Posted on 09/14/2006 7:37:16 AM PDT by qam1
If you had to choose between your PC, TV set or mobile phone, which one would you pick?
That was one of the questions researcher Forrester posed to almost 4800 households in the US and, although the TV set still ruled the roost in most homes, the study showed that it was no longer the top gadget of choice among the young and prosperous.
Forrester found that less than 20 per cent of the gen Y group (aged 18-26) ranked TVs top compared with the 37 per cent who rated their PCs as the most important. A further 27 per cent preferred their mobile phones, while the remainder nominated other gadgets.
Among the older gen X age group (27-40) only a quarter of respondents gave their TV set the highest rating against a more substantial 28 per cent who preferred their PCs, with only 19 per cent nominating their mobile phone.
Those earning above $US75,000 ($100,000) a year also had a marked preference for their PCs with 32 per cent electing them as their favourite devices compared with the 27 per cent who nominated their TVs. However most of those earning under $US75,000 still preferred their TVs.
TVs also triumphed among older age groups, and they claimed top spot overall with nearly a third (32 per cent) of all those surveyed still nominating them as the most important device in their lives, compared with 21 per cent who preferred their PCs (desktop or laptop). Mobile phones, meanwhile, ranked third as the must-have device for only one in seven.
Forrester said: "It's inevitable that TVs' long reign as the most important device in consumers' lives will come to a close as computers, cell phones and other connected devices transfer control over entertainment, communications, media and creativity to consumers."
But with 54 per cent of homes expected to own an HDTV by 2011, the researcher added: "The TV set isn't dead, it's just shifting to become only one of many devices that advertisers, content owners and distributors and media companies should live with in the TV present while preparing for the PC and cell phone future."
I thought I was the only one subjected to so much Sponge Bob and Fairly Odd Parents. I hate to say it, but sometimes I find myself mildly entertained.
I'm not a big fan of the commercials, so we try to record them so my daughter can skip them. She has become quite the commercial skipper with the commercial skip button on our DVD-RAM recorder.
You're not missing much. ESPN has plopped a big 'ol scoreboard thingy right smack dab in the middle of the screen.
Irritating as hell. I stopped watching.
I laugh even more at those shows than my kids do, it's funnier than most of the so-called comedies they show on the adult networks nowadays.
I will not pay for their TicketPass (?) web service either, so I'm stuck with highlights on the web, news channel, or a newspaper (gasp!)
I chose two: PC and Cell Phone.
Actually, I would tend to disagree... competition has forced a lot of networks to become creative. HBO has some of the best series on TV: The Sopranos, Deadwood, and Big Love have been my favorite shows over the past few years.
Granted, with 900 channels running 24 hours a day, there is a lot of fluffy crap, but there are certainly more good shows than there were 10 years ago.
Yes, but there's a lot more of it.
I don't enjoy cursing in programs...does HBO have anything for me to watch?
...and don't suggest some kiddie show. I'm an adult.
Kinda? The new Spongebob sucks hosewater. I wonder what happened. We still watch it when it's on, but we don't tivo it anymore.
Here is some tv for your PC. http://www.4tv.com/
We have basic cable and there's still nothing to watch. I can flip through about 25 channels (including 10 foreign language ie Spanish, Korean) and 75% of the programming at any particular time seems to be commercials. The only thing of any interest are some of the Spanish novellas (for the hot chicks/psuedo-cultural cliches) & PBS (eg Nova).
Thanks for the link - although I haven't gotten it to work properly yet; however, I do have an unstable Internet connection which is probably the cause.
Ok I admit it, I cheat...
I have a TV card in my computer :)
"If you had to choose between your PC, TV set or mobile phone, which one would you pick?"
None...
We'd be better off spending time with our family and friends.
Yes, I have upgraded my Coleco Adam's 300 baud modem and CPM 2.2 so that I can use Lynx and the Internet.
Probably because you can't regulate content on pcs like you can on tv.
Absolutely, it's the content, not the machine.
Generation X, then Y, then Z? Anyone? Pattern? logical progression? The end? What comes after Z?
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