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I think not because I can take it or leave personally. It is only a computer after all.
Matthew Stradling, England

I don't think they are. The amount of time spent on a computer depends on an individual rather than a general term. I do admit to spending more time on a computer because as the years have gone on, they have become easier, more interesting and informative. The scope of information is what people feed into but that does not make it an obsession. I think the image of soaps, football and lager in front of the box has long been replaced with the loss of the stiff upper lip, that the English have been so plagued with. In the UK people are being more globalised - about time too. It is not love, it is development of interest to gain new knowledge.
Jojis Faal, UK

We may own them but it doesn't mean we love them. They're an extremely useful tool, just like every other item in the home and office. They also allow you to explore areas that you may not have had access to before. Music can be created and mixed, photographs can be edited, interactive learning can be carried out, and so on. I don't think you can love them too much, I think you can become overwhelmed with information and ideas about what you can now do though. What else is there to do in dark, long, cold evenings anyway.
Elaine W, England

I would far rather be someone who thinks too much of her computer than to be someone who is out drinking every night. I am a computer professional by day, and a computer addict by night. And I love every minute! And, as someone who has met her partner over the Internet, you won't hear me complaining.
Jo Perrett, UK

Yes, we do love our computers too much. And it has become a threat to the society; why talk face to face, while you can connect each other on the net. Less need for social life, the computers take up most of our time. I love working with my computer, but I do think I perhaps have reached the loving-too-much-point. And it seems that it's not only me.....so yes, I think we love our computers too much!
Svein Taraldsen, Norway

No we don't love them too much. Computers are amazing things and as they get better we will use them more, We will never be able to use them TOO much.
Timothy Groves, UK

This is the computer age and they are an integrated part of everyday life, a great source of information, an efficient means of communication and a great labour saving device. Where would business and commerce be without the computer? They are without a doubt the greatest invention since the wheel.
Dean Cowley, Hong Kong

When I left the UK I had three PCs, I now have five and am planning building two more. I have a high speed network at home, printer, scanner, CD-ROM writer, ISDN and a very large number of other add-ons, not to mention software. But, I'd choose my record collection before it all any day. I'd choose my books before it all any day. My PC can't touch my soul in the way that the memoirs of James Gregory or Monty Roberts did. It can't reach me where The Beatles, Rachmaninov or Natalie Merchant do. I choose American television after my computers every day. I don't love my computers, but they keep me busy and entertained. They are sufficient where television and radio here is worse than insufficient. In the UK I could listen to BBC Radio 4 or music while working at my PC, here I need my PC and my modems to get BBC Radio 5. The worst thing for the existing media organisations is that they can't compete with the advantage of being able to go and get just the information you want rather than being forced to choose the best (or perhaps least bad) of what's available.
David Mair, UK/USA

How could I possibly love my computer too much?! It's a beautiful Pentium Pro(r) with 64 mbRAM and a stunningly gorgeous 17inch monitor. Of course I love it, it's my window to the world! Hmmm ... that sounds very sad doesn't it, perhaps I should get out more...
Rachel Gillibrand, UK

As an Engineer I use computers nearly every day. I certainly wouldn't use them in my spare time. One thing that seems to be widely ignored is the health and safety implications of long term computer use, this is controlled to some extent in industry, but what about in the home? Where more and more people are using thier computers for long periods? Besides danger of eye damage and RSI, people who are glued to thier VDUs are not taking exercise. Using computers is probably one of the most unfulfilling pastimes, not far after watching television!
Andy Brown, UK

Sure we do! With many jobs nowadays requiring frequent travel to many places, a "virtual office" is the norm. Many people (favouring the quiet life) keep their telephone answering machines on all day, so e-mail is the only way to get through to them.
As local newsmakers can tap into satellite communications, newspapers (other than nationals) have to rely on sensationalism for sales and are, thankfully, on their way out. So the Internet is now the most convenient and accessible news source and, with a little discrimination, the Internet is a tolerably good reference source - pure entertainment a little less so. So yes! We are becoming to love 'em maybe a little too much.
Barry Latter, USA

The computer is still a relatively new toy for us. It's like a puppy in the house - at first it requires a lot of attention. It's like a new suit - when it's new one constantly wears it. It will pass with time.
Felix, Latvia

Since a computer is a general purpose tool, capable of many different uses, it's probably a bit inaccurate to compare time spent using it with other, single focus, activities. It would have been more interesting had Microsoft discovered what people where doing with their machines, rather than leaving at a simple measurement of use.
Therion Ware, Scotland

I think computers are playing far too an important part in children's lives, especially at an infant stage. It is imperative that parents do not simply sit their child in front of a computer screen and leave them to have their 'interactive' fun. They should be playing with other children, and learning to have a healthy and more social lifestyle. From an angry father of 12.
Tanvir Mustafa, UK

There isn't six hours of my life where my Notebook doesn't get switched on. It flies everywhere, goes on customer visits, use it at weekends writing letters in the garden. It works hard so it goes on holiday with us too. But loved too much - certainly not! I've never taken it to bed with us.
Stefan Wasinski, Australia

I wouldn't call it love....I've read through the other responses you've received so far and I believe there is definitely an addictive element to using a computer and surfing the Internet.
I've been working in the Electronics/Telecomms industry for the past 8 years. When I left school in 1990 there were no computers connected to the Internet, we only had the trusty ol' Archemedies machines to draw pretty pictures with (anyone remember those?)....more and more schools and colleges are now investing large sums of money on improving their networks to access the Internet and make learning a little more interesting.
In answer to your question though, I work with computers every day....but I'd rather talk about sex than who's got the latest DVD any day!
Alan Danks, UK

Sure we like our computers. It's keeping up with everyone else. If I had two things stolen from my house it would be my dog and my computer which would matter!!
Barrett, Canada

The computer is a fantastic learning tool and I love being able to communicate with my family in the UK via the Internet. I love my computer and am proud of it.
Leslie DiGennaro, United States

I do spend much time surfing the net, but I only use the computer at work. I don't love my computer at all, and it is just a tool.
Carol Wei, Taiwan

Computers are like a relationship in a way, we see them all the time, get sick of them and after a while get bored of them but can't face leaving them because they are so good for us.
Tony Quinn, Australia

My leisure time spent on the laptop ( also used for work) has virtually replaced television time - and that has to be good . I am able to pursue some long dormant interests to the full now . I am being 'educated ' by the net in the best possible way. I have also started to READ more books following initial interest sparked by surfing various topics .
Michael O'Rourke, Ireland

I certainly do not love my computer, I absolutely worship her.
Lorena, El Salvador

We all seem to be getting more in need of our PC's, even my technophobe father has recently bought and eventually learnt to use one (through many distraught phone calls), even though he couldn't set a video two years ago. Next target Granny, who can set a video!
Dom, UK

How can you love a computer TOO MUCH! It's like asking: "Do we love Jesus too much?"
Vidan Slana, Yugoslavia

Using computers and the internet happens instead of watching TV and is more useful: BBC news is available online whenever I have the time. A limited account guarantees that daytime activities (outside walks) continue as before.
Tuur Ottevaere, Belgium

I HATE the thing, in part because I'm addicted to it. So, I just use the PCs at work. Although I live in a mid-city penthouse apartment, I gave away the computer as part of the effort to make home a minimum technology retreat, for reading, sketching, exercising and such. The computers and phone gadgets were driving me nuts!
Barrie Martindale, Canada

I work in technical support, so I see computers all day, everyday. While I enjoy being on the 'net and tinkering, I bike to work to stay outdoors and am not above taking the weekend to climb the local mountains. Computers are tools and when the tool becomes more important than the task, it is time to find a better tool.
Stuart Holland, USA

No way! Computers are, as people say, the future. I haven't used snail mail for over three years now that we have email. Computers are just a very efficient means of communication and work. Now if one spends all day working, or keeping in touch, one would obviously be with a terminal. But that doesn't mean he/she is a computer addict. They are just doing something they would even otherwise do. Why this anticomputer feeling? No one asks if we spend too much time on the phone.
Jaideep Prabhu, USA

We are in a very preliminary phase of computer and web use. At the moment there is little danger in the addication of consumers to the net, because the net is more or less an anarchy. Wait ten years, and you will see entire populations manipulated by their addiction to an Internet which is controlled by advertisers, corporations and other opinion-makers. There are already calls to censor content, as usual using pornography as the thin end of the censor's wedge. But the technology exists to deny groups of users, including entire countries and their populations, access to web sites that are considered to be unacceptable. People who currently yap away about how governments don't seem to be capable of controlling the net should spend a few moments asking themselves why it is that even authoritarian governments seem to be so unconcerned. It's because they know that when controls finally are applied, that will make the net a devestatingly effective tool for opinion control.
Jon Livesey, USA

We are all addicted to them. Iits like nicotine !!
Hasan Ansari, USA

Compared to some of the programmes on TV nowadays, surfing the net can be more exciting and far more informative if used correctly.
G Shaw, UK

Love is something which cannot be attached to a non living thing. A computer is a means to accomplish our daily life tasks in a more easy way.
Zaneer, USA

My PC has opened channels of communication and access to information and news sources that before were impossible. I get to type and re-type and save tons of paper and ink because word processors run huge statistical analyses within seconds. The first thing I do when I return home is to turn the thing on. Before anything else.
Christos N Kyrou, USA

Errr...so you're asking people already using the Net if they are using it too much and expecting anything other than an "of course not!" result? Methinks the sample is skewed, Sire.
KS, UK

It should come as no surprise that people are heavy users of computers at home. It is well known that there is a large demand for interesting and controversial news and media reporting. However such a thing is rare now both in the press and on the TV. I use the Internet to obtain almost all my news, and having discovered that the UK is highly self-censoring I rely on the Internet to get a clearer view of whats going on in the world. Maybee the population will wake up and see that Tony Blair is undemocratic, and the Rupert Murdochs constant reruns of repeats are nothing other than brainwashing.
Hugh W Gleaves, UK

We spend more time using these infernal things than ever before because companies like Micosoft progressively release software double the size of the previous version with twice as many features and half as much usability. An example: they (and others) now release their premier Encyclopeadia disc on two, or even, three CD-ROMs when it contains little more than 10% more articles than previously. A great way to push up sales of higher capacity DVD-ROMs. Techology now appears to me at least, to be technology driven and not demand driven. We have 1 billion digital channels to choose from when it is difficult to find interest on the current 5. Don't believe the hype. Anyway I must get back to surfing for deals for DVD-rom cards for my PC and widescreen TVs - I kid you not.
Paul Smith, UK

My partner and family are getting fed up with the amount of time I spend in front of my machine. However much of this is caused by the fact that I need to be familiar with an ever increasing number of software applications. Most of which I am not trained to use at my company. Better job prospects go to those that appear to know how to use this technology effectively. Just imagine in the days before computers we didn't have to know anything about them. Are they realy improving the countries efficiency or are the Americans just milking us by playing on our instincts for not wishing to appear ignorant!
Kevin Field, UK

Too much? No. More than TV? Of course.
Geoff Arnold, USA

It has certainly increased the amunt of enjoyment I get out of life. I would not now be without it! Thank you for allowing me to express my opinion - by the way, I am 70 years old.
N Darville, The Bahamas

I spend a lot of time in front of the computer both at home and at work. I like using it, but I spend a lot of time doing other things too. Nothing unhealthy about being interested in the tools of your trade.
Benjamin, UK

One out of four households owning a PC means that three out of four do not have one - more than the percentage that have a car. Hardly mass ownership.
Shawn Pearson, UK

I knew my husband liked computers and we got a computer as a wedding present. In the weeks that followed I began to get tired of him finishing his dinner and disappearing upstairs not to be seen again until he climbed into bed at about 3am. I couldn't understand all the fuss but quickly realised that I would either have to find out what it was all about or divorce him! Once I got into it I was hooked. Computers now play a vital part in my career and have helped me to achieve a unique position in my work. We now have two computers at home - networked to each other and both spend our evenings working and playing!! (Sad but true!) We had our holiday last year in the Czech republic, staying with friends we had met on the net.
Ros Potapov, UK

I'm a Texan who is engaged to be married to a wonderful English man who I met on the net by way of a random chat. If not for computers, I would have never know this man, my soulmate, existed. I'm totally for having computers in the home.
Kelly Roberts, USA

Since my retirement, my PC has opened up a whole new World for me. Educational, socially, entertainment, news etc. PCs have given me a new outlook on life. I spend at least 6 hours per day on the "Net" and find that TV is boring by comparison.
Bernard Rose, USA

I think it's a bit of a shame that people have embraced the home computer in such a whole-hearted way, as quite frankly it turns most of them into inadequate social bores who "can't remember the last time they went out for a drink." This is a malaise that affects not just the UK, but pretty much the entire western world - people believe that the more advanced and complicated equipment they have installed in their homes, then the better they are. It's just a new way of keeping up with the Jones's, and it's turning a lot of folk into tech-snobs who believe everyone without a computer is thick and not "up to date". What a load of codswallop! It's about time people got out a bit more and enjoyed themselves instead of sitting at home and worrying about "our increasingly violent and individualistic society" from behind their computer, and indeed, TV screens. By sitting at home and playing childish video games, surfing dodgy web sites and watching endless nonsense on TV, they are directly contributing to the societal problems they stay in to avoid! So, get yourselves down the pub, club or rub-a-dub-dub and get a life, at least once a week - it won't hurt you, will it?!
Dave, UK

Yes, we do love our computers too much, but then again we also love our televisions, games consoles and other non-activities too much as well. Don't get me wrong, I am a computer professional and I feel that computers are useful tools as well as fun diversions. I simply feel that people these days are more insular and closed-in than they need to be (or should be). I am now 22 and I enjoy going out and about, and I believe that TV and computers should be used and enjoyed, but let's not forget that we are people and not just couch-trapped drones.
Paul Charters, UK

Our biggest challenge in life is how can we make things easier? And that's exactly what a computer does. It takes the most time consuming of tasks (Banking, Shopping, Research...) and simplifies them so they take minutes rather than hours. Leaving time for other activities.
James Henshall, England

I don't love mine too much, just enough. It is a great way to keep in touch with my daughter who now has an e-mail address. Before that I would no more use the computer than fly to the moon, but now it is a wonderful way of keeping in touch with her and so fast, poor Royal Mail seems so slow!
Rosemary Hamilton, England

As far as I am concerned, Computers and the internet are becoming the entertainment medium of the late-90's and the next millennium. To use a horrid buzz-word, they are more "interactive", and give you more choice, and today's consumers want more than plain tv (even digital tv with many channels) can give them.
Tony Miller, England

Crazy about computers no_. but I do use my computers quiet a lot, I spend only a few mins on the Internet, but I do confess to playing games for a longer period than I should, but to suggest I should be watching soaps no thank you.
I have 4 computers of my own each for a different job, Internet, Radio Amateur BBS, Compiling software and a laptop for general use and I probably do spend more time on the computer than eating which maybe just as well, as I am over weight (slightly).
As for old people falling for the technology not sure if I fit the bill being only over 50, but I will go along with that. The comment about "would it be better to be outside playing some sport", well I normally use the computers in the evenings when its dark, and at that time of night not many sports to be played apart from a darts or pools match at the local pub, but during the day I do walk and cycle fair distances.
Yes I do talk about computers, never talk about football as it's boring, as for sex I am more into action than talking, well from what I remember.
John Foster, England

Of course not. It is just a case of people having more leisure time. In fact, other research has shown that TV viewing figures dropping over the years and a lot of the slack has been taken up by using computers. Computers can offer a far more interactive experience than TV. The only downside to all this is the amount of time people use computers to view undesirable subject matter such as child pornography, racism, etc.
Andrew, UK

Do I spend more time on the computer than watching soaps? What's so great about watching soaps? The time I spend with computers is far more useful than that spent watching Eastenders or Neighbours, or the latest fly-on-the-wall docu-soap.
Rob Marriott, UK

Computers are an extremely useful interactive communication tool, particularly since the development of the Internet. It's far more educational to access real people via a computer and the Internet than watch TV soaps, and it unites people from all over the world. Personally I couldn't give a damn if I don't see Coronation Street again.
I would prefer to use the Internet as a source of information far more than I would trust being spoon fed by a TV news broadcast or reading complete garbage published by the gutter press.
Steve N, UK

People need to learn how to recognise their discipline limits in terms of what they need to be a balanced human being. When we ignore our needs, be it intellectual or affective, we suffer. Computers are more often an easy distraction than a tool for work (or play for that matter).
Emmanuel Scerri, Canada

I love my computer, but not too much. I spend 2-3 hours per day on my own PC. I always start the day with the BBC news live, essential for ex-pats!
Kathleen Sullivan, USA

Why is surfing the web "bad" while other lone activities, like reading books, "good". As a mind expanding activity web browsing takes a lot of beating.
R Morton, UK

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