Spending for Gambling Increases
A newly released report from Mintel says that U.K. residents are spending their money on gambling activities in greater rates than ever before. Mintel reports that consumers will increase their gambling expenditures by 21 percent from 1999 to 2004. Spending is being boosted in large part by the U.K. government's move to abolish the betting tax, researchers add.
And, although Internet betting is popular, analysts have determined that British betting shop operators have little cause for concern, as only 2.5 percent of bets were made over the 'Net. Hampering the online gambling industry's ability to attract new customers is that one in three bettors felt that Internet betting was not safe, while telephone betting was deemed more trustworthy--only one out of 10 phone punters had concerns about its security. Mintel also learned that 27 percent of the survey respondents were unaware that betting was possible over the Internet.
For the survey and report, Mintel questioned 1,901 adults.
VI Punters State Their Preferences
The St. Thomas Source asked its readers for their views on various gambling activities, a subject that has engrossed many on the islands of St. Thomas, ST. Croix and St. John. The response to this unscientific poll:
(Responses are divided by island, as well as highlighting the total response rate.)
Which of the following best expresses your view regarding legalized gaming in the Virgin Islands?
- I'm for casinos, Internet gaming and video lottery terminals.
STT - 62, STX - 28, STJ - 5 = 95 (17 percent)
- I'm against casinos, Internet gaming and video lottery terminals.
STT - 81, STX - 50, STJ - 14 = 145 ( 25 percent)
- I'm for casinos and Internet gaming but against video lotteries.
STT - 31, STX - 55, STJ - 2 = 88 (16 percent)
- I'm for casinos and video lotteries but against Internet gaming.
STT - 8, STX - 4, STJ - 0 = 12 (2 percent)
- I'm for Internet gaming and video lotteries but against casinos.
STT - 3, STX - 0, STJ - 0 = 3 (less than 1 percent)
- I'm for casinos but against Internet gaming and video lottery terminals.
STT - 87, STX - 111, STJ - 9 = 207 (37 percent)
- I'm for Internet gaming but against casinos and video lottery terminals.
STT - 9, STX - 3, STJ - 0 = 12 (2 percent)
- I'm for video lottery terminals but against casinos and Internet gaming.
STT - 4, STX - 1, STJ - 0 = 5 (less than 1 percent)
- All votes:
STT - 285, STX - 252, STJ - 30 = 567
Battle of the Sexes Continues in E-mail
Lest anyone think that the dawning of the digital age has made the battle of the sexes obsolete, a new study from edesigns.co.uk finds that a wide difference remains between the two genders when it comes to the use of e-mail. Overall, according to edesigns' research, men are much more likely to use e-mail for personal purposes.
One in three men, for example, admit that they spend up to 40 minutes each day flirting, gossiping and sending their friends URLs for porn sites. Women tend to be a little less prone to frivolous e-mail usage, with some women admitting that they spend about 25 minutes a day on personal messages. Only 13 percent of the women surveyed admit to flirtatious messaging, instead preferring to use their e-mail to plan activities with friends or write to relatives.
edesigns CEO Louis Halpern warns that firms need to establish policies regarding the use and/or misuse of company e-mail services.
"While companies should deny staff a reasonable amount of time to conduct personal affairs," he told The Guardian, "companies can protect themselves by providing employees with access to personal e-mails, Web-based addresses, or using branded e-mails to distinguish between work and personal e-mails."
Worldwide PC Sales Slow
The worldwide PC market was stagnant during second quarter 2001, reports research firm IDC, with shipments declining by 2 percent thanks to slowing sales.
Japan, for example, reported flat sales. "The cumulative impact of a worsening economy, declining capital investments, and reduced consumer spending is strongly affecting the Japanese market," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. "Although the Japanese market resisted for a while, it now looks like the PC market in Japan will be flat to negative into 2002."
The European market is reporting similar declines, as is the U.S. market, which had a year-to-year drop of 8.1 percent and a 1.3 percent slowing for the second quarter.
"Although shipment levels in the United States remain depressed, the seasonal pattern appears to be holding, albeit at a lower level than last year. Businesses are spending cautiously, and consumers have still not emerged from their shells, but there is some hope that the worst is behind us," said Roger Kay, director of client computing at IDC. "Toward the end of the year, we expect a modest boost from the back-to-school and holiday seasons, aided by a mild stimulus from Windows XP deployment, particularly in the home."