Twenty per cent of Brits think Steve Jobs is a football player

The Apple brand may be near-ubiquitous on Britain’s streets thanks to the success of the iPhone, but it seems that the company’s head honcho remains something of a mystery to many of this island’s inhabitants.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 Brits from across the country, twenty per cent had no idea who Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs was, with ten per cent thinking he was a Trade Union worker and double that figure believing he was a footballer.

The survey, carried out by Lewis PR, also revealed that five per cent thought that Bill Gates was a comedian, or perhaps one of the Great Train robbers, with another five per cent putting internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee as the first astronaut in space.

Some Brits weren’t too up on technology terms either, with four cent believing phishing to be an “angling method used by eskimos,” and ten per cent thinking a dongle was a sex toy.

The vast majority of Britons, however, were well up with social networking, with nearly three quarters of those polled using saying they used Facebook regularly –  but only twelve per cent recognised Twitter.

Eb Adeyeri, digital PR director at Lewis PR, commented on the study:

Technology and the Internet is playing an increasingly dominant role in our lives, but it is still striking how little is known about some of its key figures, gadgets and aspects. Although many people knew the correct answers, a substantial minority had absolutely no idea. There is a digital divide in Britain between those who understand the importance of technology and those who are either not interested or frightened by it.

This demonstrates a need for everyone involved in the industry to speak about technology and the benefits it brings clearly and succinctly, and avoid the jargon and ‘geek speak’ that deters so many from developing an interest.

Indeed some of the results are surprising, especially some of the beliefs regarding general terms and Bill Gates. Although the survey is not focusing on the age groups of those surveyed it seems that both that the much older generations and even the youngest had little to no idea. Could it be people are not as tech savvy as we assume in the 21st century?

[Via]