ACCORDING TO A RECENT POLL IN BRITAIN, A MAJORITY OF
YOUNG ADULTS WOULD PREFER INTERNET OVER DAYLIGHT, HOT
WATER AND A LOT OF OTHER THINGS.
THEY ASKED 2418 ñ TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLDS TO
RANK THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THEIR LIFE.
THEY RANGE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AS NUMBER ONE, WITH EIGHTY-ONE
PERCENT, THEN INTERNET CONNECTION WITH SIXTY-NINE
PERCENT, DAYLIGHT WITH SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT, THEN
HOT WATER, HEALTHY DIET, AND SOME OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS
I THINK COME IN AT MUCH LOWER PERCENTAGES.
TELEPHONE CONNECTION, ONLY TWENTY-ONE PERCENT.
ABILITY TO DRIVE, SEVENTEEN PERCENT, AND A GOOD NIGHTS
SLEEP AT ONLY ELEVEN PERCENT.
WHEN THEY WERE ASKED WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE THE QUALITY
OF THEIR LIFE, THE MAJORITY OF
THEM SAID HOLIDAYS.
LASTLY, FOURTEEN PERCENT OF THEM SAID HAVING A BIGGER
FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE LAUGH, BUT WE ALSO ñ
BUT FOLLOW US.
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ETC.
I'M GOING TO DEFEND THESE GUYS.
THINK ABOUT WHAT THE INTERNET IS.
WE OFTEN FOCUS ON THE ENTERTAINMENT ASPECT OF IT.
NUMBER ONE, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ENTERTAINMENT.
AMERICANS ON AVERAGE WATCH I THINK FIVE HOURS OF
TELEVISION A DAY.
IT MIGHT HAVE EVEN GONE UP FROM THAT.
I MIGHT HAVE BEEN A STUDY THAT SAID 7.
ESPECIALLY COMBINED TV AND THE INTERNET.
IT IS BASED ON A NUMBER, BUT WE DON'T GO AROUND SAYING
OLDER AMERICANS AND THEIR TV, LOSERS.
THE INTERNET IS MUCH BETTER THAN TV, IT HAS OTHER COMPONENTS.
IT HAS A SOCIAL COMPONENT, YOU ARE TALKING TO YOUR FRIENDS.
TALKING TO YOUR FRIENDS NOT A BAD THING.
THERE'S A LOT OF DERISIVE TALK FROM OLDER AMERICANS, AND
BREADTH IN THIS CASE, THEY ARE JUST TALKING TO THEIR FRIENDS.
YEAH, YOU ARE TALKING TO YOUR PRESENT APART, THEY ARE
JUST TALKING TO THEIR FRIENDS ONLINE.
THE THIRD THING IS, THE INTERNET HAS INFORMATION.
WHETHER YOU ARE GETTING YOUR NEWS FROM THERE,
RESEARCHING ON THERE.
I'M NOT NAœVE TO THINK THAT MOST OF WHAT EIGHTEEN ñ
TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLDS ARE DOING ONLINE IS RESEARCHING, BUT
DO PEOPLE RESEARCH ON
THE INTERNET?
ABSOLUTELY.
ALL THE INFORMATION IN THE WORLD'S ONLINE.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT THAT WAY, THE INTERNET CONNECTS
THE WHOLE WORLD.
I FALL WITHIN THIS AGE GROUP, AND I WAS AT A DINNER PARTY
THE OTHER DAY AND WE WERE HAVING AN INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATION
AND WE HAD QUESTIONS THROUGHOUT THE CONVERSATION, AND ALL
OF US WOULD PULL OUT OUR PHONE AND GOOGLE THE ANSWER, AND
IT WOULD ELEVATE OUR CONVERSATION BECAUSE WE
WERE GETTING AT ANSWER TO INFORM THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
I AGREE THAT THE INTERNET PROVIDES ACCESS, PROVIDES
MY SALARY, SO THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS I APPRECIATE.
AND OF COURSE FOR ALL MY RESEARCH GROWING UP I WENT
TO THE INTERNET, AND NOW I GET ALL MY BOOKS ON THE
INTERNET, SO I GET WHERE THEY ARE COMING FROM.
I THINK IT IS FUNNY TO COMPARE TO DAYLIGHT, WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT ALL THE BENEFITS OF GOING
OUTSIDE, THE VITAMIN D AND ALL THOSE THINGS.
BUT I AGREE THAT THE INTERNET PROVIDES SO MUCH MORE THAN
WE GIVE IT CREDIT FOR.
YOU CAN ALSO GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY FOOTBALL, AND USE THE
INTERNET AT THE SAME TIME.
NOT EXACTLY AT THE SAME TIME, BUT OVERALL, IF YOU MAYBE
CHOOSE BETWEEN A HEALTHY DIET AND AN INTERNET CONNECTION,
IT IS NOT REALLY CLOSE, AS YOU CAN TELL.
HEALTHY DIET, A LITTLE OVERRATED.
THAT CRAPPY FOOD IS DELICIOUS.
WHEREAS I CANNOT REPLACE THE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET.
THERE'S A FRIEND OF MINE NAMED JIM GILLIAN, HE GAVE A
SPEECH ON MINE CALLED THE INTERNET IS MY RELIGION,
AND IF AND REALIZES HOW THE INTERNET CONNECTS US ALL.
DON'T DO THAT TO BE A BAD THING AS A LOT OF THE OLDER
GENERATION DOES.
THEY GET ANNOYED BY IT BECAUSE THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND IT.
I VIEW IT TO BE A WONDERFUL THING.
INTERNET, WE ARE ON YOUR SITE.