You don't have to tell me that the digital video recorder (DVR) has become an institution in the American home. Any family with a toddler knows how nice it is to start playing a TV show instantly when they start screaming, "Dora! Dora! Dora!", and how painful it is to explain to same toddler, "No, you can't watch that show, it's not on yet" if you don't have said show saved on the DVR.
But now there's a study that proves how essential the DVR is to Americans. According to the NDS DVR Report, more than 80% of Americans say they can't live without a DVR, and other than the washing machine (97%) and microwave oven (86%), no other device in the home is more essential. In terms of "essential technology gadgets", the DVR comes in second (81%) to the mobile phone (92%). According to the survey, more respondents would give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio, hairdryer and MP3 player rather than their DVR.
The DVR apparently also makes for a happier home. According to the study, 81% of respondents with families say the DVR has improved family life, and 79% say that using a DVR has improved their relationship with their partner.
Other fun facts from the survey (share with friends!):
* 57% of DVR owners watch more than three hours of live or recorded TV daily.
* Male DVR owners watch more recorded TV on average than women (2.2 hours vs. 2.0 hours).
* 67% say the DVR is much easier to operate than a VCR.
* 59% say they are watching more interesting TV shows since getting a DVR.
I have a question for the survey takers for next year – what percentage of saved DVR shows never get watched? I have about 10 "Hogan's Heroes" episodes that I keep meaning to watch, but something else is always on when I'm ready to watch.
NDS press release is here if you want to read more stats.
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Correctly stating the stats
Interesting statistics. Actually since only DVR owners were surveyed it is incorrect to state that "more than 80% of Americans say they can't live without a DVR". The correct stat is that more than 80% of Americans that own DVRs say they can't live without a DVR". The unanswered question is what % of Americans own DVRs. After that I can tell if this is an impressive stat or not.
Flawed Study
If there's anyone who deserves to be held to public scrutiny, it's NDS, especially when they start throwing around statistics claiming that their product is essential to life. Their site is pock-marked with grammatical errors--almost as many errors (or exaggerations, or lies) as the study itself.
http://www.nds.com/about_nds/about_nds.html
I especially like the first sentence: NDS creates the security and enabling technologies as well as the interactive applications that allow operators to generate revenues by delivering digital content to TVs, set-top boxes (STBs), Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), PCs, mobile phones, portable media players (PMPs), removable media, and other devices.
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