IJMC - Dataholics?

Why do I see that phrase spawning Star Trek: The Next Generation jokes? 
Maybe because I've already thought of two myself. Anyway, this appears to 
be a valid Reuters survey. I found it in a couple of internet news sites 
that well, I trust them more than I don't. For now. Be afraid.      -dave






Tuesday December 9 10:45 PM EST

New 'Dataholics' Generation on Rise - Survey

By Susan Cornwell

LONDON (Reuters) - A generation of "dataholics" is on the rise, with more
than half of all business people saying they crave
information, especially from computers and the Internet.

A Reuters survey of 1,000 international business people said 53 percent
admitted to craving information and 54 percent
claimed to get a "high" when they find what they have been seeking in an
electronic search.

At the same time, they often feel overwhelmed by all the information at
their disposal and worry that their children are turning
into info-junkies. Forty-six percent of those surveyed said their children
already prefer computers to their peers.

The survey, "Glued to the Screen: An investigation into information
addiction worldwide," is based on interviews with people in
the United States, Britain, Ireland, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong.

"Is information the drug of the '90s?" asked Mark Griffiths, a psychologist
 and senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University,
commenting on the survey. "Have we become fact-fanatics and info-junkies?
There is a very fine line between having enough
information and getting too much."

CLEAR LINK TO INFORMATION ADDICTION

He added: "This report reveals a clear linkage between Internet abuse, data
 accumulation and information addiction."

Paul Waddington, a spokesman for Reuters, the global news and information
group, said information-gathering in itself was not
the problem. "It's a problem when it starts to affect the way people
perform in business and in the way it affects their home life.
When people are spending three or four hours on the Internet, clearly it is
 not good for productivity at work, and the same thing
is true at home."

The survey said 80 percent of respondents felt driven to gather as much
information as possible to keep up with customers and
competitors, but more than half of them felt unable to handle all the
information they accumulated.

A whopping 97 percent believed their companies would benefit from
information management training and 86 percent believed
schools and colleges should be doing more to prepare children to deal
effectively with information.

"I don't think this is an argument in favor of the Luddite (negative) view
of technology. It is to support the effective use of
technology and not to have time wasted by fruitless browsing," Waddington
said.

The results of the survey also reflect the fact that the Internet is very
disorganized, he said.

Three hundred of those surveyed were parents. Of this group, 36 percent
worried that their children were overexposed to
information.

"If the children had their heads buried in the Encyclopedia Britannica,
they wouldn't worry at all. They are concerned that what
their children are doing online isn't productive or helping their
development," Waddington said.

The survey follows a 1996 Reuters report that found that increasing numbers
of people suffer ill health due to the stress of information overload.