By Ben King, 16 March 2001 15:00
NEWS The fact that 75 per cent of people believe that self-confessed e-illiterate Tony Blair uses email highlights some of the perception problems that surround IT - primarily that it's restricted to the educated, and the powerful. Though IT is often thought to be a young man's game, 47-year old Tony outpaced men less than half his age in the techno-perception stakes, beating Prince William, Robbie Williams, and David Beckham. The same poll also found widely split opinions about how technology had affected people's lives. Many people felt technology had reduced their workloads, while almost the same number felt that new communication tools had simply made their lives more hectic - though Her Majesty was presumably not among them. Respondents were divided equally over technology's tendency to bring people together. Nearly 50 per cent think that technology is increasing the number of friends people have, while almost as many think it is turning everyone into isolated geeks. Only one question really united people, with over 90 per cent of people agreeing that "technology has increased opportunities for people". Buckingham Palace refused to confirm whether the Queen uses email or not, but she is said to take a keen interest in the Palace's websites. Working life think tank The Industrial Society commissioned The ICM poll to kick off a three-to-five year research project, supported by Microsoft. The project aims to investigate how information and communications technologies are affecting the world of work.
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