A new study finds 65 percent of Americans spend more time with their computer than their spouse - and, on average, wastes 12 hours a month fixing computer problems.
If you asked most Americans in a committed relationship which they preferred—their partner or their computer—most would probably answer truthfully (or at least politely) that, of course, their spouse, partner, or significant other is much more important to them.
But in the real world, people vote with their feet, and a new study conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of SupportSoft finds that 65 percent of Americans spend more time with their computer than with their spouse or significant other.
The Kelton Research study also finds that 84 percent of Americans say they are more dependent on their home computer now than they were three years ago. Moreover, in the same period, the average computer user experienced significant computer problems eight times—roughly once every four months. And many of those Americans felt hurt and jilted by their computers: 52 percent of Americans describe their most recent experience of a computer problem as one of anger, sadness, or alienation.
And if Americans perhaps think being dragged to a shoe sale—or made to sit through seemingly unending hours of football—is an inane waste of their time in a relationship, consider this: the average American reports wasting 12 hours a month due to problems with their computer.
“As computers become increasingly pervasive in our lives, our relationships with them can begin to seem almost as important as a relationship with a significant other. When problems then occur with the computer, it often leaves people feeling frustrated or helpless,” says Dr. Robi Ludwig, renowned psychotherapist and host of the reality series One Week to Save a Marriage on cable channel TLC.
You can see where this is going: SupportSoft wants Americans to know that if their computers aren’t there for them, then the brand new support.com is there for their computer.
[Coming up next: Dr. Phil helps a man and his Dell get back onto solid footing. And this week on Springer: Computers who say they're still sexy—even in an old beige box!]
Showing 27 comments
RSSMy props on the AOL comment though(LOL).
The human race shouldn't procreate. The human race is obsolete.
Now is this beneficial to the development of the human race, we can only wait and see... But I for one spend way more time with it then her.. to the point where I don't even mind if shes getting busy on the side, as long as she's not bugging me lol hahah :P
^^^^
Lol, I agree, I'd rather have a massive HDD crash then deal with that :P
and it doesn't say just how much more time is spent on the computer than with the spouse?.does this include work time? people spend time at work on the computer, and that time at work can't be spent with the spouse.
I personally do spend more time on the computer than i do with my spouse but that's just because we work different shifts and barely see each other. when i get off work, i have nothing to do. isn't that the equivalent to time spent watching tv or anything else i choose to do during that time?
and even if 12 hours a month are spent fixing the computer, how man hours on average are spent trying to fix a relationship? arguments aren't too unfamiliar to a serious relationship.
Great story, this was a lot of fun to read!
I showed my wife and she agreed with it BTW. Now if I could only convince her to play WoW with me! [/quote]
Lucky for me mine does.
"Carrie on Jan 23rd, 2007 at 7:55 PM
You men are pathetic...."
And THAT pretty much sums up why my computer is my first love. It doesn't emotionally abuse me, it doesn't nag, and it doesn't expect me to change who I am.
My computer...
- is stable and reliable.
- is always willing to try new things.
- gives back exponentially more than what I put into it.
- always has something new and interesting to share.
- doesn't mind if I want to work or play.
- doesn't mind if I'm watching porn.
- never complains if I ignore it for a week.
- doesn't have parents.
- doesn't play mind games.
- doesn't gossip and spread all my personal information around.
- can't take half my money when I get rid of it.
- doesn't eat all the chocolate in the house.
- has never driven me to the bottle.
12 hours a month on computer problems? Maybe if you are a clueless middle manager who can't tell his PC from his VCR! The only maintenance I've done on my computer in the past six months is installing an extra HDD, which took about an hour.
I showed my wife and she agreed with it BTW. Now if I could only convince her to play WoW with me!