According to the BBC, Europe is online 24 hours a month. A report by tracking firm comScore confirms that more than 122m of us aged 15 plus uses the Internet each day from home or at work.
Whilst the UK is average in terms of net penetration/access (62%), Russia is languishing in last place with only 11% of the population having access. However, the UK has the most active net population with users spending closer to 35 hours online.
Bob Irvins, manger of comScore Europe, offers “Is someone online when they are watching tv over the Internet?”. I guess it depends on your definition, but I’d say definitely yes. The reason for the yes is that the user may have a messaging client running or even be looking at a website whilst watching tv.
The net, tv, music and games are all converging slowly but surely. Most, if not all household devices will end up online to some degree. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see the self-cleaning, self sufficient house of the future but convergence is a trend that is set to continue.
Some issues however remain. These include green concerns, problems of cost and a view of society being segmented by wealth even further. As long as these issues are considered then there should be no reason why we shouldn’t journey apace further with our virtual lives.