Sunday Times 2
Addicted to electronics
Adults spend nearly half their time using electronic entertainment gadgets, figures have shown.
A report by consumer researchers Nielsen found people spend 11 hours a day watching TV, surfing the internet and playing on smartphones.
The figures come as damning evidence reveals 70 million people are living a sedentary lifestyle and in some states almost a third of the population are couch potatoes who do no physical activity or exercise.
The study found people spend an average of 11 hours a day using electronic devices (Reuters)
Despite being surrounded by ‘on-demand’ entertainment services, it was regular live TV that took up the largest share of people’s time with the average American watching more than five hours a day.
Next comes another old fashioned medium – radio – which is listened to for an average of two hours and 46 minutes a day.
More surprising still is that while 58 per cent of people own smartphones, they are only used for slightly over an hour a day on average.
The internet is also used for a similar amount of time while timeshifted TV packages such as TiVo were watched for 32 minutes a day.
Hardcore gamers clearly make up a small percentage of the sample as the average playing time is just 12 minutes, less still was DVDs and Blu Rays which are watched for an average of just nine minutes a day and came joint last with multimedia devices.
The position of tablets such as the iPad at the bottom of the pile is also unexpected as rapid growth has seen tablets become the third largest electronics sector after TVs and PCs.
A Nielsen spokesman said: ‘Content in its many forms is a constant draw and the American consumer continues to show us that they want to be entertained and engaged.
© Daily Mail, London