Libraries Draw in Young People

By Nick Mokey Published December 30, 2007

Libraries Draw in Young People

Even in an age of widely available Wi-Fi, ultracompact laptops, and constantly plummeting tech prices, it appears that libraries continue to be a major source of information for young Americans. A new survey by the the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that Generation Y, Americans aged 18 to 30, are actually the biggest users of libraries, despite popular conceptions of young people shirking libraries for the Internet.

The study attempted to find exactly where people turn with problems and questions, and ended up revealing that 40 percent of Gen Yers choose the library. Of Americans 30 and older, only 20 percent would use library resources to solve a problem, making Gen Yers twice as likely to use them.

Recommended Videos

Conventional wisdom suggested that Generation Y would show less interest in what could be seen as a relic of the pre-Internet age, leaving researchers caught off guard by their own findings. “Generation Y going to the library… is so counterintuitive to our cultural notion or expectation of this age group," Lee Rainie, one of the study’s authors, told TechNewsWorld. “Especially considering all the gadgets they have and their expectation of Internet access.”

Editor in Chief

As Digital Trends’ Editor in Chief, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team covering every gadget under the sun, along with…

Smart Home

Google Assistant is now used by half a billion people around the world

google-assistant-ces-2020

This story is part of our continuing coverage of CES 2020, including tech and gadgets from the showroom floor.
The popularity of smart assistants continues to grow and Google announced a major milestone: More than 500 million people use Google Assistant on a daily basis. Google also announced several new features that will make the Assistant even more powerful and functional in the year to come.
The first major announcement is a feature Google is calling Scheduled Actions. With this feature, users can ask Google to perform a task at a specific time. For example, someone could say, “Hey, Google, turn on the front porch light at 6 p.m.” Google also added more device access within the Home app with up to 20 new entries including air conditioning units and air purifiers.
Another new feature is called Household Notes. This feature is limited to smart displays and allows users to leave digital sticky notes on the screen as reminders to yourself or to anyone else in the home. If you fed the dog, you can leave a note for your spouse letting them know. It’s as simple as saying, “Hey, Google, leave a note that says I fed the dog.”
A third feature is the speed dial feature. The name is self-explanatory. Household contacts can be reached just by asking Google to call them or by selecting their name on the smart display’s contact list.
Google aims to make interacting with Google Assistant a better experience, and one of the ways the company has done this is by improving the way Google Assistants sounds. As a result, Google launched a new feature for reading long-form content in a more natural way. Users will be able to use the feature by saying, “Hey, Google, read this page” or “Hey, Google, read it.” Not only does this feature have applications for productivity, but it also allows Google Assistant to be used in more ways by those with vision impairment.
Finally, Google improved its security features to make them more accessible to users. Users can ask Google to delete everything they said to it this week and how Google keeps information private. Now, however, Google announced two new security features. They can say, “Hey Google, that wasn’t for you,” which causes the system to forget what it heard in case of unintended activation. Users can also ask “Hey, Google, are you saving my audio data?” to learn more about privacy controls and go straight to the settings screen to change privacy settings.
To stay up to date on CES, follow our live blog.

Branded Content

Tesla Powerwall is the best solar, home backup, and EV charging companion

Tesla Powerwall 3 installed on outside of home

Solar power, and having solar panels on your home, is a fantastic way to conserve energy and cut down on power bills, especially if you live somewhere sunny like Florida or California. There's just one glaring issue. When the grid goes down you still lose power because of how it's connected. Your solar panels cannot generate enough energy or keep it stored to keep your power on. So, essentially, your power setup doesn't offer much benefit there, unless you get a home power backup system. More specifically, something like a Tesla Powerwall is a compact home battery that stores energy generated from the grid. That energy is then used as a backup when traditional grid power is unavailable.

To make it even more clear, with a Tesla Powerwall, the power stays on even during a major blackout or outage. It's whole-home backup, too, which means you can power your lights, appliances, electronics, you name it. If you've ever had to throw away an entire refrigerator's worth of spoiled food because of a multi-day outage -- like I have -- you'll certainly appreciate the option to keep your appliances running. But that's not all it can do. The Tesla Powerwall is an excellent companion for Tesla EV owners, creating an entire smart ecosystem of power. Let's explore.

Smart Home

Air fryer or cordless vacuum, you choose: Two deep Black Friday discounts worth shopping

Levoit LVAC-200 cordless vacuum in use with pet nearby

Going down probably as two of the most random, unique contenders for smart home and Black Friday deals in a mashup together, we have the COSORI TurboBlaze Air Fryer and LEVOIT LVAC-200 Cordless Vacuum. One will cook your food fast and crispy the other will clean your home fast and effectively. Why not, right? You could even throw some food into the air fryer and get to cleaning while it heats up with the vacuum. Okay, maybe it really is an excellent combo. Nevertheless, these Black Friday discounts will have you a little more excited than normal, let's take a closer look.

COSORI TurboBlaze Air Fryer -- now $88, was $120 26% off