Web is 'not quite as dull' as the Dome

Touring the Dome is duller than surfing the web

By BBC News Online internet reporter Mark Ward

The internet has gone from revolution in the making to over-promoted fad and now it is just boring, says a new UK survey.

A report carried out for net service provider MSN has found that people are being turned off by what they see as internet hype.

A fifth of those questioned said they were sick of hearing exaggerated claims about the way the internet would change their lives, and were bored by tales of the get-rich-quick lifestyles of young dot.com millionaires.

Although respondents thought the net was boring, the survey revealed that it was not the dullest thing imaginable. That accolade was reserved for the Millennium Dome in South East London.

The survey questioned 1,000 people to find out how attitudes to the net were changing.

Vacuum cleaners

It revealed that 21% of those responding were now getting bored by publicity for anything to do with the internet.

Most boring things

Millennium Dome

William Hague

Victoria Beckham

Liz Hurley

Tony Blair

Charles Kennedy

The internet

The majority of those surveyed, 62%, thought that the phrase dot.com was wearing thin and even more, 66%, did not want to hear any more stories about 20-something millionaires who had made their money with the web.

But the boredom was not due to lack of interest. Over 77% of those questioned said they could not live without it.

"For many people the internet has become indispensable," said an MSN spokeswoman. "It's as much a part of everyday life as the telephone, television and video. It's no wonder people are bored with hype around the internet - you wouldn't want to talk about your vacuum cleaner in the pub."

About a fifth of those questioned, 21%, were bored with the net but more were tired of the Dome (64%) and politicians.