Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

AI and smart homes: We may not notice the future

Security experts have always known that potential end users are not always ready for what is available to make their homes more secure. That dynamic often emerges from discomfort with what is new and unknown. Brad Russell, a research analyst at Parks Associates, based in Addison, Texas, describes that discomfort as “friction”—and he suggests that it has been around longer than we realize. Parks Associates is a market research company specializing in emerging consumer technology.

“New technology always comes with friction,” said Russell. From his perspective, however, the security industry has seen “a reduction in friction between technology and usage.”

The gap closes, he said, “If I can just call [my device] rather than use three or four buttons … now you’ve got the ‘wow and delight’ factor. It sounds cliché but it’s true—fun, easy, convenient.”

From the article "AI and smart homes: We may not notice the future" by Kenneth Z. Chutchian.
 

Previously In The News

OTT Churn Still High

By the end of 2015, it was reported that about 20% of U.S. broadband homes had shuttered their over-the-top video service subscriptions in the past twelve months. That’s a slight rise from the second...

Netflix's Distracting Buffering

Netflix had been considered relatively immune to price increases because a high percentage of its customers say they are very satisfied with the service. Just 9 percent of Netflix's customer base had...

Smart Home Products Moving To 50% Of Households By 2020

Some homes will be getting smart and others won’t. The latest forecast of North American broadband households shows that half of them will be smart homes within four years. Of course, this means...

Consumers Want Their Home And Car Connected To Each Other

This has potential implications for marketers, since advertising is more likely going to travel directly through car screens and speakers rather than through smartphones. Location added to the mix of...