UK rages against computers

By Jayne Warren - 09/06/2008

Many Mature Times readers have told us of their frustration and anger when using computers - and a new survey has revealed that they are definitely not alone. Apparently one in five people have been so frustrated by PC inefficiency they have hit their desks, broken almost a million monitors, or hit something so hard they have hurt themselves resulting in just under half a million injuries. And some exceptionally angry people have been so enraged they have thrown their computer out the window!

 

I imagine many people would have a lot of sympathy for them.

 

The survey by The TechGuys tells us how much time we are wasting waiting for our computers to do the things we want them to, as well as how long it takes for us to get frustrated. The majority of people (56%) get frustrated within ten seconds of waiting for their computer to open a file, load a website or save a document. For 1.8 million people however, as little as two seconds is too long to wait before getting frustrated.

 

Over the course of a year, 2 in 5 of us are waiting at least 30 hours for our computer to boot up, open a file or load a website - the equivalent amount of time required to learn how to fly! Collectively, it also represents 19 million wasted hours. Incredibly, 2.5million people in the UK are spending more than 25 minutes every day waiting for their computer to do something. That's the equivalent of 18 working days a year, per person!

 

But it's not just about sanity and safety. Electrical and electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK - around 1.8 million tonnes are generated every year - and a study by the UN suggests the average PC requires 10 times it's weight in chemicals and fossil fuels to manufacture.

 

So if you have owned five or more computers then you need to stop throwing away your PC when it starts to slow down and instead look to give your existing computer a boost. The first option should always be to upgrade a machine, not throw it away.

 

For more information visit the website below.