New research by Microsoft suggests that in just four years' time, TV will no longer be the dominating force in home entertainment, with internet set to overtake as the main source of content for consumers in the home.
"Based on current growth trends, Microsoft projections estimate that internet consumption will outstrip traditional TV in June by 2010, averaging 14.2 hours per week against 11.5 hours for TV," The report, titled 'Europe logs on: internet trends of today and tomorrow', suggests.
If the rather precise report is right (why June?) this means that in 2013, Joe Public will be wiling away 2.5 days a month on the internet.
Mobile web increasing
Interestingly, the report also says that internet use on PCs will drop from 95 per cent to 50 per cent in five years.
This prediction points to a move away from computers to web-enabled TV sets, mobile phones and games consoles.
When it comes to mobile web browsing, it is expected that 30 per cent of all mobile phone users in 2013 will watch some sort of video on their handsets. This will be up from 19 per cent in 2008.
The growth of video-capable handsets will be massive too, with Microsoft predicting that 76 per cent of phones will have video capabilities by 2013, up from 31 per cent in 2008.
With all this time spent surfing the web, it's lucky that Microsoft also predicts that 3D internet will soon be a reality, "with consumers able to virtually experience a holiday resort before they book, students will be able to attend virtual lectures and shoppers will be able to see how an armchair would look in their living room before they buy it."
So, it's exciting (virtual) times ahead, if the futuroligists at Microsoft have anything to with it.
You can see the whole presentation on Slideshare.net.
Via Yahoo
