FUTURE BRIEF POLL RESULTS:

The following questions were submitted by Future Brief readers. The poll itself, taken by a statistically-valid sample of more than 13,400 adult Americans, was conducted by Zogby International, an opinion research firm, on January 27-30, 2006.

QUESTION: Which of the following do you consider to be the most inconvenient aspect of using technology in your day-to-day life?

RESULTS:*

-Technology is too complicated: 4.1%

-Technology becomes obsolete: 19.0%

- Technology is insecure: 12.5%

- We have become too dependent on technology: 31.1%

- None: 30.5%

- Not sure: 2.8%

*Due to rounding, percentages may add up to over 100%. Margin of error is +/- 0.9%

It appears that income has some impact on the way in which Americans feel about technology in their day-to-day lives. 35.6% of those making less than $15,000 a year feel that we have become too dependent on technology, while only 29.5% of those making more than $75,000 feel that we are too dependent.

Geography also seems to have a minor impact on the way in which Americans view their day-to-day use of technology. Somewhat counter-intuitively, 33% of people in rural areas feel that we are becoming too dependent on technology, compared to only 30% in large cities.

Next: Which of the following would you most like to see accomplished through the development of emerging technologies?