably in their teens at the time, myself included

all had QWERTY feature phones while smartphones were still in their infancy.  😉

[EskeRahn 5,460]

56 minutes ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

Keyboard has died because Touchscreens became better? Not really. Sure there was a technological progression needed, but the  Goal was necessarily to improve phones.

Well the touch on the first touch screens was horrible bad - even started with pen only.

So I would claim that the touch keyboard is sufficient for a very large portion of users. Even on the Priv I did not always extend the keyboard for a very short text, And I do not on the Pro1 either. So for some a real keyboard is not  worth the extra weight size and price. For some it is absolutely worth it - and we are the target group.

[Doktor Oswaldo 904]

1 minute ago, EskeRahn said:

Well the touch on the first touch screens was horrible bad - even started with pen only.

So I would claim that the touch keyboard is sufficient for a very large portion of users. Even on the Priv I did not always extend the keyboard for a very short text, And I do not on the Pro1 either. So for some a real keyboard is not  worth the extra weight size and price. For some it is absolutely worth it - and we are the target group.

Ups that should mean "was not necessarily to improve phones"

[magicafternoon 38]

14 minutes ago, ksal95 said:

I think what a lot of people tend to forget, is that the younguns

  Reveal hidden contents

who were probably in their teens at the time, myself included

all had QWERTY feature phones while smartphones were still in their infancy.  😉

I was 18 years old when the first iPhone was released. I thought it was a terrible device even back then. I spent my undergraduate years with Samsung Galaxy models. Even after nearly 12 years of slab smartphone use I never grew to love the keyboard on the touchscreen. So I'm here now patiently waiting for the Pro1 to save me from my aging Galaxy slab😏

[ksal95 227]

Just now, magicafternoon said:

I was 18 years old when the first iPhone was released. I thought it was a terrible device even back then. I spent my undergraduate years with Samsung Galaxy models. Even after nearly 12 years of slab smartphone use I never grew to love the keyboard on the touchscreen. So I'm here now patiently waiting for the Pro1 to save me from my aging Galaxy slab😏

I never had a QWERTY smartphone, only feature/dumb phones.  I wanted a Droid R2D2 at the time, my mom wanted the Galaxy S3 and said either you upgrade with me or don't upgrade at all.  So me not realizing QWERTY's were on their way out, upgraded. 

 

I regret it to this day 

[elvissteinjr 359]

Closing in on the outer edge of the 18 - 24 option, but still there.
Something to keep in mind for all age groups is that there's... let's say the average person and but also the nerds. The latter might not apply to 100% of us here, but many I'd guess.  There are also many people in the higher age groups who are totally tech-illiterate... but I guess they're kind of dying out slowly over time now. No offense, old men.

I don't get people who can do all their computing with just a phone or tablet... though I heard they exist. Everyone else should at least be using a hardware keyboard on some device and be able to decide for themselves if they want something like that on their phone, regardless of age.

But yeah, I don't expect the "cool" teens to be here either. That's not all of them though.

[Cemorayniss 3]

One of the reasons it might appeal to the under 30s (and I am under 30 although this is not the reason I am waiting impatiently for my phone) 

 

We had (mid 20 year olds) physical keyboard cellphones as some of our first cell phones. I had the LG rumour, I had a sidekick, blackberry's were the coolest thing you could have for awhile. 

 

Just saying. 

[Keyahnig 80]

42 minutes ago, elvissteinjr said:

Closing in on the outer edge of the 18 - 24 option, but still there.
Something to keep in mind for all age groups is that there's... let's say the average person and but also the nerds. The latter might not apply to 100% of us here, but many I'd guess.

I totally agree. I'm at the lower end of the 18 - 24 spectrum and never used a keyboard phone before (except trying out some Blackberries in stores). I always used slabs.

I always wanted a keyboard phone but never got one. I was to young when there were any and later they kinda disappeared. At first I wanted to get the Priv but then I decided against it because of some bad reviews. The KeyOne/2 was never an option because of it's weird aspect ratio. So when I heard of the Pro1, I pre-ordered it within a few days.

51 minutes ago, elvissteinjr said:

But yeah, I don't expect the "cool" teens to be here either. That's not all of them though.

Most people I showed it to thought it was really cool but they wouldn't buy it because it's too expensive or they just didn't care.

[epninety 87]

From the quantity and quality of posts on the various general whining threads here and on t.m.o, I would have put money on the winning category being "~12"