Technologies That Are Essential To Americans, February 2014 [CHART]

Chart - Technologies That Are Essential To Americans

87% of American adults now access the internet in some form, says the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project – and some 71% use it on a typical day. Results from the survey [PDF] indicate that the internet has become almost indispensable to many of its users: close to three-quarters say it would be very (53%) or somewhat (20%) hard to give up. By comparison, only 57% of adults feel the same way about their TV.

That includes 35% who feel that it would be very hard – a figure which plummets to just 12% among those aged 18-29. (Fantastic fodder for the “TV is Dead” prognosticators.)

To some, it may be unremarkable that TV is considered less essential than the internet, but that hasn’t always been the case. Back in 2007, for example, adults were as likely to say that it would be very hard to give up TV (43%) as internet users were to feel that way about the web (45%). The year prior, adults found TV more essential (44%) than online adults did the internet (38%). Read the rest at MarketingCharts.