Hypothetically speaking, if you were asked to do without TV, your mobile phone or the internet, which would you be most willing to part with? Reader’s Digest in Hong Kong did a survey in July, that covered 15 different countries and regions, and 11 of those regions elected to shut off their televisions first.

Photo: xinhuanet.com

According to survey results, everyone wanted to keep their internet, even the older segments of the population. In Singapore, not a single person surveyed over the age of 45 wanted to do without the web. The only country that was an exception was Brazil, where 68% of those surveyed said they would unplug their computers first. This is understandable, given that Brazil has one of the smallest populations of internet users in the world. On average, only 35 out of 100 Brazilians have internet access, as opposed to the US and Great Britain, where 72 out of 100 people are online. In Brazil, the low accessibility also comes with higher charges – monthly internet access averages 26 USD per month, as opposed to only 7.4 USD in Germany.

Fifty five percent of Canadians elected to ditch their mobile phones first; perhaps in reaction to their high cell phone charges. Of all the western countries surveyed, Canadians are already among those with the least cell phone usage.

Of those the countries that chose to do away with television first, mainland China came in first, with the highest percentage of those polled voting to ditch their TVs. Singapore was number two, followed by Italy and the Netherlands. Interestingly, over half of the Americans surveyed also chose to shut down TV first, even though Americans, on average, spend four and a half hours in front of the TV daily. If the survey had only polled the 45 years and up demographic, mobile phones would have been the first high tech device they would choose to be without.

Read the original in Chinese here

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