Panels with groups of real users are an interesting fixture at Web 2.0; I really enjoyed the teens back in 2005. This year, six baby boomers.

A mix of experience; from a woman who has been using the internet for about a year to a man who has been online for over a decade.

What search engines do you use?

Google, Yahoo!, Ask (in that order of preference).

“And craigslist”

Google is ‘easier’ because there are ‘less graphics’. Also works very well for maps.

Interesting perception of the appearance of ads in search results… panellists believe there are paid ads embedded in the results… and they don’t like them.

Also not keen on ads on web pages.

Do you ever click on the ads?

Yes, but not often. (’not often’ is probably often enough for the advertisers!)

A perception that having too many ads on a page leads them to simply ignore all of them… That makes sense; I wonder if there are figures to back that up?

What is your relationship with craigslist?

“I love it”

“Addiction”

“I just can’t stop reading… I’m so much more educated because of craigslist”

“I look at it every day”

“I couldn’t live without my cellphone or craigslist”

Would you pay for craigslist?

Yup - $10-20 or more a month

Have you heard of…?

Myspace? all

Facebook - most

Slide - a few

Joost - two

Wikipedia - most

Yell - most

delicious - none

YouTube - most

digg - none

Zillow - about half.

What comes to your mind when I mention…?

Google - helpful, information, a wonderful culture, maps, news, money, way too powerful, they could save your life, interesting, useful

Microsoft - most important company for software, they’ve always been there, you can’t use anything else on a PC, Microsoft is great

Yahoo! - hmm… “I believe they just eliminated their photo storage”, “their mail service… I go to open it up in the morning, and get hit by an ad”

Apple - understated sometimes, iPhone

Moving on to cellphones… do any of you use them for anything other than making/receiving calls?

Texting… We find out on our cellphone that we’ve got an email…

What’s your biggest beef about the internet?

Pop-up ads. information overload (“sometimes I put a word in, and I get a whole bunch of stuff”)

Tell me what the Internet is for you…

“It’s a way of life” There’s so much out there. It’s going to something directly.

“We can’t live without it”

“It’s the convenience of being able to communicate with family and friends… even to another country”

“Convenience of shopping at home”

“It’s a resource. It’s a way to communicate. Thanks Craig”

What about fun? Do you have fun on the Internet?

YouTube.

Do you use NetFlix?

Some do. Some don’t. One just cancelled it.

“A little cumbersome” Rent movies on demand over cable/satellite instead…

“Easier” to go to Blockbuster.

What about music? Have you downloaded music?

“Yes - visit a lot of sites. Buy music online.”

“Like listening to international music from other countries…”

“My kids taught me how to download onto an mp3 player”

e-Commerce - other than craigslist, where else do you shop?

eBay. “an endless supply of everything”

OverStock.com.

How much of your christmas shopping will you do online?

About 30%

50%

This will be my first year, but I’ll do most of my shopping on the internet. The malls are mostly for teenage kids now.

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