With a hat tip to The Next Web, I enjoyed reading about a new survey by Lewis PR that graphically demonstrates Britain’s digital divide. Amongst the 1,000 survey respondents 20% have no idea that Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple, with one in 20 thinking he’s a second division footballer. Five per cent thought Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the Internet, was the first astronaut in space, while 10% thought a dongle was a sex toy!
Findings like these come as no surprise to me. Working in the tech industry we often take technical terms for granted and forget that out there in the real world, many people have little time to figure out what a VHD is (10% thinks it’s a sexually transmitted disease) or to get to grips with social networking (11% still don’t know what it is). The responsibility lies with everyone in the industry, including me, to explain the fast-moving world of technology in simple and interesting ways so as many people as possible can enjoy the extraordinary benefits useful technology can bring.
For a taster of some of the survey responses – interestingly filmed outside Microsoft’s main London office – watch the video below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfiI8uBXTNc&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_GB&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]