Canadians and Info
Tech : Survey
The Ottawa Citizen
Dec 14 01:00
Page: D1 / Front
Section:
Business
Edition: Final
Byline: Eric Beauchesne
Canadians fear they are becoming slaves to technology, complaining it has resulted in longer working hours and less time with their families and friends, a survey released yesterday suggests.
However, Canadians have a love-hate relationship with technology, acknowledging it has made them more efficient workers and enriched the quality of their lives, said an analysis of the results of the survey by Leger Marketing for the information technology newspaper Computing Canada.
"Technology's role in society tends to be viewed as both necessity and nuisance," said Leger pollster Scott Cho. "While Canadians crave the efficiency that technology affords, the control it has over our daily lives can be unsettling."
Nationally, 53 per cent of those surveyed said technological advancements have resulted in Canadians working longer hour, more than double the 20 per cent who said it has reduced their work time.
Fifty-seven per cent also said technology has resulted in their spending less time with family -- more than three times the 18 per cent who said technological advancements have given them more time with loved ones.
Yet an overwhelming 86 per cent conceded technology has made them more efficient in the workplace, and 74 per cent said technology has improved their quality of life.
The survey also found what Mr. Cho said is a regional divide in the views of Canadians on whether technological advances have taken away or added to the time Canadians spend with their family.
Western Canadians are somewhat more likely to feel technology has reduced the time they spend with family, while Central and Eastern Canadians are more comfortable with the impact of technology on the time they get to spend with family, Mr. Cho said.
Meanwhile, three quarters of those surveyed felt that children spend too much time using the computer, including a staggering 83 per cent of Quebecers.
Nationally, only three per cent said children don't spend enough time on the computer.
The September survey of 1,501 adult Canadians has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
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