1 in 10 Americans thinks HTML is an STD

[Daltron]

If you're talking tech with Americans, you may want to avoid using any jargon.

A recent study found many Americans are lost when it comes to tech-related terms, with 11 per cent saying they thought HTML – a language used to create websites – was a sexually transmitted disease. The study was conducted by Vouchercloud.net, a coupons website, as a way to determine how knowledgeable users are when it comes to tech terms.

"Technology is a huge interest for our user base," a company spokeswoman said. "It seems that quite a few of us need to brush up on our tech definitions."

Besides HTML, there were some other amusing findings:

1. 77 per cent of respondents could not identify what "SEO" means. SEO stands for "search-engine optimisation".
2. 27 per cent identified "gigabyte" as an insect commonly found in South America. A gigabyte is a unit of measurement for the storage capacity of an electronic device.
3. 42 per cent said they believed a "motherboard" was "the deck of a cruise ship". A motherboard is usually a circuit board that holds many of the key components of a computer.
4. 23 per cent thought an "MP3" was a Star Wars robot. It is actually an audio file.
5. 18 per cent identified "Blu-ray" as a marine animal. It is a disc format typically used to store high-definition videos.
6. 15 per cent said they believed "software" is comfortable clothing. Software is a general term for computer programs.
7. 12 per cent said "USB" is the acronym for a European country. USB, or Universal Serial Bus, is a type of connector.

Full article here.

Very interested read..

[Rachel]

wow... it is like the doctor saying: Hey mrs, sadly you have the HTML. Please come back next week! >.> really people clearly do not know anything about computer stuff ....wow just WOW

[Daltron]

"Hey mrs, sadly you have the HTML."

"Mam this is very serious I will need you prescribe you some pills. Let me see.. 1 javascript a day should be fine."

[MKR&*42]

LMAO WOW I was saying to someone earlier I don't think Americans are *that* stupid, but now I've changed my mind.

[Rachel]

"Mam this is very serious I will need you prescribe you some pills. Let me see.. 1 javascript a day should be fine."

Oh gosh, please do not go to the bathroom often as you do not want to FLUSH down your files & codes.

[-Moniquee.]

Omg this is hilarious.
But on saying that most American kids when shown a picture of Jesus don't know who it is. Yet, if they are shown a pic of Ronald McDonald or kernel sanders they know who it is. So the HTML thing doesn't surprise me.

[Blinger]

I think this would also depend on the demographic surveyed. I mean, asking 60+ year olds what computer terms are may not give an accurate representation.

[sexpot]

LMAO WOW I was saying to someone earlier I don't think Americans are *that* stupid, but now I've changed my mind.

Yes because 1 in 10 is clearly representative of all Americans.

[MKR&*42]

Yes because 1 in 10 is clearly representative of all Americans.

Direct me to the part of my post where I said "I didn't think all Americans are that stupid, but now I do".

And 11% of the USA (34,540,000) is a gigantic number...

[-:Undertaker:-]

I could find similar polls for most western countries. In any case, I don't know some of them.