Net Prophet 2010 – The Sophisticat, the Elephant, and the Secret of the Digital Native (By Arthur Goldstuck)

Arthur is an award-winning writer, analyst and commentator on Internet, mobile and business and consumer technologies. He heads the World Wide Worx research organisation, leading groundbreaking research into how change is affecting businesses large and small. Clients of the research include South Africa’s major financial institutions and corporations, Government departments and agencies, and international organisation.

“21st century children are different when it comes to the Internet and computers…allegedly”

“Do you want to sell apps all your life or do you want to change the world?”

A summary of Arthur’s presentation:

• World Wide Worx conducts primary research into IT and telecoms, Internet, mobile technologies, technology in business strategy and SNE success factors.
• When mobile Internet was really big: The Declaration of November 2008; The War of Net Prophet 2009; The negotiations; The Peace Treaty; The definitions.
• The mobile Internet defined:
  1. Tier 1: The WAP Internet (14 million +)
  2. Tier 2: The Mobile Application Internet (10 million +)
  3. Tier 3: Mobile Web Browsing(4 million +)
• “Hunting elephants”: The study of the use of mobile Internet in SA – 3 key dimensions in the market was used: age, spend on cellphones and sophistication. The result was that the biggest spenders are the least sophisticated (“Elephants) – 20% of users account for more than 40% spend; the ‘sophisticats’ are after ease of use – they stick with what they know and look for the next big thing; Elephants want maximum performance from their phone (widest range of phones, focus on Nokia). The target market for new mobile Internet tech is the Sophisticats – A significant increase in use for specialised tasks (IM, browsing, downloading apps), when compared to Elephants.
• You can argue as much as you like about the mobile web, but your real market for digital content and data-intensive apps are the Sophisticats.
• The Digital Gap:20% of township kids advanced in general PC usage, 85% in private schools;42% of kids in township advanced in general use of Windows, 85% in private schools.
• The reasons for this gap is as follows:

1. Are support structures existent of non-existent? Parents are in the exact same position, and have the same knowledge as their kids.
2. Private school teachers who think the kids they are teaching are advanced: 53% (This same misunderstanding is held amongst parents).
3. 30% of township kids are advanced in general Internet usage, with 82% in private schools. Only 51% of private school teachers are advanced in general Internet usage (and think their kids are on the same level).

• The cell phone is the new playground and the great leveler when it comes to the Digital Gap.
• The big secret is Digital Peer Group Learning – The youth buys into the digital tech when their peers buy into it. It’s not about your age, it’s about your digital peer group!

• Conclusion: All this leaves us with the question: What are you going to do about it? Do you want to sell apps all your life, or do you want to change the world?

Tags: net prophet

Category: Net Prophet 2010