Rogers says Canadians aren’t as tech savvy as they think

Rogers remains curiously silent on the technological health of the SwedesRogers (TSX:RCI.B) recently conducted a survey of 1,001 randomly selected Canadians, 60% of whom said they were technically savvy to a “B” grade average. After actually completing a short quiz, Rogers found just only four percent actually made that grade.

Classic tall poppy syndrome. But the news isn’t as discouraging as it sounds. 87% of those surveyed said they wanted to become more tech savvy, that they’d be eager for a little help, and would like a one-stop website to shake the insecurities from their technological torpor.

Is this the digital equivalent of those 1970’s public service announcements that told us the average thirty year old Canadian is in about the same shape as the average sixty year old Swede? Not exactly, Rogers remains silent on the technological health of the Swedes, and the telecom’s motivation is clearly less than altruistic.

The survey asks you to grade yourself and then answer a series of multiple choice questions, such as “What is Roaming?” and “How many regular, SMS text messages does it take to go over your Canadian data allotment? The effect is similar to a car salesman asking you questions about how and where you drive; you know this is leading somewhere. But Rogers is clearly going for the soft sell here, and the website it has set up does have some good information on things like how to keep your bill down and how to avoid phishing scams, mixed in with the leading “How to choose a wireless plan”.

“Canadians are very passionate about technology and they clearly need and want to know more about how it all works,” said Rob Bruce, President, Communications, Rogers Communications. “The research shows there’s a clear role for education and we have an important responsibility to help Canadians get the most out of technology. We’re a nation of technology adopters and Tech Essentials represents the beginning of a long-term effort to bridge the knowledge gap and help build our digital future.”

You can take The Rogers Tech Essentials Survey here and then forward it to friends once you are finished. We suggest sending it to a few Swedes, for the sake of science.

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