Americans' Co-Dependent Relationship with Their Personal Computers
The results are in. Support.com recently conducted a study with Kelton Research that surveyed 1,000 Americans between the ages of 21 and 55 about their dependency on their technology.
The survey revealed how average Americans are fully intertwined with their technology and how PCs are central to every day life. It also shows that Americans are much more comfortable with remote tech support than every before.
Here are a few tidbits we learned from the survey:
- 84% of computer users say the contents of one’s computer is more telling of someone’s personality than what’s hidden inside their wallet.
- Americans are so attached to their computers that instead of losing personal files, they would rather be late to an important meeting, have a fight with their best friend, miss a job interview, have a credit card stolen or lose a wallet or purse.
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Americans rely on their personal computers to:
- Read the news (72%
- Use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter (69%)
- Chat online with loved ones (47%)
- Manage finances (66%)
- Listen to or purchase music (64%)
- Watch TV shows and movies (58%)
- Read books (21%)
- 56% worry that using social networking sites will make them more vulnerable to potential computer problems. 44% believe that online gaming will and communication features like Skype or chat rooms (32%) cause them to feel unprotected.
- Six in ten computer users are conscientious about running system diagnostics on their computer each year.
- When computer users need help, it can’t come from just anyone. They place knowledgeable, reliability and trustworthiness as the attributes they look for in a tech support expert.
- More users (48%) would prefer to have their PC restored through remote online support than setting up a home visit (33%) or dropping it off at a service center for repairs (20%).
About the Survey
Support.com's "Co-Dependency" study was conducted in May 2010 and involved 1000 nationally representative Americans between the ages of 21 and 55, with PCs and broadband Internet access. The survey results indicate a margin of error of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.
