What’s the best way to market the latest technology? Make it look fashionable of course.

The excitement of Apple’s new iPad set many hearts a-flutter.  Financially, it is predicted to be another Apple money spinner. 

Industry analysts Gartner Research expect the iPad to inject rocket fuel into the sleepy tablet PC market once it actually goes on sale at the end of March, boosting tablet sales from 1 to 9 million by the end of the year.

But how many so-called gadget fans are really in it for the technology?  Are some more concerned with image over function, perhaps ageing Baby Boomers wanting trendy gadgets to stave off looking middle aged?

A survey of over 500 users by global news website OneNewsPage asked if some gadgets such as iPhones and Playstations look inappropriate in the hands of older consumers.

It’s worth noting that most who took part in OneNewsPage’s survey were strongly into their technology.

Forty four per cent of respondents claimed they ‘always’ buy the latest gadgets as soon as they go on sale.

But it was a close contest on the question of age.  Fifty two per cent agreed that keeping up with latest gadgets is a sign of desperation, while 48% disagreed. 

Over half (55%) felt gadgets were like clothes, and consumers needed to buy the right ones for their age.

Indeed, 63% felt that once a person turns 40, no gadget is ever going to make them look ‘cool’.  

The survey found that 44% agreed with the statement that people over 40 on a Playstation was “plain wrong”.  And 40% felt similarly about the over 40s using iPhones.

Meanwhile, research from Microsoft Advertising has laid bare the depth of British men’s love affair with technology.

The report, entitled ‘PFM Unplugged’, reveals that the UK’s Pre-Family Men (PFM) – young males who have completed their education but not yet started a family – are heavily engaged in technology and always online.

PFM are interacting with technology in some way during every waking hour (anyone who has a boyfriend knows that). They are the first generation to have grown up with the internet, and with the majority (99%) claiming to go online either every day or nearly every day and half using their mobile phones to do so.

The research shows that they are increasingly reliant on the Internet for entertainment, information and communication, with 80% going so far as to state that they would be lost without it.

In fact, the internet is the technology 57% of PFM are most attached to, closely followed by mobile phones (49%) and TV (46%).

PFM are apparently never ‘doing nothing’, and even downtime is filled by some activity, more often than not facilitated by technology. It’s also often also the first thing they think about when they wake up with a quarter of PFM admitting to checking their email and 18% looking at social networking sites  on their mobile phone before they get out of bed in the morning.

Despite the popularity of social networks and the perception that traditional social email is dying, email remains the most valued online tool amongst PFM, with 52% of respondents rating it above all others (compared with 25% for search and 12% for social networking sites) and 87% stating their use of email had stayed the same or increased over the last year. 94% use email at least once per day, compared with 60% that go on to a social network.

Technology is fuelling the blurring of work and play as modes of behaviour overlap. While 43% of the men surveyed admitted occasionally browsing the internet during afternoons at work, PFM is also checking his work email in the evenings, on his way to and from work and before he gets out of bed in the morning.

Online video content is an important source of entertainment for PFM and it’s no longer just limited to short clips- 73% of PFMs will watch video-on-demand (VOD) at least once a week  with nearly half watching full length TV programs.  Catching up on TV shows they’ve missed and watching archive shows were the main drivers to viewing online and the majority (59%) viewed on a laptop.

The ‘PFM Unplugged’ report from Microsoft Advertising also provides advertisers with a series of recommendations on how they may reach and engage with PFM based on the insights uncovered in the research. You can download it here.