Computer ownership by country

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12758865

by davidw • 18 years ago

13 13 18 years ago

cawel2• 18 years ago

Ah. Israel has more computers than people.

a-priori• 18 years ago

Yes, I'm interested in this too. I knew Israel is tech-savvy (lots of startups, etc.), but I didn't expect this statistic to be so high.

Are there any Israelis here that could shed light on this?

nir2• 18 years ago

I'm Israeli. I did expect it to be high on the list, but that gap between it and 2nd place is quite surprising...

I can think of a few reasons:

1. Israel is in a way similar to a big city - a small place and tightly knit. It's a young nation without much traditions so people are open to try new technologies and if they work out they quickly spread.

2. Since Israel's main industry is hi-tech (it's 2nd or 3rd in number of NASDAQ traded companies) having a computer is seen by parents as important for their childrens' future prospects.

3. There is some still kind of respect for knowledge mentality (you wouldn't know it from the reality shows on our TV channels, but it's one of the top book reading nations) which meshes well with the internet etc.

vaksel• 18 years ago

everyone probably owns 1 PC + 1 Notebook

apstuff2• 18 years ago

I've never been to 'Canda' so I can't speak to the issue.

sspencer• 18 years ago

I believe they mean Canadia.

cawel2• 18 years ago

And personally I think they mean 'Canada' :)

apstuff2• 18 years ago

The list is from 2006. It would be interesting to see the current numbers for Brazil and Russia given their supposed ascendancy. Plus, half the world's population live in China and India, neither of which is on the list.

alecco• 18 years ago

This is a made up list. There are too many countries missing and sources not cited.

Plus it's an ad! How is this in HN front page?

russell• 18 years ago

It's the top 50 countries, ranked by computers per 100 population. China and India are still quite rural. I would not expect a significant percentage yet.

lhorie• 18 years ago

I don't know about Russia, but the number for Brazil doesn't sound too farfetched, the percentage of people in the middle class there is rather slim compared to percentage of poor people, even today.

Computer ownership by country

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