Personal Use of Home PCs Surpasses A Billion Hours Per Week; Time Spent Online Accounts for More Than Half, Reports Odyssey's Homefront Study
Business & News Editors/High-Tech Writers
SAN FRANCISCO--Oct. 4, 1999--
PC Households Spend an Average of 20 Hours Per Week On Their
Computers for Personal Purposes
The latest Homefront study from Odyssey reveals that home PC usage has surpassed one billion hours per week, and that 53 percent of that time
is being spent online.
Odyssey, the only independent market research firm dedicated exclusively to studying consumers, technology, and at-home entertainment,
information, communication, and commerce, conducts the Homefront study every January and July. Based on random-digit-dial telephone surveys
with 2,500 U.S. households, Homefront is the most reliable source of information about PCs, online services, and other home entertainment and
information products.
According to Odyssey's latest Homefront study, total weekly PC use increased by 101 million hours per week between January and July of
this year, 74 million of which were accounted for by increases in penetration and usage of online services. The survey also found that
PC households are using their PCs more than 20 hours per week on average for personal purposes, and among online households an average
of 15 hours per week are spent online.
Odyssey's research continues to show that online services are competing directly with, and in a growing number of cases beating, the
television for consumers' attention at home. Current Homefront data shows that 78 percent of online households report using online
services during prime time television viewing hours in a typical day. In addition, the activities in which online users are most
frequently engaging reveal that online services also pose a threat to the postal service, long distance phone companies, and printed
publications.
Among the 37 million online households in the U.S., sending e-mail, gathering health information, keeping up with news and current events,
and conducting investment-related research are among the most popular online activities. "Online services provide a cheaper, faster way
to communicate and gather information. In fact, for a growing number of consumers online services are proving to be a compelling
alternative to snail mail, the telephone and print media," said Donatiello.
Top 10 Personal Uses of Online(1) Services
(Percent of households that use online services for these activities)
E-mail 85%
Research 78%
Education 71%
General web surfing 67%
News/current events 67%
Learning about products/services 58%
Health information 52%
Savings/investment information 49%
Games 48%
Shopping 48%
(1)Includes the Internet, World Wide Web, and commercial online services
Weekly PC and Online Usage
(Millions of hours per week households use the device/service for personal purposes)
January July January July
1998 1998 1999 1999
Total PC Usage 611 734 934 1035
PC Usage 370 363 460 487
(Not including time spent online)
Time Spent Online 241 369 474 548 |
