“The names and faces of technology are struggling to get through to Brits, a survey by Lewis PR has suggested,” Elizabeth Fish reports for The Next Web.
“The casual survey took opinions from 1000 Britons from across the country, and the results were pretty staggering. Of the 1000 surveyed, 20% did not know who Apple CEO Steve Jobs was, with 10% thinking he was a Trade Union worker and 20% even believing he was a footballer,” Fish reports.
“Although more people knew who Bill Gates was, 5% of people believed he was either a comedian, or even one of the Great Train robbers of the 60’s. According to 5%, internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee was the first astronaut in space,” Fish reports.
Video of some of the responses:
Direct link via YouTube here.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If it’s any consolation, Brits, it’d likely be even worse in many other countries.
MacDailyNews Note: Today is Martin Luther King Day, a U.S. federal holiday. The markets are closed today in the U.S. and many people have the day off. Consequently, we expect news to be light, although we do hope to bring you Apple-related news throughout the day.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
Although more people knew who Bill Gates was, 5% of people believed he was either a comedian, or even one of the Great Train robbers of the 60’s.
Ha! The “comedian” impression probably comes from those dire ads with Jerry Seinfeld. And the “Great Train Robber” impression made me laugh out loud – he’s robbed a lot more than just trains thus far!!
It’s also an interesting comparison when you think of Gates as one of the Robber Barons of old, using their ill-gotten gains to attempt to “buy their way into heaven”.
So 80% knew who he is?
For more fun search youtube.com for “American geography” and you will find amazing depth of knowledge, including this gem:
“Although more people knew who Bill Gates was, 5% of people believed he was either a comedian, or even one of the Great … robbers of the 90’s.”
Now it fits.
I love interviews like this. I don’t mind that people give stupid answers, it’s entertainment and it was designed to be entertainment from the beginning. Sean Hannity’s “Man on the Street” segments were the same thing (I loved those too).
And I’m willing to bet that some of these folks are a lot smarter at whatever they do than I am, so… there ya go.
HazMatt
If you want to see what Americans know about Canada, watch Rick Mercer’s talking to Americans….and try not to piss your pants laughing.
To my American friends, although this is actually real, take it with a grain of salt and laugh with it.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7111005509913775935#
Yep just shows the Brits are not the smartest
@Buster,
I was amazed that the older people didn’t catch on to the reference of Brian Mulroney being a U.S. President. That’s unbelievable to me. I wonder if it would have made a difference if he had said Trudeau instead. Ah hell, probably not.
I noticed that a high proportion of the interviewees were not Brits- Yanks, Canadians, Germans, French, who knows what.
Just a typical day in London.
I nontheless suspect extreme selectivity has been utilised here to make some manner of vacuous statement regarding the intelligence of people who happen to live in Britain.
If you told me it was created by an American, I would have to laugh, having found it ironic.
Something Americans, as everybody knows, don’t understand.
Sorry… what was the point of all this again?
@Sir Gill Bates
I was even more amazed that Mike Huckabee was drawn in. I am not sure if it was in this one but Rick Mercer even has G.W. Bush commenting on how our Prime Minister at the time…Jean Chretien (who Mercer referred to as Jean Poutine…the joke here is that poutine is a canadian food made up of french fries, cheese and gravy) was a big fan of G.W.’s. G.W. thanked our PM Mr. Poutine for his support.
Go figure.
@ Buster,
I guess our political leaders really aren’t far removed from the general populace. But hey, that poutine sounds kinda good. Wouldn’t mind clogging my arteries a little more with some of that.
Maybe some of you might be laughing at. But if you are not geek or not interested in computer or IT, it is normal. You think you know everything? Don’t blame people for nor knowing him. Actually, it is not even news in here. Of course this site is for all about apple. But don’t expect that everybody knows him. Mac is still occupied tiny share in the world market. It is not even 4%. you know it is only working in US. Normally, people are not really geeky anyway. So some of you might say that well it is knowledge. Well, so do you know some important people in politics? I don’t think so.