Aussies computer skills lag 5-10 years behind the gadgets they own

A new survey has revealed that Australian consumers are spending more than ever on technology, but in many cases they dont have the skills and ability to use it correctly.

Melbourne, Apr 4 : A new survey has revealed that Australian consumers are spending more than ever on technology, but in many cases they don't have the skills and ability to use it correctly.

In fact, the survey indicated that this lack of skills has caused 2 out of 3 Australians to claim that they put up with technology they believe was not performing as well as it could.

The survey conducted by Galaxy Research for computer support company Gizmo focused on 514 computer users.

"Consumers are buying up big on new technology but many are struggling to get the most out of these investments," News.com.au quoted Gizmo chief executive Brett Chenoweth, as saying.

From what he said, a number of people do not know how to fix minor problems and also are unable or get the most out of their computer.

"The computer skills of many Australians are lagging between five and 10 years behind the technology features they have in their homes," said Chenoweth.

Usually, such users tend to come up with a range of complaints, including, too slow to boot up (35 per cent); frequent pop-ups and error messages (25 per cent); and not able to "talk" to other devices such as printers or other PCs (22 per cent).

There are also other complains that include: equipment being old or broken; not being able to stream music; and losing data.

In fact, it was also revealed that most people do not know how to set up wireless networks and this causes many of them to go for duplicate equipment or services they actually don't need.

"Many are just buying the latest technology because they are captivated by a few key features, not realising those features might already exist in their homes," said Chenoweth.

The people lag so much behind in technology that 40 per cent of those surveyed with two or more computers had not even enabled file sharing. In fact, 11 per cent admitted that they paid for two or more Internet connections, while they could easily have a network server installed.

Every 1 in 3 Australians admitted to having two or more printers in their household, but still less than half (46 per cent) could not print from all computers to all printers, without swapping files or cables.

ANI