UK families prefer PCs to football, says Microsoft survey

NEWS According to Microsoft, UK citizens would rather have a PC than a pet dog. According to the latest consumer survey from the software giant, the British would rather talk about computers than chat about sex and football, and would choose to surf the Net rather than watch Eastenders or Coronation Street. According to Stephen McGill, consumer product manager at Microsoft, the initial research has thrown up some surprising results. The report says people over 60 years of age talk about and use PCs more than anyone else, and one third of mothers regularly play PC games. Londoners keep their machines in the sitting room while the inhabitants of Birmingham choose to keep theirs in the dining room. McGill said: "The reason behind the research is to help us understand what the market needs so we can develop our products further for them." But Input analyst Jamie Snowdon was sceptical: "It's just a Microsoft smokescreen," he said, "it seems to have no purpose and no message." The Microsoft Computer Age Report talked to 500 families with home computers, in five different cities - Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The findings come from the first six months of the study, which will continue for another 18 months.