Technology's effects on bedroom activities
London (UK), June 2013 - (by Bob Little) According to a survey of 1,000 commuters in London, carried out by Infosecurity Europe, 29% of people look at emails - on computers or smartphones - and catch up on work while they're in bed, especially if they can't sleep. Apparently, 15% of them do this at the same time as their partner is doing exactly the same thing.
Three quarters of those who work in bed admit to spending more than 30 minutes a day, (three and half hours a week) doing it - and 22% spend more than two hours a day working in bed, which amounts to 14 hours a week.
When people can’t sleep, the most popular activity is to watch TV (23%), followed by reading a book (20%), or going online (17%) - with ten per cent turning to social media or checking emails. Having a cup of tea is the least popular option.
When asked about the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning, 32% of people said they check their phone for messages. Only six per cent opted for kissing their partner. Thankfully, from a hygiene point of view, brushing teeth (19%) ranks ahead of checking emails (14%).
Technology seems to be having a major impact on how we interact with each other both professionally and personally – including how we don’t interact with our partners in the bedroom (or at least not until after we’ve checked with the technology). Since people admit to checking their phone messages and emails before - at the very least - kissing their partner, does the development of mobile technology mean that romance (in the bedroom, anyway) is dead and that smartphones and the internet now dominate our lives?
If so, then the online learning technology world must bear some small part of the blame for this. After all, if we’re to believe the marketing messages from online learning providers, learning is something you can do anywhere – especially thanks to mobile technology. Unfortunately the Infosecurity Europe survey didn’t find evidence of people engaging in online learning in the bedroom – but these people were probably too shy to admit that they were busy developing their knowledge and skills in that location for fear of being misinterpreted.
For over 20 years, Bob Little has specialised in writing about, and commentating on, corporate learning – especially e-learning – and technology-related subjects. His work has been published in the UK, Continental Europe, the USA and Australia. You can contact Bob via bob.little@boblittlepr.com His e-book, ‘Perspectives on Learning Technologies’ (e-book; ASIN: B00A9K1VVS) is available from The Endless Bookcase and from Amazon. It contains over 200 pages of observations on issues in learning technologies, principally for learning & development professionals.
