Storage Matters

Taking into account that nearly 80 percent of U.S. households own a PC—along with the increasing ubiquity of cell phones, digital cameras and MP3 players—it would seem consumers are swimming in a sea of digital content. Today, the average online adult owns nearly 1,800 digital files, with an increase of 1,000 per user expected next year. In light of this explosion of content, the question of how consumers store their digital files grows more important each day.

The typical storage device is now measured in hundreds of gigabytes, compared with the megabytes of only a few short years ago. A PC usually comes equipped with a 250GB hard drive, as opposed to the 100MB capacity models from the early 90s.

A crucial component of understanding consumer behavior—and the associated market potential—is to ascertain whether consumers consider the protection of digital storage a priority. CEA’s new study, Amassing Digital Fortunes: A Digital Storage Study, assesses several key factors regarding content protection: the types and quantities of digital files consumers are storing; how consumers store their files; the general level of satisfaction with current storage solutions; and the present and future challenges that exist with current storage solutions.