Most Americans say mobile tech is a change for the better

While a majority of Americans offer a negative assessment of the previous decade as a whole, innovations in mobile technology, email and e-commerce are viewed as positive changes by most according to a new Pew Research Center survey. In particular, Millennials--i.e., Americans between the ages of 18 and 29--express a strongly favorable view of smartphones like iPhones and BlackBerry devices: 72 percent say those devices represent a change for the better, compared to 62 percent of respondents ages 30 to 49, 51 percent of respondents 50 to 64 and 33 percent of respondents 65 and over. For the public as a whole, 56 percent say smartphones are a change for the better, a quarter view them as a change for the worse and 12 percent say they made no difference. Sixty-five percent of Americans consider the Internet a force for positive change, another 65 percent embrace email and 54 percent champion online shopping.

As for social networking, 35 percent of Americans tell Pew researchers the services herald a change for the better, 21 percent believe they are a change for the worse and 31 percent indicate they have made no difference. Both Millennials and respondents ages 30 to 49 are ambivalent about social networking--45 percent of Americans in each demographic say sites like Facebook are a change for the better. Among those ages 50 to 64, 25 percent say social networking is a change for the better and 33 percent believe it is a change for the worse--among respondents 65 and older, 21 percent say social networking is a change for the better, 21 percent it's a change for the worse and 27 percent feel they have made no difference. About 31 percent did not supply an answer.

For more on the Pew Research Center survey:
- read this release