Wi-Fi scores over sex, alcohol in new study

Wi-Fi has been identified as the most important daily need with four out of 10 people giving it more importance than other human luxuries and necessities like sex, chocolate and alcohol, a new study has claimed.

The study, conducted by Wi-Fi connectivity provider iPass, surveyed 1,700 working professionals across Europe and the US about their connectivity habits. It involved asking participants to rank the importance of Wi-Fi against other "human luxuries and necessities" on a scale of 1-4, with one being most important and 4 bring least important.

Wi-Fi was labelled most important by 40.2% of respondents, followed by sex (36.6%), chocolate (14.3%), and alcohol, which was ranked as the number one daily essential by 8.9% of respondents, International Business Times reported.

"Wi-Fi is not only the most popular method of internet connectivity, it has surpassed many other human luxuries and necessities," said Pat Hume, chief commercial officer at iPass.

"The idea that Wi-Fi would be considered more important than sex, alcohol and chocolate would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. For some time now, the internet has appeared on the bottom line of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, almost as a longstanding joke in geek culture. Recently, the idea has gone mainstream."

The reason behind Wi-Fi's growing favour, it seems, is the impact it has had on our daily lives. Apparently, unlike sex, sweets and booze, the proliferation of internet connectivity seems to have had a largely positive effect, with three-quarters of respondents saying Wi-Fi had improved their quality of life, it said.

According to the study, a majority of people now also make travel decisions based on whether the hotel or accommodation has a Wi-Fi connection.

--PTI