Survey: Many would take Internet over sex

Story Highlights
Survey: Nearly half of women would forgo sex rather than give up Internet access

More women than men would be willing to give up sex, the survey found

The survey, commissioned by Intel, queried 2,119 adults in the U.S. last month

Most adults also would forgo two weeks of TV over one week of Internet use


By Dawn Kawamoto
(CNET) -- Just how reliant are you on the Internet?

Nearly half of the women questioned by Harris Interactive said they'd be willing to forgo sex for two weeks, rather than give up their Internet access, according to a study released Monday by Intel, which commissioned the survey.

While 46 percent of the women surveyed were willing to engage in abstinence versus losing their Internet, only 30 percent of the men surveyed were willing to do likewise.

The U.S. survey, which queried 2,119 adults last month, found that the gap grew even wider for both men and woman who were 18 to 34 years old. For woman, the percentage of those willing to skip the sheets in favor of the Web rose to 49 percent, while it climbed to 39 percent for men.

And for women 35 to 44 years old, the figure jumped to 52 percent.

(Results as of Monday from CNET's related online poll showed that 30.5 percent of respondents would give up sex for one year, while 26.1 percent would do without Internet access for a year. Almost 40 percent of voters didn't want to sacrifice either.)

These figures were just some of the tidbits that came out of the Intel's broader commissioned study on Americans' reliance on the Internet in today's economy.

Though not as sexy but equally interesting, the survey also found that 87 percent of respondents said the Internet saves them money.

Specifically, 84 percent of those surveyed found the Internet saved them money by comparing prices online and searching out the best deals, while 65 percent said it aided them in finding coupons, discounts, and special promotions.

And TV, which has been losing its share of eyeball time to the Internet over the years, found that the majority of adults would be willing to forgo two weeks of watching TV versus losing one week on the Internet.

Of course when it comes to TV, perhaps size matters, at least according to a different survey earlier this year of Britons conducted by electronics retailer Comet. Almost half of the men polled said they would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV, according to Reuters.

That compared with just over a third of women who were willing to make the same sacrifice for the big-screen television.

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. CNET, CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. Used by permission.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/T...index.html

Seeing that this is a well visited spot on the internet, what say ye, Org? Do you agree or disagree?

The internet is my sex life these days.

Who the hell can't go 2 weeks without sex?


Of course, are they talking about masturbating as well?
Cause back in '07 I went on a vacation with my mom which made
masturbating terribly difficult considering her close proximity.

It was hell.

when I had to go 2 weeks without internet I nearly died!
I've gone way longer without sex and hardly noticed

Who the hell can't go 2 weeks without sex?


Of course, are they talking about masturbating as well?
Cause back in '07 I went on a vacation with my mom which made
masturbating terribly difficult considering her close proximity.

It was hell.

I wonder if they polled people who actually take vacations?

The average vacation amongst people where I live is 2 weeks. In Italy, people take off for almost a month during August. A lot of the time at your vacation destination you end up without tv, let alone internet. Even electronics addicted Tokyoites get 12-14 days off, and most people I know would be mortified at the idea of opening a laptop on their down time. Too much sight seeing, beach combing, and butt slapping to do :Nah,given the the choice, internet would have to go for me. Even at home. I think it would be more fun to have the extra lovin'

Ottensen said:

Me too. When we were on holiday for two weeks in April with no phone, TV or internet access, I was a happy girl.

Reading, relaxing, site seeing, snorkeling, eating, experiencing new cultures and sexing!

It don't get better than that!

Ottensen said:

Me too. When we were on holiday for two weeks in April with no phone, TV or internet access, I was a happy girl.

Reading, relaxing, site seeing, snorkeling, eating, experiencing new cultures and sexing!

It don't get better than that!

I wonder if they polled people who actually take vacations?

The average vacation amongst people where I live is 2 weeks. In Italy, people take off for almost a month during August. A lot of the time at your vacation destination you end up without tv, let alone internet. Even electronics addicted Tokyoites get 12-14 days off, and most people I know would be mortified at the idea of opening a laptop on their down time. Too much sight seeing, beach combing, and butt slapping to do :Nah,given the the choice, internet would have to go for me. Even at home. I think it would be more fun to have the extra lovin'

Ottensen said:

I know very few people who can take those kinds of vacations. Either they can't afford it or they can't get that much time off or both.

America is WAY screwed up when it comes to work/life balance stuff.

CarrieMpls said:

I remember back in the day when my parents were younger, vacations were longer in the States. I remember mom got 4 weeks, and dad got 5 weeks, but they had an age difference and were each at their long term jobs for different lengths of time. Even still, when we would make our family road trips my folks would freak out if there wasn't a large tv available to watch...I guess their tv(sports and soaps) was their equvilent to our internet

I'm not giving up either one. Although I'd be far more reluctant to give up sex than the internet. A lot of people rely on the internet for social purposes and I don't. I don't do the MySpace, Facebook, etc. stuff. You wanna know how I'm doing? Call me. Text me. Stop by (no, actually, don't do that). Meet me out somewhere. I love my computer, mind you. But, the internet, I could definitely do without for awhile.

For awhile...

violator said:

It's 2 weeks!

I'm as sexual as one can get, but not getting it for 2 weeks is no big deal at all.

JustErin said:

Yeah, but you live on the internet, so I can understand that for you.

violator said:

I don't have much choice.

JustErin said:

Awww....

I feel bad now. I thought you were going to tell me to fuck off or something...

The Internet is better than sex. You can't watch a hot chick getting boinked on the latter.