The internet has changed a lot of things. Whether it's the social networking craze that allows people to stay in touch with relatives in Timbuktu, or the fact that people like me can make a living writing for a tech website and not even have to leave the house, it's safe to say the internet has made a significant impact on many of our lives. In fact, it seems the internet has become so important to people, we would find it difficult to maintain relationships if we didn't have Wi-Fi. With the popularity of mobile devices and laptops, more internet-capable machines connect through Wi-Fi rather than the traditional cabled connection.
According to a survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of the Wi-Fi Alliance, 64 percent of U.S. respondents and 89 percent of Chinese respondent said it would be nearly impossible to maintain relationships with many friends without Wi-Fi; a further 44 percent of American respondents and 82 percent of Chinese respondents said the same applies to family relationships.
The survey was based on information provided by 1,000 U.S. millennials (respondents ages 17 to 29) and 400 millennials in China, Japan and Korea. Two thirds of U.S. respondents and four fifths of those in China said they now spend more time on Wi-Fi than watching telly. Almost 70 percent of respondents spend more than four hours on Wi-Fi each day.
"These polling results are a strong reflection of both the social and technological orientation of young adults around the world today," commented Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "Interactive digital devices are fundamental to how millennials spend their time and connect with family and friends, and have become more important than older, more passive forms of entertainment like television."
Further evidence of how much value people place on Wi-Fi comes in the form of 75 percent of U.S. respondents admitting they'd be more grumpy if they had to go a week without Wi-Fi than if they had to spend a week without coffee.
How important is Wi-Fi to you? Do you find it plays an important role in your maintaining relationships? Let us know in the comments below!
Read more on the results of the survey here.
Source: WiFi Alliance (via HotHardware)
