South Africa is a nation in "digital chaos" with only sheer luck preventing locals from losing precious personal photos, videos and files.
This is according to digital storage company, WD which recently released results of a study that found that South Africans store personal files on no fewer than 14 electronic or storage devices with 60% of us never backing up a single item of data.
Carried out among 1 000 South African adult respondents, the study was conducted to celebrate the release of WD's new family of personal cloud storage solutions, My Cloud, and found that although 89% South Africans claim they are organised in their daily lives, the complete opposite could be said for their digital footprint.
The research found that South Africans keep files on a plethora of devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers and USB sticks. Of those that do not back up, 40% blamed their busy schedule and 15% said they cannot be bothered.
With many having a personal reluctance to be digitally organised, 50% of parents have even admitted they would rather pay their children to back up their files for them rather than go through the hassle of doing it themselves.
Organising parents' digital content is the new household chore, replacing the traditional pocket money earner of gardening work up and cleaning the car, which ranked in third and second place respectively, says WD.
Although South Africans are digital scatterbrains, the digital storage company says, it appears SA fares slightly more favourably compared to its European counterparts. Of the five European countries involved in the study, Spain was cited as the most digitally disorganised using 16 devices, with the Germans and Italians not far behind with 15 each.
"Years ago, people would get their photos developed and organise them in family photo albums, but now we are a nation in digital chaos with only good fortune preventing us from losing files and photos forever," says Anamika Budree, sales manager for WD branded products in SA.
Share