世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s a quickie report from japan.internet.com on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into customising one’s desktop at home.

Demographics

On the 31st of March 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in either the public or private sector successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 78.5% of the sample was male, 12.1% in their twenties, 39.0% in their thirties, 36.9% in their forties, 10.6% in their fifties, and 1.5% in their sixties.

I don’t bother with gadgets myself. I did once try out Opera-based ones, but they just got in the way, as does Google’s toolbar stuff, so I keep that safely out of the way docked at the bottom of the screen.

Research results

As the survey was concerned with home computers, those without them were eliminated from the survey, leaving 323 people to answer the following questions.

First, they were asked how many icons they had on their desktop. The most popular number was between 11 and 20 icons, with 35.3% having that many. Next, 28.5% had 5 to 10 icons, and 12.1% had 21 to 30. In total around three in five had more than ten icons on their desktop.

Q1: What kind of wallpaper do you currently have on your home computer? (Sample size=323)

Picture supplied with the computer	31.9%
Photo I took myself	18.0%
Nature, scenery	9.0%
Animation, etc, character	8.4%
Famous person, pin-up	6.5%
Vehicles, transport	5.0%
Animal, pet	3.1%
Artwork	2.8%
Sport	2.2%
Clock, calendar	1.5%
Lifestyle, hobby related	0.9%
Movie, drama related	0.6%
Television, advertising related	0.3%
No wallpaper at all	9.0%

When asked how often they changed their wallpaper, the most popular answer was whenever they found a picture they likes, with 26.9% doing so. Next, 21.8% changed less than once per year, and about 17.7% about once every six months.

Q2: Do you have gadgets on your desktop? (Sample size=323)

Yes (to SQ)	18.3%
No, never	71.2%
Used to	5.3%
Don’t know	5.3%

Q2SQ: What kinds of gadgets do you have on your desktop? (Sample size=59, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Clock, calendar	36	61.0%
Weather forecast	35	59.3%
News, information	32	54.2%
Tool (calculator, map, etc)	16	27.1%
Photograph, video	6	10.2%
Virtual pet	2	3.4%
Music	1	1.7%
Recipe	0	0.0%
Game, entertainment	0	0.0%
Other	5	8.5%