Re:Computer ownership by country
by apstuff on Friday December 19, 2008 @12:02PM
(#403525)
The list is from 2006. It would be interesting to see the current numbers for Brazil and Russia given their supposed ascendancy. Plus, half the world's population live in China and India, neither of which is on the list.
Re:Computer ownership by country
by russell on Friday December 19, 2008 @01:25PM
(#403633)
It's the top 50 countries, ranked by computers per 100 population. China and India are still quite rural. I would not expect a significant percentage yet.
Re:Computer ownership by country
by lhorie on Friday December 19, 2008 @02:19PM
(#403717)
I don't know about Russia, but the number for Brazil doesn't sound too farfetched, the percentage of people in the middle class there is rather slim compared to percentage of poor people, even today.
Re:Computer ownership by country
by nir on Friday December 19, 2008 @03:21PM
(#403787)
I'm Israeli. I did expect it to be high on the list, but that gap between it and 2nd place is quite surprising...
I can think of a few reasons:
1. Israel is in a way similar to a big city - a small place and tightly knit. It's a young nation without much traditions so people are open to try new technologies and if they work out they quickly spread.
2. Since Israel's main industry is hi-tech (it's 2nd or 3rd in number of NASDAQ traded companies) having a computer is seen by parents as important for their childrens' future prospects.
3. There is some still kind of respect for knowledge mentality (you wouldn't know it from the reality shows on our TV channels, but it's one of the top book reading nations) which meshes well with the internet etc.
Re:Computer ownership by country
by iman on Friday December 19, 2008 @05:03PM
(#403915)
4. Game consoles and games are very expensive and thus not very popular in Israel. So all the kids need a computer in order to get their video game fix.
5. There isn't much poverty in Israel.
It would probably be very difficult to find a household in Israel that doesn't have a computer. (Not counting old people who don't know what a computer is)
Re:Computer ownership by country
by nir on Friday December 19, 2008 @11:30PM
(#404269)
I didn't think about #4 - good point.
All in all, I think the amazing gap (%50) between Israel and the next nation probably also stems from the high proportion of technology companies in Israel. All these companies that go through laptops and dev machines at high cycles must make a big difference.
Plus it's an ad! How is this in HN front page?
Are there any Israelis here that could shed light on this?
I can think of a few reasons:
1. Israel is in a way similar to a big city - a small place and tightly knit. It's a young nation without much traditions so people are open to try new technologies and if they work out they quickly spread.
2. Since Israel's main industry is hi-tech (it's 2nd or 3rd in number of NASDAQ traded companies) having a computer is seen by parents as important for their childrens' future prospects.
3. There is some still kind of respect for knowledge mentality (you wouldn't know it from the reality shows on our TV channels, but it's one of the top book reading nations) which meshes well with the internet etc.
5. There isn't much poverty in Israel.
It would probably be very difficult to find a household in Israel that doesn't have a computer. (Not counting old people who don't know what a computer is)
All in all, I think the amazing gap (%50) between Israel and the next nation probably also stems from the high proportion of technology companies in Israel. All these companies that go through laptops and dev machines at high cycles must make a big difference.