65% of Americans Spend More Time With Their PC Than SO

Ant writes "PR Newswire reports that 65 percent of consumers are spending more time with a computer than with their significant other (SO). The "Cyber Stress" study confirmed consumers' growing relationship with technology in their everyday lives. In fact, more than 8 out of 10 Americans (84%) say they are more dependent on their home computer now than they were just three years ago."

Comments

Techno-Dystopia

[P(0)(!P(k) P(k 1))]

From TFA:

“We empathize with consumers about the emotional nature of dealing with computer problems. As the leader in computer problem resolution for nearly 10 years, we have a distinct advantage in helping consumers quickly and conveniently solve their frustrating computer problems,” said Josh Pickus, CEO of SupportSoft.

SupportSoft sells support; so they're interested in a dystopian state of affairs. (For my part, I'm still not convinced we're not dealing with a slashvertisement.)

That said, computers play some yet-to-be-determined role in the splintering of society; as the space-time-continuum is warped, and proximity becomes irrelevant: neighbours become irrelevant.

A real dystopia, therefore, might be the flattening of human relationships into one indifferent, indistinguishable mass.

But since Europeans and European-Americans aren't breeding anymore, it doesn't matter: you'll all be dead within a generation.

Re:Techno-Dystopia

[inviolet]

Several European countries have birthrates acceptably above the replacement rate (hello from Finland). The real problem with Europe's birthrate is not that they may lead to extinction of ethnic majorities (a possibility in some countries, not all), but that government services cannot be adequately maintained without enough of a growth in population.

Interesting... because in an earlier slashdot article we read this:

Roughly speaking, a Ponzi scheme is one in which the perpetrators make false claims in order to lure investors. Once they have some investors coming in, they begin to pay back the earliest investors in order to create hype and garner more investors. People make money in ponzi schemes, but only by being at the top of the pyramid. What separates a Ponzi scheme from an actual market is that in an actual market, the items being traded have value outside of the system itself, and that access to liquidity is therefore available at levels other than the top. The article claims that because cash exchanges and the corresponding exchange rates are controlled by the people at the 'top', they are the only people with the ability to achieve substantial liquidity, and therefore, to make any money. This is why they say it resembles a Ponzi scheme more than an actual market.

How very amusing.

Re:Techno-Dystopia

[Tackhead]

> > proximity becomes irrelevant: neighbours become irrelevant.
>
> Right, I will make sure to email you when I'm sick and need groceries, or to look after my kid when I need to go out a bit.

And if you'd spent more time with your computer instead of your SO, you wouldn't have a kid who needs looking after when you need to go out a bit. More importantly, you'd have finished that "nifty robot who'd be able to go out and get your groceries for you when you're sick" project that's been sitting in your basement since you left college.

"I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping,
Robo-guitar gently weeps.
I look at the floor, and I at least Roomba's sweeping,
Robo-guitar gently weeps."

Re:Techno-Dystopia

[dr00g911]

(For my part, I'm still not convinced we're not dealing with a slashvertisement.) Um, the PR Newswire credit was all I needed to know it was a slashvertisement.

Yeah, I work with Ad/PR agencies. Anything on Newswire is bought, paid for then copied & pasted as "news" around the globe. That's the point.

Re:Techno-Dystopia

[MrAnnoyanceToYou]

What, you're surprised government is a Ponzi scheme?

Try, "All of Western society." Basing large organizations on finance resembles nothing more than using a just in time compiler to me. The amusing thing is that it appears there's no way people are smart enough as a whole to either design or accept a more intelligent solution.

Reading the Wikipedia article on Ponzi shows something quite interesting - he gave people exactly what they wanted, and the only ones to get advantageous results were those who cashed out right before it all fell apart. Just another story of catastrophic market failure; I love how everyone sees these things coming and noone says, "Wait. How do we stop this before it gets too big?"

Re:Techno-Dystopia

[Hoi Polloi]

I used to ask my elderly neighbor (before she had to go to an assisted living home) if I could pick her up anything during my trips to the market. She couldn't drive anymore and her knees were shot from arthritis.

"I have to try that some day."

You should, some people really need the help.

Does that include work-related computer use?

[mrchaotica]

And does it include time spent by all the stereotypical geeks who don't have significant others?

Re:Does that include work-related computer use?

[Nos.]

That, and does it consider time spent sleeping with your SO (and yes, I actually mean sleeping, not other "activities") as time together? My guess is that it doesn't. So, this is a very believable statistic. I spend all day at work with a computer, and some time at home. I only spend about 5 - 6 hours of waking time with my wife a day. It really doesn't say anything about how our lives are spent, just acknowledges that computers are becoming a bigger part of our lives, but they are not necessarily intruding upon our time with our families.

I Would Comment On This...

[Wandering Wombat]

... but I have to go have sex with my wife.

Re:I Would Comment On This...

[mockchoi]

Can you at least wait until I'm done?

Re:I Would Comment On This...

[Anonymous Coward]

No worries. I got it covered.

My PC is my SO

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

You insensitive clod!

Re:My PC is my SO

[bartyboy]

Once upon a time, my SO was a PC, too. Until I discovered that her beige box was full of viruses, that she was rooted by strangers and that neighbours would piggyback on her fat pipe.

Coincidence..

[zyl0x]

Also, on a completely different topic, World of Warcraft subscriptions have exceeded 8 million.

Sounds right

[WinterSolstice]

In my family, my wife is a writer. I'm an IT guy. At night, we play WoW together.

Added together, our total time at home together (including sleep) is about 11 hours. That means 13 hours is spent with a computer seperately right off the bat.

Considering our nights are often spent playing 3-4 hours of WoW, that puts it at 17 hours on the computer per day. Even at best, we would spend probably 3-4 hours a day together, which wouldn't even put a dent in the usual 8-10 hours at work with a computer.

-WS

Color me suprised!

[Sax Maniac]

Wow, a study commissioned by support.com says people need support! From a PR newsire, nonetheless. And we're not even people, but "consumers". Come on, if you're going to write fake news reports on fake studies, at give the appearnace of trying by not using marketroid speak.

Tag this one as "shill".

I can't wait

[Anonymous Coward]

...for National Mandatory Sex and Cuddling Day.

(Verify word was "nearby"? Must be a sign....)

Grow closer apart.

[w33t]

People spend more time with lots of things than with their SO. I would argue that this can be healthy.

After all, if you want to get sick of someone there is no better way than spending every waking moment with them.

I know it's all down to personal preference, but I find that time apart is every bit as important as time together.

The trick is to balance the two - too much of one or the other is bad, you need just the right amount of together and seperate time.

I used to-

[IWantMoreSpamPlease]

spend nearly all my time outside of work on my PC. Then I got a job in the PC world, and then I quit being on it outside of my normal job.

Then I met a girl, and got married. Since she turned out to be a complete psycho bitch (I should have known...should have known) and now spend all my free time *back* on the PC, and away from her as much as possible.

And They're Probably Less Dependent On

[eldavojohn]

In fact, more than 8 out of 10 Americans (84%) say they are more dependent on their home computer now than they were just three years ago.

Shocking 'facts' aren't they? But they failed to mention that these people who find themselves more dependent on computers probably find themselves less dependent on other things. For instance, transportation. You don't have to go down to the mall and hoof around looking for a CD or even books for that matter. You don't have to go out to rent videos--just use Netflix or Blockbuster. Why are malls becoming predominantly clothing stores? Because you can't try clothes on online. You can do your banking online now and I'm sure the things you can do online instead of driving your vehicle to the office to make the payment are numerous.

And I'll bet these people are a little less glued to their televisions than they were three years ago. And instead of going to the movies or getting hammered at a bar, they might find an online game to be a bit more entertaining.

The obvious downside is that I'm sure that some people are probably less active than they were before, but not all of them. If you percieve this to be a growing threat or strain on relationships, market software/hardware that makes the PC experience something shared between two people. I know tons of couples (and families) that have two or more computers and they simply play games like WoW together.

Honestly, I don't see anything unhealthy with this trend so long as the people excersize or go out walking/running once a week or more.

And in pre-information-age societies....

[ciaohound]

65% spend more time with their plow horse/tractor/butter churn/machine tool/slide rule/whatever than they spend with their spouse. The division of labor has always taken spouses away from each other to some extent. Of the discretionary time that spouses could choose to either be together or apart, well, has that changed significantly?

The reason is simple

[Snarfangel]

The PC does what you tell it to.

Hmmmm... Significant Other...

[Billosaur]

I seem to remember having one of those... Someone nagged me when I was upgrading our router... but the memory is dim... Anyway, the food miraculously appears and somehow the children get to bed, so I suspect someone is in the house doing these things...

Big Deal

[cat_jesus]

I spend more time with my underwear than I do with my SO and she doesn't seem to mind it. It has the added benefit of keeping my dangly bits from rubbing all over the inside of my pants.

Re:Big Deal

[LoveGoblin]

It has the added benefit of keeping my dangly bits from rubbing all over the inside of my pants.

Unfortunately, they also keep your dangly bits from rubbing all over the inside of her pants.

Re:cough*nerd*cough

[WinterSolstice]

I've been married for 10 years, and my wife an I are both hardcore gamers. We have conversation, we watch some movies... but the main thing we do is play games together. Incidentally, we both play on the same team nearly all the time.

I may be a nerd, but I know what works for my relationship :)

-WS

Re:who are these people?!

[nizo]

All the normal ones have been eaten; the bony ones are next.

Another B.S. Study

[__aagmrb7289]

After doing the RTFA stuff, I noticed something, umm, interesting? It doesn't bother to distinguish between using the computer at home, and using the computer at work. Considering the fact that MOST people spend more of their time WORKING then being AT HOME, 65% seems rather low now, doesn't it? I mean, is it REALLY true that 35% of Americans don't have to deal with a computer, constantly, at work? Good for them! Stupid B.S. sensationalist studies give scientific studies a bad name.

Re:You forgot

[Bastian]

*My SO is another avatar in Second Life

Re:Furthermore...

[cayenne8]

"And what about the time spent with your SO in a room both using computers while chatting with each other...."

And what about the majority of those on Slashdot where the computer IS their significant other?