The mystery of the missing geeks

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

For the latest media trends, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare
For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
For background on popular culture, go to
The films Australia loved.
The TV shows Australia loved.
The music Australia loved.
The DVDs Australia loved.

by David Dale.
This was the most puzzling piece of data released by the Bureau of Statistics during 2005: a third of Australian homes do not own a computer, and 44 per cent of Australians do not have access to the internet at home.

We're supposed to be the nation of early adopters, for god's sake, the land that leapt at the VCR, the CD, the mobile phone, the DVD and the iPod. And yet the bureau suggests that nine million people cannot share these words with you. Sounds more like the land of luddites.

Early in 2005, the Bureau surveyed 15,534 households to reach this conclusion, so the figures have a ring of truth (the TV ratings, on which billions of dollars of advertising decisions are based, are estimated from a sample of just 4,000 households).

So what are The Nine Million doing with their spare time? Reading. Talking. Singing. Eating. The rest are either making love or else expecting rain. Clues may emerge from some more details on what Australians learned about themselves in 2005:

Who we like. A research organization called Audience Development Australia showed pictures of 600 TV personalities to a sample of 1000 viewers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and asked two questions: Which ones do you recognize and how much do you like them, on a scale from 0 to 4. The favourites were: 1 Andrew Denton; 2 Magda Szubanski; 3 Michael Caton; 4 Ernie Dingo; 5 Glenn Robins. Caton (of The Castle, Hot Property and Dancing With The Stars) bumped Rove McManus from the top five.

What we hate. These TV commercials provoked the most complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau: 1 A naked couple leave home and climb into a Holden Astra; 2 A woman hits a man with a spanner after he puts a car part in a dishwasher with Morning Fresh liquid; 3 A baby is splattered with blood after a car hits a woman pushing a pram (Queensland Transport); 4 The buttocks of four women are shown wearing Triumph Sloggi Hot Hips Briefs; 5 Pall bearers hurry a funeral so they can drink Carlton United mid-strength beer.

How we indulge. Sales of red wine and rose were up 7 per cent in 2005, while white sales were up 2 per cent. Every Australian child, woman and man drinks 27 litres of wine a year. Putting that statistic more sensibly, the average adult drinks six glasses of wine a week, of which three and a half would be white and two and a half would be red or rose. (For a discussion of how Australia eats out, click here.)

The Bureau of Stats, celebrating its 100th birthday this month, noted that back in 1905, average wine consumption was six litres a year, or less than half a glass per adult each week. Other evidence of rising connoisseurship came in cheese consumption: up from 1.6 kilos per person in 1905 to 12 kilos per person in 2005. So that must be what the other nine million are doing: swigging sauvignon and chewing cheddar.

At least they weren't inhaling addictive substances. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey (of nearly 30,000 people) found that 20.7 per cent of Australians over 14 are regular smokers (down from 24.9 per cent in 1998) and 11.3 per cent use marijuana (down from 17.9 per cent). The most enthusiastic smokers are aged between 20 and 29 (24 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women in this age group say they smoke cigarettes daily). But while puffing was down, popping was up: 3.4 per cent said they regularly use ecstasy (up from 2.4 per cent).

What we read. A middle-aged symbologist almost defeated the teenage wizard. For the first half of the year, Dan Brown's thrillers The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, featuring Professor Robert Langdon, topped the bookselling chart -- until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince appeared in July. That was, in turn, bumped from the top by Bryce Courtenay's latest potboiler, Whitethorn. The non-fiction hits of the year were Steve Waugh's autobiography Out of My Comfort Zone and the meatloving CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet.

But few books came anywhere the sales of Australia's primary reading matter: The Sunday Telegraph (720,000 a week), Women's Weekly (640,000 a month), The Sunday Herald-Sun (620,000 a week) and Woman's Day (516,000 a week).

What excites us. More dancing, less singing; more doctors, less cops; more security, less quizzing. The TV series which held Australia's attention this year were Desperate Housewives, Border Security, Lost, Dancing With The Stars, House, and Grey's Anatomy, while the biggest losers were Australian Idol (down 34 per cent in audience), Law and Order: Criminal Intent (down 26 per cent), Without A Trace (down 17 per cent), CSI (down 13 per cent), and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (down 11 per cent).

Australians went to the cinema less often, but the movies for which we bought most tickets were Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Madagascar, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and War of the Worlds. The top selling DVDs were Madagascar, The Incredibles, Revenge of the Sith and Shark Tale -- which suggests that this year many Australian homes installed a second DVD player in the kids' room (and moved the VCR to the attic).

Locally made films enjoyed a modest recovery, if that term is appropriate for a box office share of 3 per cent, compared with the all time low of 1 per cent in 2004. The most profitable Australian product was a horror flick called Wolf Creek, based on the activities of Ivan Milat, followed by a tale of suburban heroin addiction, Little Fish. Little Fish made $4 million, compared with $35 million for Revenge of the Sith, confirming Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving as brilliant actors but not sufficient in themselves to bring Australians back to their home movies.

Who we hum. We may have lost interest in our own Australian Idol winners, but we loved American Idol's Kelly Clarkson, whose album Breakway sold 370,000 copies during the year. The other musical moneymakers included Missy Higgins (The Sound of White); Coldplay (X & Y); Black Eyed Peas (Monkey Business); Michael Buble (It's Time); Eminem (Curtain Call: The Hits); and James Blunt (Back to Bedlam) whose squeaky angst will be remembered as The Sound of 2005.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

Thank Christ Princess Mary is not on the most liked list - is there a most loathed ?

by david on December 27, 2005 at 01:41 PM

I must be weird; I'm an avid reader and I hadn't read one of those books, NOT ONE! Must say I wasn't surprised by our "who we liked" list, all very worthy contenders. Rove was bumped from top 5 - he seems a nice guy but on TV I think he's getting a bit stale - I think it's a good idea if Rove [Live] gets shaken up a bit (think he was a bit too content with his Logies and not edgy or creative).
As for Dancing With The Stars - A more accurate title would be "Dancing With Wanna-Be-or-Has-Been-Stars", and Daryl Somers clearly fits into the category. I much preferred Strictly Dancing, and DanceSports on Christmas Day.

by Bec on December 27, 2005 at 02:52 PM

Andrew Denton deserves the top position - he's been there a long time, always coming up with something new, enjoyable, and not afraid to take a risk. It's great to listen to someone else who listens (a big change from a lot of other people in this world, I must say!)

by Jan on December 27, 2005 at 02:59 PM

At last andrew denton has been recognised for the major talent in all spheres that he is But where is spicks & specks in the list?? great laughs every wednesday.

by abba on December 27, 2005 at 05:53 PM

Great that drug use is down for the most part. I run Drug Free Ambassadors anti-drug group around NSW and have worked pretty hard on it. Seems we have to up our efforts on Ecstasy though. Scary stuff that.

by Cyrus on December 27, 2005 at 08:04 PM

The vilest commercial on T.V would have to have been the one where the young guy's tongue rolled out of his mouth and then onto the street to finally land in a bath filled with beer and then finally the tongue returned into the owner's mouth. What a disgrace to the advertising company that thought of this!

by victor on December 27, 2005 at 08:36 PM

Cyrus - Just interested to find out if you're experienced with the drugs you discourage in the community, or do you advocate against them without actual experience? From what I've read, you get youths to pledge to remain 'drug free'...without even knowing anything about the drugs they're supposed to be fearful of (except that they're all bad, of course!). All I can say is, that extra one percent of ecstasy users means one percent more people with open minds and fruitful lives in our community - not hypocritical scientologists.

by Clive on December 27, 2005 at 09:12 PM

God it's nice to know lit'l australians are finally interested in reading albeit ordinary reads...but reading something never the less...perhaps if we were encouraged to read more the rest of the article would be inspiring and not "Ho Hum" found it quite depressing to read really...So no change on the you beaut popular stars I see, except Darryl Sommers is actually on TV this year but didn't get a mention ...always wondered why shows like Blue Heelers, Australian Idol and Neighbours ran for a lifetime...then again 27 litres of wine per head per capita might have something to do with it.
Booze & drug taking have always been a great aussie staple...0r even better used as an excuse for making a conversation to break the ice at parties " Yer whaddaya drinkin" along with a recital of the cricket and foot ball scores...I'm being very un australian aren't I....Shall I continue? Brilliant to see our local Aussie films having more popularity...those local films are like owls that just sit quietly in the dark and wake us up to who we really are - those of us that are smart enough to get it...and I was suprised to see that we are offended by naked people and a man being hit over the head with a spanner and s00me were actually offended by women in underwear, probably whilst peering through their fingers and sipping their chards...call in the sexually repressed and frustrated police :)
Thanks for the compelling stats...Lara

by Lara on December 27, 2005 at 10:00 PM

ABC wins again.
SBS not far behind - New John Safran show is excellent.
Only show I watch on 7 is the news because I can't stand 9.
Ten has the Simpsons
By the way I hate all ads. When we joined foxtel we were promised less ads. What a crock that was.

by John on December 27, 2005 at 11:39 PM

Well, I loved Little Fish - for me Aussie movies are where even the stars are character actors ie much more fascinating...

by Gap on December 28, 2005 at 01:43 PM

Just for the record:
Our household has had computers since 1980, the internet since 1997, my own website since 1998.
I like musos Horrie Dargie, Don Burrows, actor Gerard Kennedy, and modern actor Claudia Black.
I hate TV commercials that depict women as superior to men and men as superior to women, I hate intensely media commentators that say people over 55 years are scared of modern technology and absolutely depise the following TV shows Desperate Housewives, Border Security, Lost, Dancing With The Stars, House, Grey's Anatomy, Australian Idol , Law Order: Criminal Intent CSI, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and a myriad of other US and aussie made US type trash the FTA Channels schedule.
Yep they got the "How we indulge" one right, no more beer or smokes, white and red wine is the go.
Half right with the "What we read", fantasy (Eragon, Elder and Harry Potter et al) and science fiction (many), gone off fiction, same ol same ol, nothing different these days, all been written before.
I am seeing more films usually at a Gold Pass theatres (no noisy patrons), the film must be above average and must be scifi, horror or fantasy.
What I hum, everything from 42nd Street ('40s version) to Slim dusty to the latest Batman film theme to Pirates of Penzance, don't listen to modern radio.
It all sounds like a gigantic waste of money given that the only way to get a true representation of who does what, when and how is to ask each individual person, y'know much like an election or a referendum, but oh noooo, we roll along believing what we're told because some ridiculous scientific equation is used to get the answer with the minimum amount of fuss.
I'm reminded of the 'Yes Minister' episode on which Sir Humphrey Appleby puts one set of questions to the Minister's private secretary Bernard Wooley two different ways and gets two different sets of answers.

by Gary Hansberry on December 28, 2005 at 05:57 PM

Clive: You can have an open mind and a fruitful life without resorting to drugs,.... and no I am not religious or a scientologist. Try not being a slave to the chemicals you put in your system to give yourself artificial feelings of happiness.

by Shane on December 29, 2005 at 09:33 AM

whack me on the luddite list david. ive never owned a home computer, dvd player or video recorder.
ben

by ben cubby on December 29, 2005 at 02:06 PM

... As for me. I detest the increasing number of commercials depicting totally selfish behaviour (the snatching of the chocolate bar on the escalator is one example ... there are many); and the (false) stereotype that people over a certain age have to get the kids to do anything related to technolgy (eg. program a VCR, work an ipod etc). I cannot watch so-called "reality" TV. I I used to think I knew a lot of music trivia until I saw Alan (Brough?) on Spicks and Specks. I like to watch "Taggart" to test my powers of understanding thick Glasgow accents. I liked "Enterpise" not because it was great but that it seemed to recapture the spirit of the original "Star Trek" more than any of the others.

by L on December 29, 2005 at 03:22 PM

I prefer watching ABC & SBS. Their programs are more entertaining, intelligent & just great to watch. I don't mind reading sub-titles on SBS. Spicks & Specks is the best, along with 'The Glasshouse'. I am besotted by Corinne. Not only is she very beautiful, but funny to boot. I still like to watch David & Magaret on the 'Movie Show'. Their analysis & critiques are always informative. Although I don't always agree with them. The SBS versions of the movie show & spicks & specks leave a lot to be desired. They are very lacking at the best of time & a bore to watch. If one desires to watch them. I used to watch SBS news for a greater coverage of world news, followed by the ABC at 7 then the 730 report. However, now that the ABC are doing reruns of Dr. Who,
sbs news gets sidelined for the time being. As corny as Dr. Who is at times, I still love to watch it when I get the chance. I don't watch a lot of the commercial channels, but when I do it is either 7 or 10, depending on what is being shown. I boycott 9 for the most part, except when I am surfing the channels. I don't like 9 or any of its spin offs; eg WIN. I love reading detective novels, fantasy, sci-fi & the odd biography. Haven't read The Da Vinci Code & don't intend to. Its overated in my opinion. I go to the movies when I can & I'll see all genres, especially sci-fi. Before I finish, Andrew Denton does a great job with enough rope. Keep up the good work Andrew.

by Col on December 30, 2005 at 01:04 AM

Col: I havn't read the da Vinci code either so I don't know whether it is overated or not. You generally have to read something before you can judge how good/bad it is, or do you have magical powers the rest of us don't.

by Shane on December 30, 2005 at 09:56 AM

Thumbs up to:
~ Andrew Denton for an innovative show with interesting guests
~ Spicks & Specks and The Glass House for pure entertainment value
~ Missy Higgins for being recognised for the talent she has.

Thumbs down to:
~ Wolf Creek for being one of the worst films of all time. Freddy Krueger Part IX would have been a more appropriate title except at least Freddy was a hoot!
~ Commercial networks for 'resting', ie dumping series midway through their run. Ten is guilty with the underrated 'The Shield' (off with 4 episodes to go) & 'NYPD Blue' and Seven with the highly amusing 'Scrubs'. Nine guilty on multiple counts too many to list here.

By the way, do you think the TV ad for dishwashing powder would have made it to air if the man had struck the woman with the wrench???
Happy New Year!

by Sacs on December 30, 2005 at 02:49 PM

I am 81 have had computers since the mid 70's still do computer support for old & young users. my reply to queries about my knowledge is who invented computers & electronic equipment? 13 year old kids?

by James Lee on January 02, 2006 at 09:35 AM

I would have to disagree strongly with the claim that Australians are eager to jump on new technology. Having sold Foxtel Digital dor-to-door for a year I would say that new rechnology terrifies the average Aussie! The common theme tends to be: "Oh, I'll just wait 'til its been out for a while to see if there's any problems with it and then I'll think about getting it." The average Kiwi on the other hand is more like: "Yeah I'll take it. I want it before anyone else though so can you try and put me at the top of the list?" (I sold Sky Digital in NZ for a while also) Maybe network TV is the way to communicate after all? Explains why reality shows are still popular when they are a true insult to the intelligence...

by Nick Robins on January 03, 2006 at 05:27 PM

THe most loathed news story...?? every bec and lleyton news story...talk about ... WHO CARES!!!!

by JJJ on January 09, 2006 at 06:55 PM

If the statistics are true about how many of us own computers - all I can say is, looks like this computing teacher will have work for a long time.

by Loraine on January 25, 2006 at 12:21 PM

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Who We Are

The mystery of the missing geeks

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