First, the use of the word "cause". Does the iPhone beam mind control rays directly into the brain of users "causing" them to talk less? Or, just perhaps, is it a self selecting sample where people who want to go to the internet and play games are more likely to buy an iPhone than just a generic cell phone? Thus the user's desire to access the web is the cause and the purchase of the iPhone is the effect.
Second "iPhone users talk on their phones about 45% of the time they use it versus 70% for cell phone users" does not mean they are talking less. It means that a lower percentage of their usage is for voice. They could be talking more minutes and accessing the internet a LOT more, thus having a lower percentage of talk usage. If you get a phone with a long antenna shaped like a back scratcher and spend 0.1% of your time scratching your back, does that mean you are talking less or just using part of your total time for scratching?
For me—someone that NEVER plays games—my talk time dramatically dropped when I started using the iPhone. Maybe anecdotal, but that is the way it is for me. I txt, or email rather than talk. The iPhone readily provides me with so much info that I guess I have much less need to call.
I find that it’s true that iPhone users do use the iPhone less for talking, at least in my own limited experience and limited contacts. So, to find that someone has looked into that, over a wide range of people — does confirm what I’ve found out on my own.
And that’s not surprising for the functionality that the iPhone has overall, which actually does *cause* and *contribute* to lower phone usage, because of that other functionality that takes the place of the phone usage....
It actually makes it more pleasant for people to have an iPhone as opposed to those other phones out there....
If you run the math, iPhone people talk 27 minutes. Other cell phone talk 28 minutes. OMG! Stop the presses!