SOUTH AFRICA IS A NATION IN “DIGITAL CHAOS”
South Africans keep precious digital files on 14 different devices with more than 60% never backing up
South Africa is a nation in “digital chaos” with only sheer luck preventing us from losing precious personal photos, videos and files. That’s the verdict of leading digital storage company WD, who recently released results of a study that found that we store personal files on no fewer than 14 electronic or storage devices with 60% of us never backing up a single item of data.
Carried out amongst 1,000 South African adult respondents, the study was conducted to celebrate the launch of WD’s new family of personal cloud storage solutions, My Cloud, and found that although 89% South Africans claim they are organised in their daily lives, the complete opposite could be said for their digital footprint.
The research found that South Africans keep files on a plethora of devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers and USB sticks. Of those that do not back up, 40% blamed their busy schedule and 15% said they cannot be bothered.
With many having a personal reluctance to be digitally organised, 50% of parents have even admitted they’d rather pay their children to back up their files for them rather than go through the hassle of doing it themselves. Organising parents’ digital content is the new household chore, replacing the traditional pocket money earner of gardening work up and cleaning the car, which ranked in third and second place respectively.
Although South Africans are digital scatterbrains, it appears we fare slightly more favorably compared to our European counterparts. Of the five European countries involved in the study, Spain was cited as the most digitally disorganised using sixteen devices, with the Germans and Italians not far behind with fifteen each.
Anamika Budree, sales manager for WD branded products in South Africa said, “Years ago people would get their photos developed and organise them in family photo albums, but now we are a nation in digital chaos with only good fortune preventing us from losing files and photos forever. With almost one in five South Africans admitting they don’t know how to back up their all important data, the new My Cloud personal cloud device not only enables people to organise their data in one place and on one device, but also means that it can be accessed anywhere in an instant, making sharing with friends and family easier than ever before.”
The all-new My Cloud family of personal cloud solutions from WD is the easiest, most secure and most affordable way for families to control their digital chaos, with access to all of their files anywhere, anytime with mobile and desktop apps.
Price and Availability
The 2 TB and 3 TB My Cloud is currently available at select retailers and online at the wdstore.com. The 4 TB My Cloud is expected to be available for R1 799.00 for 2 TB, R2 199.00 for 3 TB and R2 699.00 for 4 TB. The My Cloud mobile app currently is available for download from the App StoreSM and Google PlayTM. A two drive and four drive My Cloud configuration will be available in the future.
About WD
WD, a Western Digital company, is a long-time innovator and storage industry leader. As a storage technology pacesetter, the company produces reliable, high-performance hard disk drives and solid state drives. These drives are deployed by OEMs and integrators in desktop and mobile computers, enterprise computing systems, embedded systems and consumer electronics applications, as well as by the company in providing its own storage products. WD’s leading storage devices and systems, networking products, media players and software solutions empower people around the world to easily save, store, protect, share and experience their content on multiple devices. WD was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.wd.com.
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC), Irvine, Calif., is a global provider of products and services that empower people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content. Its companies design and manufacture storage devices, networking equipment and home entertainment products under the WD, HGST and G-Technology brands. Visit the Investor section of the company’s website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.
Research results based on 1,500 respondents in each of the following countries: UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Research conducted by Opinion Matters (www.opinionmatters.co.uk) on behalf of WD.
