News - Brits spend more time with eyes on screens than asleep

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The Ofcom report also suggests that those aged 14 and 15 are the most tech-savvy.

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Read more.

Are you addicted to your devices? If rushing to the toilet do you quickly grab your smartphone or tablet?

Personally I am sticking with paper.

I tend to not stare at my phone when I am on the train and prefer to enjoy the scenery

Nice one Brian224!!!

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The study showed that Britons hit their peak confidence and understanding of technology during their mid-teens and from there, it drops gradually to our late 50s, with a rapid decline from 60 and beyond.

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Does it? I think it's just because of the way it's worded (or the way I'm reading it), but it sounds like that interpretation is supposed to suggest that those *same* people start to get *less* knowledgeable as they get older?

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The research found that 6 year olds could claim to have the same understanding of communications technology as 45 year olds.

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I wonder how they define 'communications technology'? :rolleyes:

Edit: Assuming this is the sort of thing they're basing the results on, I really wouldn't pay it much (any) attention...
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/ofcom
I wouldn't know where to start on why that's not a brilliant scientific method of deducing understanding of technology of various age groups - run through it and see what I mean.

Well I spend all day looking at a computer screen at work and all night playing games or recording music with a computer and check my phone constantly all day, so I can believe the situation is similar for a lot of us. I'd say I use computers a good 85-90% of my waking hours. Even when not directly using a computer I'll have one in the room to keep an eye on emails and social media. As younger generations grow up with this ever evolving, aggressively priced tech all around them I can see it getting that way for more and more people in the future.

There's a difference between being able to use devices behind a ton of fancy and increasingly abstracted interfaces and having a good 'understanding' of technology, is what I'm getting at; the technology working behind the scenes is being pushed further away from the user in the name of ease of use (and with increasing complexity at the low level to allow this).

I just think it's perhaps a bit insulting to the older generation to compare actual computing knowledge to figuring out how to load an iPhone game, use mobile Twitter and understand 4G as 'something faster than 3G'.

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Originally Posted by watercooled

I wouldn't know where to start on why that's not a brilliant scientific method of deducing understanding of technology of various age groups - run through it and see what I mean.

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That test seem like its been thought out by someone with a very basic understanding of technology, it's almost like they don't even understand what the word technology means. :geek:

Media Addicts - Really , only now....

So though things called TV's that have been in the Brits homes for 40 years don't provide media.... Oh and those old retro things --- oh what are they called......

Oh the Radio....

I just wish I had some sort of picturerythinghy going slappyfacey to express my utter 2fingery OMGness at this load of 2balliness.

But I don't so what does it matter.

14 - 15 year olds tech savvy? Maybe in whats available and how to use a device but hardly any have any knowledge of the underlying hardware or the coding of the software for example.
Generally at that age you use/play with something and if it goes wrong its tossed aside and get mum/dad to buy a new one.
Ask a 14/15 year old how a cpu works or is manufactured or how to put a desktop pc together and they will not know ... or even care, all they want to do is use it for crap such as Twatter or Faecesbook.

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Originally Posted by Meowdance

Well I spend all day looking at a computer screen at work and all night playing games or recording music with a computer and check my phone constantly all day, so I can believe the situation is similar for a lot of us. I'd say I use computers a good 85-90% of my waking hours. Even when not directly using a computer I'll have one in the room to keep an eye on emails and social media. As younger generations grow up with this ever evolving, aggressively priced tech all around them I can see it getting that way for more and more people in the future.

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Do you wear specs ?

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Originally Posted by watercooled

[The study showed that Britons hit their peak confidence and understanding of technology during their mid-teens and from there, it drops gradually to our late 50s, with a rapid decline from 60 and beyond.]
Does it? I think it's just because of the way it's worded (or the way I'm reading it), but it sounds like that interpretation is supposed to suggest that those *same* people start to get *less* knowledgeable as they get older?

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I'm amused that such "research" completely ignores the "silver surfer" brigade that the media were dribbling on about a couple of weeks ago. That said, I was reminiscing the other day that learning programming languages was easier when I was under 30 than it is now (over 40). Then again, that could also because I never really "got" object orientation and that's the way things are done these days. :(

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Originally Posted by watercooled

[The research found that 6 year olds could claim to have the same understanding of communications technology as 45 year olds.]
I wonder how they define 'communications technology'? :rolleyes:

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And I'd also question the word "understanding". If by that they mean "knows about Twitter, Facebook, etc" then they're probably right. On the other hand if they mean "can explain how a network works" then the answer - based on the cub pack I was mentoring a while ago - is a solid "no". That actually kind of worries me - the upcoming UK generation are very good at using technology, but pretty poor at knowing the nuts and bolts behind it. Sort of like wanting to drive a car with a sealed engine bay and no handbook.

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Originally Posted by Brewster0101

Media Addicts - Really , only now....
So though things called TV's that have been in the Brits homes for 40 years don't provide media.... Oh and those old retro things --- oh what are they called......
Oh the Radio....

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Hmm, wasn't DAB supposed to improve the take up of radio. That said, I seem to spend a lot of my "radio" listening time listening to programmes on anything other than a radio. iPlayer especially seems to be an "enabler" - either as a podcast (Radio 4 comedy mainly) or as downloads (get_iplayer) of various 6 Music or Radio 4 shows.

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Originally Posted by OilSheikh

Do you wear specs ?

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Nope. It hasn't wrecked my eyes yet, though I'm sure it will.

I split my office work time (98% of all work hours) between looking at the screen and watching my fingers type.
I spend a lot of home time playing games or watching movies on the PC.

I sometimes grab the phone when I'm bored for a few minutes... But then I have books to read on the Kindle app.
I tried Farcebook, Twit-err, and all that social media stuff but even with over 200 people added, including George Takei, there is nothing happening that warrants being so glued to my mobile and I often wonder what on Earth everyone else has found that keeps them so busy!!

Historically, I'd spend a few hours a month watching a TV somewhere and about as much time reading books as I now spend gaming.

To be honest, it's my job to stare at a PC screen all day. So that ain't surprising.