Recent comments in /f/dataisbeautiful

WarpingLasherNoob t1_jdi7qiv wrote

> Why would you need to print out stuff?

Because of people that still don't know how to use email?

Because of institutions that still require you to send physical letters?

Because you sometimes need to stick a notice on a door or wall for other people to read?

Because you need to print and sign physical copies of some work related documents? (I guess you could use the office printer for this, but I could play the devil's advocate here and say that going to the office instead of working remote is a retro activity in 2023.)

Sure I only need to use the printer maybe once a month (the scanner sees a lot more use). But not having a printer would make life extremely inconvenient where I live.

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dabnagit t1_jdi7lb5 wrote

I'm finding this data...doubtful. At least for some questions, but therefore doubtful for all questions. Which is what you get with opt-in YouGov surveys like this. Others here have mentioned the telegram question: an actual telegram vs the app Telegram? (Fun fact: the former Western Union network since 2006 has been operated by a company called "International Telegram." To send a 24-hr-delivery telegram in the US is $34 + 75¢/word. Which would make for an expensive birthday card, but could be worth it for the right occasion.)

Beyond that question, I find it interesting at least, if not dubious, that:

  • under 30s are the most likely to still be renting videos from a video store (are they perhaps including online stores, since it didn't specify physical store?)...and also the most likely to have never done so
  • under 30s are also the most likely to still be using dial-up modems (really?)
  • a fifth of under 30 year olds are still using overhead projectors? (could this have been a confusion between the old classroom "overhead projectors" vs a ceiling-mounted projector a laptop display can be ported to for PowerPoint, etc., presentations?)
  • nearly a quarter of people are still sending postcards? Maybe. (I mean, I do -- rarely -- but I'm very retro in my tastes.)
  • over a fifth of people in the U.S. are currently writing with fountain pens? (Again, I do -- often -- but...c'mon.)
  • And, finally, which for me really throws all of this survey into doubt (including the fact that Trump voters are more likely to have quit buying newspapers and less likely to own a dictionary, both of which I can believe, but I now know I can't rely on this data to prove it): 44% of 30-44 year olds have stored data on a punch card?? I've worked on a computer for the last 36 years and I have never done this. I've know some people who, early in their careers in technology (which started even before mine), have done so. But this is only because for a while I worked for the company that invented the damn punch card. And even there, finding such people around still was a rarity. And yet, according to this: 14% of under 30s are still using punch cards? I do not think so.
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AverageAustralian111 t1_jdi72xv wrote

This is not a sound causality chain, US life expectancy is pulled way down by the mountain of drug overdoses they have among young people.

Life expectancy is the result of more factors than just healthcare quality, just because a country has a higher life expectancy, does not mean they have better healthcare and vis versa.

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