Mobile is Most-Owned U.S. Gadget

Of what it calls the "seven key appliances of the information age," the mobile phone is far and away the device of choice for U.S. consumers, say researchers at the  Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

Fully 85 percent of Americans now own a cell phone, including 96 percent of people 18 to 29 years old.

About 76 percent of Americans own either a desktop or laptop computer as well. Since 2006, laptop ownership has grown dramatically (from 30 percent to 52 percent) while desktop ownership has declined slightly.

Just under half of American adults (47 percent) own an MP3 player such as an iPod, a nearly five-fold increase from the 11 percent who owned this type of device in early 2005, the Pew Research Center says.

Game consoles are nearly as common as MP3 players, as 42 percent of Americans own a home gaming device. Parents (64 percent) are nearly twice as likely as non-parents (33 percent) to own a game console.

Tablet computers and e-book readers, as you would expect, have not reached those levels of ownership, yet. However, these devices are proving popular with traditional early adopter groups such as the affluent and highly educated, the Pew Center reports.

Ownership rates for tablets and e-book readers among college graduates and those earning $75,000 or more per year are roughly double the national average.