Dotcom Up And See Me Sometime

Motorola report highlights life and love online in the Britain

Over 40 percent of the British public would consider meeting someone whom they had previously only chatted to online, according to Motorola's sixth annual British and Technology report, which launched today. A small number of regular Internet users also saw online chatting as an opportunity for love and romance, with two percent wanting to use the Internet for online dating.

Internet users are either terribly curious or exceptionally safety conscious, with 34 percent wanting a webcam outside their house. A camera en route to work was second choice for a webcam, particularly with almost four out of ten '20 somethings' and 30 percent of women. Surprisingly only two percent would put a webcam in their partner's car or neighbour's house.

The research, conducted for Motorola by MORI, explores current British attitudes to technology and also reveals how they have changed over the past five years. Among the trends highlighted were:

• Amongst Internet users, online banking has increased to 20 percent in 2000, compared with only 4 percent in 1998.
• There has been an increase in female online shoppers from eight percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2000.
• The top three pieces of technology that the British public could not do with out were a mobile phone (20 percent), the desktop computer (18 percent) and e-mail (seven percent).
• 38 percent of people feel that technology can help to save energy costs in the home, 37 percent feel that it makes the home safer and 32 percent think technology helps to reduce environmental waste.
• 69 per cent of the British public wanted to be contactable by their family at all times.

E-life

In the last five years Internet use has changed considerably and become more pervasive in both work and home. Amongst Internet users, online banking has increased to 20 percent in 2000, compared with only 4 percent in 1998. Only 15 percent of those who do not regularly use the Internet gave not wanting to use it as the main reason. A further eight percent do not know how to get access.

If they had access to a 24-hour virtual teacher, 45 percent of regular Internet users would like to study for a professional qualification and a tenth would like to either improve their cooking, study car maintenance or learn parenting skills online.

The number of people using the Internet to buy goods and services online has increased markedly in the past two years from 17 percent in 1998 to almost a third in 2000. Women are becoming more Web savvy and there has been an increase of female online shoppers from eight percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2000.

When asked for their three most frequently visited web sites: 16 percent selected Yahoo, 12 percent opted for the BBC, and nine percent chose Hotmail.

Technology

When asked which piece of technology they could not do without - the top three answers from the British public were a mobile phone (20 percent), the desktop computer (18 percent) and e-mail (seven percent). Gadgets have always been well received and 45 percent of the British public would like an oven that recognised the food that they put in and automatically cooked it to their preference.

The report shows that the British public is comfortable with the increasing role that technology plays in their lives. The areas where they feel that technology can be of most use in the home are in saving energy costs (38 percent) and making the home safer (37 percent).

Over 80 percent of respondents believe that the more technology is used the easier it becomes and 35 percent think that IT makes their job more enjoyable. The advances in technology have enabled many full and part time employees to work remotely from the office, but one in five feels that they are now working more than two years ago.

Communication

Being contactable by their family at all times, was the top priority for around 70 percent of the British public. However, when asked if they would like to own a communications device that showed their location to the caller, a mere six percent said 'yes at all times'. When asked to choose someone from a list of people for an online chat, the 25-29 age group opted for none of the high-profile celebrities, but for their own partner.

Cost is the most important consideration to both sexes and across all age groups when buying a mobile phone, with 78 percent citing it as a priority. A screen big enough to read data comfortably and to have Internet access would be enough for 14 percent to buy or change their mobile phone.

As life becomes increasingly more hectic and itinerant, the British public is looking for ways to deal with life on the go. Almost a fifth of respondents would choose to shop electronically via a portable device such as an enhanced mobile phone and nearly a quarter of respondents would like to be able to email friends and family and view information such as travel and weather reports through a mobile phone.

Now and Then

Although there have been significant developments in technology over the last five years, the way people use PCs has hardly changed. The main use of the PC is still for word processing, but playing games (44 percent) has now exceeded spreadsheets as the number two use (41 percent in 2000 compared to 54 percent in 1996).

Even five years ago substantial numbers of people were comfortable using services online, with 55 percent happy to fill in government forms, 46 percent wanting to conduct home banking and a huge 53 percent comfortable with the idea of casting their vote online in a General Election. In 2000, 75 percent of respondents would like to be able to access local or Government services electronically.

About Motorola's British and Technology Report:

Motorola launched its first research into The British and Technology in 1995. The aim then was to establish a comprehensive, ongoing study that would explore how people are meeting the challenges and opportunities presented to them by modern technology. This year the research covers a range of technology-related areas including PC usage, the Internet, mobile phones, and digital TV. The emphasis is not merely on who's using what but on what they think about it and what they'd like from technology.

This research took place between 6 -10 January 2000. A total of 1,005 confidential face-to-face interviews were conducted with adults across Great Britain. Respondents constituted a representative sample of the British population aged 15+ - including proportional splits by age, gender, employment status, socio-economic group and geographic region. No bias was made towards users of technology or any other group. All interviews were conducted by MORI.

For more information about Motorola, please visit: http://www.motorola.comor visit the report website at http://www.britishandtechnology.co.uk