How many computers do you have at home?
@jewelenterprises (1996)
Australia
April 27, 2008 10:55pm CST
Okay, in this the information age, the computer has become a very common household item.
Personally, I have three computers... one for each member of the family. My seven year old daughter got hers about 3 years ago because we got sick of her changing the settings on our computers and messing things up.
Personally, I'd love to get a laptop... specifically a macbook. Then I could do some of my work in the bedroom if it was something important and I didn't want to be disturbed. I'd use my normal computer for leisure and my macbook for business.
So how many computers do you have at home? Is there one for each family member or do the children share?
Do all computers share the internet connection via a network or are there only certain computers that have internet?
If you have children who have their own computer, is their computer in their bedroom or in a communal area where you can keep an eye on what they're doing?
7 people like this
50 responses
@Malyck (3425)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
We have three computers, the one communal family one in our office, my boyfriend's pc and my laptop.
They're all connected to the internet through our wireless network.
My dad bought my laptop for me a few Christmases ago as a joint birthday/Xmas present with my digital camera, so that I had a place to store and edit my photography and do my school work, but it wasn't connected to the internet until my boyfriend came to live with us and taught me all the wonders of wireless, as he's a bit of a techy and builds/fixes computers =D
Now that my dad doesn't live here any more, and my sister has moved away for University it turns out that the three of us have a computer each.
Mum is a bit computer illiterate though, so I help her when she wants to do some research or download something =)
My boyfriend is hoping to save up for a laptop by the end of the year, because they're just so handy to have, especially as a student.
=D
1 person likes this
@Malyck (3425)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
Wow, that's quite a family CV =D
I remember when my mum had to call a friend to find out how to turn the computer off, and she hasn't progressed much further than that.
Good on you for all your achievements, I'm definitely not that good, although it's also not an interest of mine, so I suppose that's okay =D
But really, congrats on being so tech-savvy from your humble beginnings as a technophobe! =D
1 person likes this
@Malyck (3425)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
Haha, it would be kind of amusing if she did, though =)
It's amazing how outsmarted I feel by so many like 12 and 13 year old kids who can pull apart and rebuild computers and know their innermost workings, it's insane the things they can do!
I know how to navigate the internet well, but I know nothing when it comes to true html, site-building etc, and there are kids and young teenagers who are making their own, without any formal education in it. It's impressive =)
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
It's good to have a computer each.
I remember when we bought our first PC in 1993... it had a massive 250 mb hard drive. A 3.5" drive, A 5.25" drive, no cdrom or soundcard A real dinosaur!
I thought it was absolutely awesome. But I was a technophobe...every time I got an error message I freaked out and called my husband. I couldn't even install a new program in those days.
Now I'm very computer savvy, develop my own websites including pop ups, sound files etc. As far as my family goes though I am probably the least computer savvy. Both my oldest son and daughter would be better than me. My son is 15 and is already creating programs. My oldest daughter is 18 and creates anime cartoons on her pc. And my ex husband..well, he's a professional computer programmer.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
28 Apr 08
I have a laptop and two desktops of my own. My laptop travels alot with me.
Currently i also have a desktop pc i brought home with me to work on from work and 3 laptops. They'll be back at work and ready to go home with their owners tomorrow morning.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
Oh, an IT person huh?.. bringing home the homeless puters to fix
People who work in the field often do tend to have lots of computers.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
I generally upgrade mine every three or four years.
My partner usually gets the new one, I get my partners and mine goes to our daughter.
Our daughters one usually gets stripped of any usable parts like hard drive, CDROM and power supply. Or it gets given to a friend who builds computers.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
It seems most homes have more than one PC these days. But there are still those who have only one.
I wonder what the overall percentage of homes containing PCs is these days.
@nice030481 (1109)
• Philippines
28 Apr 08
i have only one computer at home but now it broke down. i need to buy power supply to repair it. i ddnt yet make canvass how much the power supply is.
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
Try http://www.dhgate.com
It's like a Asian Ebay site... but the products are really cheap. I had a look and their power supplies all started around the $80 mark which is a lot better than retail price.
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
28 Apr 08
with our dependence on the interent for basically about everything, i think its not unusual to see a 1:1 ratio for family members to computers.
at home, i have one desktop and one laptop. i'm the only one who really uses a computer so i guess two computers are enough. the desktop i use for checking emails and surfing the net while the laptop i use for my online business activites. i'm planning though to upgrade my laptop so i'll probably buy a new unit and sell my current one.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
Of course it's not just internet either... computers make it so much easier to do school projects etc... even if all you've got is a PC encyclopedia program.
But yeah, I use the internet for a lot of things, shopping, banking, researching products I want to buy, typing letters and documents, getting insurance quotes, entertainment, online business etc.
I really couldn't imagine life without it now.
What sort of online business do you have?
@ozzieblackcat (531)
• United States
28 Apr 08
We just got our second household computer....another Dell desktop. We needed another one as a back up because this one is starting to have a few problems. We have to leave the cover off the processor so it won't get too hot. My husband has also starting using the computer more and we didn't want to have to take turns. lol. It's great now having two computers.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
Oh yes, not having to argue over who gets to use the computer is a definite advantage.
These days I tend to use the computer more than watching tv.
1 person likes this
@sincere4frdship (2228)
• India
28 Apr 08
Well, I have one computer and one laptop at my home .
Computer is very old , when I was in class 12 my uncle gifted me that . But when I started doing computer networking course, I purchased my laptop.....
thanks !!!
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
My daughters computer is the oldest one of the three.. we gave it to her when we upgraded mine... it's good enough for her needs. She's only in grade two so she really doesn't need some flash computer.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
Good luck with the new computer... it's always fun when you get a new one isn't it?
Someone was saying the other day that windows XP is being taken off the market. I think I will have to grab a copy of the pro version before it goes since I've heard people say they don't really like windows vista.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
Seems like most households have more than one computer these days. My collection has grown as we have upgraded. As long as the old one is working it gets handed down.
1 person likes this
@BUSSY1979 (1283)
• United States
28 Apr 08
we've got two computers in our home. i use a laptop, and my g/f uses the desktop. but we've bad the desktop
longer than the laptop. i just recently bought the laptop for myself here about a couple months ago.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
It's always good to have more than one computer so that more than one person can access it together
1 person likes this
@rpegan (596)
• United States
28 Apr 08
There are currently three computers at my house. There's one in the living room/work room, and there's one in my room. I also have a laptop that I use to do work while I'm on campus. Right now there are only two internet connections, but there were three when my brother lived here. I just transfer the connection between my laptop and my desktop computer depending on what work I need to do.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
All three of ours are in the home office. We had a wall to wall desk built to get rid of the clutter of desks in the room. My daughter sits between my partner and I.
We are all networked with a shared internet connection. It's cable broadband and its plugged into the router along with the three computers.
The router is also compatible with wireless so if I do get my macbook I'll still be able to access my internet connection.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
Kids just seem to love anything with buttons. And with technology the way it is these days I think it's important to introduce them to the concept at an early age.
@qdietz (244)
• United States
28 Apr 08
we have 4 computers at home + on laptop used for work.
I own a laptop that I use for work/home, we have a PC thats for my parents, another mac (old) for video editing, my mom just got a new mac laptop and my dad has a computer he got with his job.
We will probably get rid of the PC and the old mac as their use is limited and they are becoming useless.
There is one for each family member but I am an only child, the computers do share one internet connection. My computer (child age 17), is a laptop and it goes to school with me everyday or else it sleeps in my room, I move around with it too. My parents do not look at what I am doing, they trust me.
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
Well, I would hope that at 17 you can be trusted to be responsible with the computer. Then again, at that age you're pretty much responsible for yourself anyhow.
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@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
1 May 08
Personally, I'm so accustomed with the computer having internet that I really can't see much point in having one without it.
I got my first PC in 1993 but didn't have internet till two years later so now I've been cruising the net for 13 years... holy moly, I think I'm showing my age LOL.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
29 Apr 08
I personally have a laptop, and the family shares a desk top.
More for convenience rather than to keep an eye on everyone. My Dad couldn't compute to save his life, Mom uses it to work, my little brother only plays games, and I do different varied things which no one else here really cares about lol.
So the desktop gets more use.
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
What sort of work does your mum do on the computer?
Personally, I prefer to have my own computer, it saves arguments.
@Kecia08 (554)
• United States
28 Apr 08
My husband and I each have our own computer. He has a desktop computer, and I have my laptop. He doesn't like laptops because of there's no where to sit the mouse (and he won't use the touchpad!), and I like the flexibility of the laptop. We are usually on the computers at the same time, so it only makes sense to have our own!
1 person likes this
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
28 Apr 08
LOL, that's for sure... it might get a little crowded with you both trying to use the one computer at the same time.
1 person likes this
@julyteen (13252)
• Davao, Philippines
1 May 08
i live alone so i own only one computers at home. i have plan to acquire a laptop for my business transaction so that wherever i go i can make business. I missed mylot if i'm not home so if i have laptop even i'm on vacation still i can participate here.
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
1 May 08
I can see myself sitting at work engaging in mylot discussions during my lunch break LOL... only when I've got my laptop of course.
I'd look a bit silly carrying my desktop around don't you think?
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
Yeah, I usually find that most computers last 4-5 years before they start playing up a bit. I don't generally bother to update them though. I'd rather upgrade the whole computer and get the newer technology.
@rovermadman (80)
• New Zealand
1 May 08
Just the one I'm afraid and my wife and I share it.
I just saw an item on tv though that suggested we will all use our tv's as the main computer soon with everything hooked into it including your household appliances.
What will happen to the people that can't even start the microwave?
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
1 May 08
LOL, sometimes you need a uni degree just to operate a microwave rover... with everything linked together just imagine how confusing it would be.
Have you seen those LG refrigerators that have a built in TV/computer screen with internet?