The bar chart illustrates the proportions of people in four age groups who used four types of electronic devices, namely smartphones, tablets, laptops and e-readers, in 2008.
Overall, smartphones and tablets were considerably more popular among younger people, whereas e-readers were overwhelmingly preferred by the oldest group. Laptop use showed the opposite pattern, being relatively uncommon among the youngest participants but considerably more prevalent among older age groups.
Looking first at the youngest and oldest groups, smartphone use was by far the most common among 12-24-year-olds, at 68%, compared with just 8% among those aged over 76. A similar pattern can be seen in tablet use, although the difference was smaller, with the corresponding figures standing at 30% and 3%, respectively. By contrast, laptops and e-readers were barely used by the youngest group, at only 2% and 1%. Among people aged over 76, however, the pattern was reversed, with 28% using laptops and 61% using e-readers.
Turning to the two middle-aged groups, smartphones remained the most widely used device among those aged 25-50, at 42%, closely followed by tablets at 40%. The figures for these two devices were lower among 51-75-year-olds, at 31% and 21%, respectively. Laptop use, however, showed the reverse trend, rising substantially from 10% in the 25-50 group to 41% among those aged 51-75. E-readers remained relatively unpopular among both groups, accounting for approximately 5% and 4%, respectively.