Infogate's 'Information Overload' Survey Reveals that People Want Information on Vacation, While Sleeping - Even While Having Sex

SAN DIEGO, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a survey commissioned by Infogate (http://www.infogate.com), the Internet-based news, information and alerting delivery service, Americans crave information, even at some of the most inopportune times. The survey, which polled 1,016 Americans found that people want all kinds of information, from the strategic to the mundane; from receiving financial news on the way to work to receiving weather updates while having sex!

According to the Infogate Information Overload Survey, weather information has fanatical followers who want updates even while sleeping (36%) and while having sex (12%). When it comes to sports, hometown fans are hardcore, wanting sports news even while dining with friends (41%), and in some cases during a religious event (8%). In addition, Americans interested in personal finance want information on the way to work (63%) while others would prefer it on vacation (39%) and during business meetings (37%).

The survey was conducted on behalf of Infogate, a provider of up-to-the-minute customized news and personalized alerts delivered to the desktop or wireless devices. Based on the individual users' personal preferences, Infogate delivers streaming news and alerts relating to stocks, weather, current events, business, entertainment and more.

"We live in a society where people are bombarded with information, and attention has become our most precious commodity," said Cliff Boro, Executive Chairman, Infogate. "We found that people want information, but they want it intelligently delivered to them. Infogate is a product specifically developed to help people control the information deluge."

The survey also found that the most popular types of information are personal communication (45%), weather updates (43%) and general news (43%). Finally, 20% chose sports and 20% lifestyle as the most popular information categories, 15% were interested in personal finance, 10% wanted travel updates, and a mere 6% wanted gossip.

Despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, only one in five people (19%) indicated that there is too much information available to them. Moreover, most people spend an average of 26 hours a week reading, listening to and processing information from television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet.

The survey found that despite the Internet's growth in popularity, only 11% of the respondents chose the Internet as their favorite source of information. Not surprisingly, 20% of 18-34 year-olds chose the Internet as their favorite source of information, while only 2% of those 65-years and older chose the Internet. In fact, television still reigns supreme among Americans as 42% of the people surveyed chose television as their preferred method of receiving information. Newspapers were second at 20%, while 14% chose radio.

The survey also found that on average, Americans with e-mail accounts receive about 17 e-mails per day although less than half are considered important and they don't even bother to read 30 percent of what they receive.

About the survey

A telephone survey was conducted using ICR's EXCEL^sm Omnibus Service. Telephone interviews were conducted among 1,016 consumers using a random digit dialing system (RDD). The results were weighted to reflect the total U.S. population that is 18 years or older. For complete survey results, please contact Brian Jones at 212-367-6868 or bjones@magnetcom.com.

About Infogate

Infogate, Inc. (http://www.infogate.com) is an alerting service which offers users the ability to receive personalized, timely news, information and messages, delivered where they want, including to the desktop and wireless devices. Infogate offers business partners the ability to deliver a customized version of the Infogate service to their customers, to amplify their messages for customer acquisition and retention purposes. Infogate has offices in San Diego and New York and its major investors include Citigroup (NYSE: C), idealab!, and The Trump Group.