Saturday, September 25, 2004

Seema Sachdeva checks out the latest gadgets and gizmos the young hanker after. The ‘want list’ of the have-it-all-now generation includes digicams, home theatre systems, projection TVs, LCD panels and, of course, the hottest in mobile phones.

• A mobile phone with camera, a home theatre with prologic and surround sound system, a digital video camera, and digital diary are included in the list of "must have’s" which Sidhant has prepared for his 17th birthday.

• For 15-year-old Daman, a mobile phone, a high-powered music system in car and an MP3 player are a must for being considered the "cool-dude" among friends. He carries his father’s mobile phone when he goes out with friends.

• When 19-year-old Shikha got a job, she bought for herself a mobile phone with camera from her first salary. According to her, owning the latest mobile phone was a big confidence booster.

GONE are the days when teenagers were happy with a pocket allowance of Rs 10. With the changing times, the phrase "simple living, high thinking" seems to have undergone a change. The mantra of this new breed of youngsters is to own hi-fi gadgets. Nothing less than a mobile phone with GPRS (where one can send e-mail through mobile phones), phones with camera and LCD (liquid crystal display) screens will satisfy. With access to such expensive gadgets at so early an age, these youngsters are already in a fast-forward mode.

Nineteen-year-old Harjot, a student of BA-I, has been using a mobile phone since he was in +1. He, however, feels that a mobile phone is not just an accessory but a necessity these days. Out of 25 students in his class, more than 15 own mobile phones.

Sixteen-year-old Sahil, who aims to become a film director, owns a communicator, an MP3 player, a CD headphone, a digicam. He says it makes a difference among your friends if you own these gizmos. He says when he got a Nokia communicator for his 16th birthday, all his friends went wow! He admits that sometimes he has to cajole his parents to buy him these things. His parents usually put some condition before him. When he fulfils the same, he gets the gadget as a reward. Sahil had pressurised his parents to buy him a computer since all his friends owned computers.

Daman, who is a student of St Stephen’s School, says almost 50 per cent of the students in his class own mobile phones. Almost 40 per cent bring their parents’ mobile phones. Daman reveals that girls are also impressed by guys who own such gadgets.

Aggressive marketing

Since those in the age bracket of 15 and 25 years are the main users of these gadgets, there has been an aggressive marketing by various companies aiming to rope in the youth. This is evident from the competitive airtime charges, combined with the steadily plummeting handset prices, which have already brought cell phones within the reach of most of the youngsters. Most of the companies have introduced concepts such as latest ring tones, remixes, Bollywood teen, romance, travel, finance, cricket, unlimited chat which click with the young.

According to Scott Ellison, programme director of the International Data Corporation’s Wireless and Mobile Communications service, the teenagers and the young adults are the most likely to let mobile phones replace their secondary lines much faster than other age groups. He says offerings such as the "exact Internet chat experience", mChat, aims to hook the under-25 youth, who use the Net primarily for e-mailing and chatting. Targeting young adults, various telecom companies are offering facilities like wireless chat mode, he adds.

Motorola has tied up with EMI Music to promote its newly launched E398 music phone. The music company will launch a specially designed CD called Motomix, featuring popular remixes of disk jockey Aqeel. Similarly, keeping with the current trend of bright colourful displays on mobile phones, Siemens has launched the C60 mobile phone. This entry-level model devoid of all the bells and whistles is targeted at teenagers.

Rohit Arora, channel executive at Reliance Infocomm, says that the 16 to 28 years age group is the major clientele base for mobile phones. Keeping in mind this group, the company has introduced features like in-built modem for accessing internet, online facility of mobile banking, music channels, news, cricket clippings, score of cricket ball by ball and movie clips. The number of handsets going to the younger lot is very high. More than 65 per cent of the handsets are being purchased by the youngsters and the rest go to both the middle aged and elderly people, he adds.

State-of-the-art gizmos

While a mobile phone is the most popular gadget, the youngsters also want to possess the state-of-the-art audio video systems, digicams, handycams.

Twentyeight-year-old Amit, practising as a lawyer, is passionate about his Digital Light Processor (DLP) projector which had cost him Rs 1.5 lakh. He had spent another Rs 1 lakh on the 5.1 surround sound system.

On spending so exorbitantly, he says watching a movie on a 20-foot wall in the comfort of the home is lot better than stacking away the money in a bank. He says his friends often drop in at his place to watch a football or cricket match when one is being held.

Nineteen-year-old Saurabh, a tennis player, purchased a handycam to gauge his performance. So while he plays, he gets himself video filmed and later checks what improvements he can make in his game. He also owns a laptop computer, which is mainly to access Internet and remain abreast of the latest even when he is out participating in tournaments. He had also purchased a portable DVD for $500 from Singapore.

According to Rishabh Saxena, sales representative at Samsung DigitAllhome, those in the age group of 15 to 30 is their major customer base for the latest products. In fact, often the youngsters are the decision makers when it comes to buying products like music systems, home theatre or handycams. Since they have information about the latest products, they often tend to have a major say in the dealings rather the parents who are quite unaware of the latest offerings. Most often the parents are there only to pay for the immensely expensive gadgets.

He says it is the techno-savvy youth who go in for higher end products like projection TV sets, LCD panels and Plazma TVs. With music systems costing between 7,000 and 45,000, it is finally the parents on whom these youngsters have to depend, says Rishabh.

Often the youngsters prefer cameras with picture moderation, DVDs with mega bass, Dolby prologic and surround sound, televisions with integrated woofer speaker system. To lure the younger lot, the company often wooed them by providing freebies and gifts such as Nike shirts or certain accessories for handycam, he reveals.

Ritesh Sood of Sony World echoes a similar view when he says that while the elder generation went in for products which had been there in the market for long, the youngsters often tried experimenting with the latest brands. Rather than going in for analogue handycams which cost around Rs 20,000, they preferred digital handycam since these were computer compatible and could be made into a CD, he says.

Moreover, since the prices of digital cameras have been slashed from Rs 42,000 to 25,000 this year, there are more buyers. With the fall in the rates of projection television sets from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1.3 lakh, the young often cajole their parents to buy the same, says Ritesh. According to him, while the average sales of projection TV sets till last year was one in a month, it has increased to four to five pieces a month this year. And it was all thanks to the youngsters who get their parents to buy these products, he observes.

Mobile mania

Since the high end products are mostly out of the reach of youngsters, they have to depend upon their parents for pooling in money. Mobile phones, being cheaper as compared to other gadgets, take the lead in being popular among the young.

Twenty-year-old Namita Sachdeva, a student of MA English at Panjab University, says mobile phones are both a necessity as well as a style statement. Besides keeping in touch with friends, a cell phone adds to convenience with features like calculator, camera and task reminders.

Monica, a law student, says in her class of nearly 60 students, more than 98 per cent carried mobile phones to classrooms. However, it is mandatory for them to either switch off their cell phones or put these in the vibrator mode before entering the class.

Life for Tanya Manhas from Roorkee and Jiya Palta from Pathankot at Panjab University hostel became a lot more easier after they bought mobile phones. They say mobile phones have become a part of their lives. It is a relief, they say, that they do not have to stand in long queues to call up their families back home.

However, there are others like Ridhi who feel that as students they do not need mobile phones. Ridhi, who is doing MA-English from Panjab University, says a cell phone is more of a nuisance since it cuts down your freedom. You can be easily reached even when you want to be alone. It is merely for showing off that most of the youngsters carry cell phones. They do not use it for any productive purpose but merely for sending SMS to friends.

Dr Vijay Nagpal, Reader, Department of Laws, calls a mobile phone a necessary evil. He says when a cell phone rings while he is teaching the class, the thought process gets disturbed. It is, however, essential so that the students remain in touch with their families. But bringing such expensive gadgets to an educational institution can cause inferiority complex among those who cannot afford to buy such gadgets. He advocates some kind of check on their outlandish display.

Peer pressure

For most of these youngsters, owning a particular gadget is not based on need, but a matter of being in tune with the times. The standard has been set. This may hold fine for well-off families. However, peer pressure often causes these youngsters to rebel against their parents when they refuse to buy them these expensive gadgets. Not to be left behind in the race, they would go to any extent to coerce their parents to buy them the same.

Eighteen-year-old Vikramjit, who comes from a middle class family, refused to eat unless his parents bought him a personal cell phone. Finally his parents had to relent and they bought for him a Nokia6600 for Rs 16,300 on instalments.

Parents of 19-year-old Monica had to face a similar problem when they asked her what she wanted as a reward when she scored exceptionally well in her class. An i-mate was her prompt reply. This put them in a fix as an i-mate pocket PC phone edition costs around Rs 45,000.

Those from the lower rung, too, have been influenced by this hype. Sixteen-year-old Sonu, who goes to a school in the morning and works as a domestic help in the evening, too aspires to own a mobile phone and an MP3 player.

Dr Prahbhjot Malhi, psychologist and Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, PGI, says except for mobile phones which have become very affordable, it is a very small section of the society that goes in for high end products. More often than not in most of the cases, the parents are showing off by proxy. When they buy their child a particular gadget, they want to show that they can afford. However, sometimes parents tend to buy their children gadgets under pressure from them. This kind of irresponsible parenting can harm the child in the long run, she adds.

Whether access to mobile phones, computers and other such gadgets at so early an age is good or bad would be difficult to say. What is evident is the trend of youngsters wanting to own these gadgets much before they actually need them.