Uses of computers, smartphones compared

People have different priorities when it comes to smartphone versus computer use although there is some common ground of utilization, a U.S. poll indicates. Smartphone owners were tested on their regular use of computers and smartphones for a series of tasks that could be completed on either device, the Harris Poll reported Thursday. The owners were asked which of a set of actions, common to both devices, they regularly performed on a smartphone and/or on a computer. The immediate communication of text or instant messages is the most common smartphone use, at 87 percent, and the least common use for a computer at 20 percent, the poll indicated. In contrast, email is the top use for computers at 90 percent, although email is also a highly used feature of smartphones at 72 percent, pollsters said. Smartphone owners favor computers for researching goods and services at 81 percent versus 45 percent on smartphones. Social media is one area where usage on both devices is close to equal, the poll indicated, as the fifth most frequent use for both devices -- 64 percent for smartphones and 69 percent for computers. The poll was conducted online within the United States from Nov. 14-19, 2012, among 2,383 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 991 own and use a smartphone.