Tech Talk Intimidates

Not using your Bluetooth-equipped handheld to schedule your TiVo? Think MP3 is a rock band? Consumers don't invest in products they don't understand--and many potential buyers find the vocabulary of PC technology bewildering, according to a new study.

If people think technology is too complex, they simply won't buy it, according to the Technology Terminology and Complexity Study released by chip maker AMD's Global Consumer Advisory Board. The survey polled 1535 respondents, 58 percent of them from the United States.

Intimidated Buyers

Concern about setup time for new PCs and tech gadgets is a major theme. Nearly half of those polled (46 percent) "don't want to buy anything that is complicated to set up," and 62 percent "wish to have things work and not spend time setting up."

Many of the respondents reported delaying their tech purchases due to the products' perceived complexity. Of this group, 44 percent strongly agree that computers are confusing to use. Thirty-nine percent of the timid buyers have the same impression about consumer electronics.

GCAB's survey differentiated the most-knowledgeable consumers from the technology novices through a vocabulary test. Most respondents defined 7 or more of the 11 terms correctly, and were deemed tech-savvy.

But even those savvy shoppers are shying away from digital cameras, PCs, and personal digital assistants; they rated items in those three categories as the most complicated tech products.

Thirty-six percent of the technologically knowledgeable buyers say they will delay purchasing a PC because of the product's complexity. Among the "least knowledgeable" according to the poll, 54 percent say they're too bewildered to buy a PC.

Roughly half of all respondents--at any degree of technological sophistication--feel the same way about buying a digital camera, the study shows. Of them, 50 percent of the knowledgeable buyers and 47 percent of the novices let their fears delay their digital camera purchases. Also, 40 percent of the tech-savvy buyers and 51 percent of the less-knowledgeable shoppers are intimidated about PDA purchases.

In contrast, just 6 percent of respondents overall say they find telephones or microwave ovens daunting.

Talking Tech

But as prospective buyers understand technical terms better, they adopt high-tech products more quickly, the study also finds.

Technology companies spend more than $10 billion a year on advertising in the United States, notes Patrick Moorhead, AMD's vice president of consumer advocacy and GCAB chair.

"We really have to question how much of that is coming through," Moorhead says.

Only 3 percent of the respondents aced the survey's multiple-choice tech vocabulary test. Test-takers struggled with terms like "DPI," "megapixel," "megahertz," and even "Web browser." Moorhead quips, "We're asking Webster's to remove 'megahertz' from the dictionary."

Although respondents named the digital camera the most complicated tech device, they may have undersold their knowledge; "megapixel" scored in the top half for recognizability. The PDA and the home PC, tied for second in terms of perceived complexity, have clearer associations with the least-known tech terms.

Fewer than half of the respondents could identify "WAP" as "a global standard for developing applications over wireless communications networks" or "Bluetooth" as "a way to connect products to one another without using wires." Only 62 percent of respondents identified "MP3" as audio compression technology, 65 percent identified "DPI" as "a measure of resolution of printers, scanners and monitors," and 65 percent defined "megahertz" as a unit of measurement "used to compare the clock speeds of microprocessors."

Less than a third of all respondents understood "Digital Video Recorder" or "DVR" as "a box that records and plays television programs," making it the least-recognized term among all surveyed.

"There are many great information sources that can help people sort through this quagmire," Moorhead says. However, he places the burden not on the buyer but on the seller. "The industry needs to use terms that connote the benefits the products provide."