Computer usage in daily life

Center For Research on Information Technology and Organizations, 2011

2009

In this paper, we present the results of a study of home computer usage among college students. Using Activity Theory as the theoretical framework and a sample of self-reported usage logs, we analyze purposes and tasks of the subjects' computer sessions. We find that most participants mix hedonic with utilitarian computer uses during the same session and that they perform a number of unrelated computer-based tasks. We also identify a particular category of users, which we call social users because of their engagement with social networking sites and instant communications with their friends, who tend to perform more tasks than those who do not exhibit social behaviors in their computer sessions. The results of this study are informative and representative of the purposes and tasks for which college students use their computers at home.

2000

This report provides a summary overview of findings in major data and research papers about the implications of information technologies for the home. A full literature review of these works, "The Application and Implications of Information Technologies in the Home," is presented. This study identifies eight core data sets and reviews more than 30 major studies related to information technologies in the home. The major findings are: (1) personal computer (PC) use in the home has spread rapidly, especially among the affluent and well-educated; (2) children and male teenagers continue to be the heaviest users of home PCs; and (3) Internet use has moved from work to home. (CCM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Communications of the ACM, 1985

ArXiv, 2021

This paper investigates whether computer usage profiles comprised of process-, network-, mouseand keystroke-related events are unique and temporally consistent in a naturalistic setting, discussing challenges and opportunities of using such profiles in applications of continuous authentication. We collected ecologically-valid computer usage profiles from 28 MS Windows 10 computer users over 8 weeks and submitted this data to comprehensive machine learning analysis involving a diverse set of online and offline classifiers. We found that (i) computer usage profiles have the potential to uniquely characterize computer users (with a maximum F-score of 99, 94%); (ii) network-related events were the most useful features to properly recognize profiles (95.14% of the top features distinguishing users being network-related); (iii) user profiles were mostly inconsistent over the 8-week data collection period, with 92.86% of users exhibiting drifts in terms of time and usage habits; and (iv) o...

2021

This paper investigates whether computer usage profiles comprised of process-, network-, mouse-, and keystroke-related events are unique and consistent over time in a naturalistic setting, discussing challenges and opportunities of using such profiles in applications of continuous authentication. We collected ecologically-valid computer usage profiles from 31 MS Windows 10 computer users over 8 weeks and submitted this data to comprehensive machine learning analysis involving a diverse set of online and offline classifiers. We found that: (i) profiles were mostly consistent over the 8-week data collection period, with most (83.9%) repeating computer usage habits on a daily basis; (ii) computer usage profiling has the potential to uniquely characterize computer users (with a maximum F-score of 99.90%); (iii) network-related events were the most relevant features to accurately recognize profiles (95.69% of the top features distinguishing users were network-related); and (iv) binary mo...

No technology in recent memory has aroused as much national and global interest as the computing technology (Scientific American l995). The new digital age, now augmented by the ubiquitous and powerful microcomputers, is variously described as "the mode of information" (Poster 1990), "the cyberculture" (Escobar 1994), and the like. While the role of personal computers in transforming work environments is generally well known and has been discussed in detail by several scholars (Attwell l992; Boland, Tenkasi and Te'eni l994; Danziger l979; Griffith and Northcraft l994; King l983; Kling l980, Kling 1995; Kraemer, Dutton and Northrop l980; Olson l983; Kraut l989; Orlikowski l992, Sproull and Kiesler l995), similar scholarly inquiry with regard to home use has been less systematic, although not absent (Dholakia, Mundorf and Dholakia l994). For example, under the general rubric of computing in the home, researchers have investigated issues such as the profile of innovators (Dickerson and Gentry l983), symbolic dimensions of the new technology (Turkle l984), the nature of computer diffusion (Dutton, Rogers and Suk-Ho l987, Rogers l985), social psychological factors affecting computer use (Mcquarrie and Langemeyer l987), educational use of computers at home by children (Psychology Today l984, Giacquinta, Bauer, and Levin l993), post-adoption analysis of homecomputers (Venkatesh and Vitalari l987), gender differences in use of computers (Ruddell l993), and telecommuting and work at home (Kraut l989, Venkatesh and Vitalari l992). There are also international perspectives on home computer use (Bakke l993, Berg and Hagersklaer l987, Bjerg and Borreby l994, Josiet l988, Miles l988, OECD l992, Proulx l990).

Center For Research on Information Technology and Organizations, 2003

Technology adoption research has a long tradition in IS literature, particularly in the work context. Recently, several authors have proposed to extend investigation into the household context. In this study, we have proposed a model of use diffusion as a basis for investigating post-adoption computer usage behavior in three countries. The model was tested with data from a large-scale random sample survey collected in the United States, Sweden, and India. We found that the rate of computer usage and the variety of computer uses in households are influenced significantly by variables that fall into five general categories: attitudinal belief structure, normative belief structure, control belief structure, household makeup structure, and technological structure. When we compare our results across the three countries, the crosscountry analyses reveal that, in general, the countries do not differ in the direction of effect for these five factors; rather, the country differences are the orders of magnitude with which these factors influence home computer usage. Implications for the making of policy decisions are presented.

Home Informatics and Telematics, 2000

This paper reports on the use of personal computers in the home. Analyses were; conducted on US Census Current Population Survey data on computer usage from 1984 to 1997. Findings are presented with regard to the diffusion of ownership and usage patterns of personal computers in the home. Implications ors social impact of home computing art discussed.