No jargon at their fingertips

Every week millions of Britons use computers to access the internet but how many of them actuallyknow their ipods from their IMs? Not many it seems.

A recent survey from Nielsen/ NetRatings – a global internet, media and market research company - shows that while the Britishare crazy aboutbuying and owning new technology they're not sokeen to keep up withthe ever-changing jargon of 21st century technology.

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, people love havingcutting-edge technologybut often don't understand the terms that describewhat their devices actually do.

For example, 40% of online Britons receivenews feedsbut 67% don't know that the official term for this service is Really Simple Syndication.

Terms likeWiFiandPDAare stillmeaninglessto more than 30% of the British public who regularly work orsurf online.

Acronymsin particularbamboozleusers. 75% of online Britons don't know that VOD stands for video-on-demand, while 68% are unaware that personal video recorders are more commonly referred to as PVRs.

Millions of peoplekeep in touchvia Instant Messaging but 57% of online Brits said they didn't know that the acronym for it was IM.

Alex Burmaster, an internet analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings commented "The technology industry is perhapsthe most guiltyof all industries when it comes to love of acronyms. There is a certain level ofknowledge snobbery. If you talk in acronyms you sound like you reallyknow what you are talking aboutand if others don't understand then they are seen in some way asinferior."

This study shows that many people don't completely understand much of the new technologicaljargonbut things are slowly changing. Words such as "blogging" and "podcasting" are now used and understood by enough people for these terms to havemade itinto the most recently published dictionaries in Britain.