Study Finds Americans Love Their Gadgets More Than Family

Hmm… I’m not so sure I even want to be writing this article because it’s kinda sad. Of course, that is assuming this information is true. Sometimes when we see these studies, the information is based on a survey of a very small group of people in an isolated area of the country, so the results can’t be considered reliable when applying them generally over a huge group of people (in my opinion).

However, this was in the WSJ and the study was conducted by Kelton Research for Intel. Kelton is a respected research group that performs market research for major corporations and non-profits. For that reason, I’m inclined to think this is true. On the other hand, I have searched for over 30 minutes, and I am unable to find the original study or the parameters of this study anywhere, and for that reason, I’m skeptical. Either way, this is the deal. People in America are apparently more attached to their gadgets than their family.

3 in 5 people would not give up their gadget in exchange for a whole week of quality time with family over the holidays. If forced to make a choice, 2 in 3 Americans would give up their favorite food forever instead of giving up their gadgets for 12 months. Last but not least, over 27 million people have either hidden their gadgets or claimed that they are broken just to keep other people from using them. I am bad about this myself, and I’m not placing any value judgement on this information. I mean, it depends on what “family” we are talking about also, right? I have relatives I don’t even know, and that I’ve only met once or twice. If given the choice, I’d much rather hang out with my social media friends. So… all I have to say about this is that it is interesting… very interesting. :)