CD vs. Floppy; Men vs. Women

(NAPSA)-A recent survey is casting new light on the age-old debate about the differences between men and women. Turns out, there's a gender preference for which type of storage media people trust when it comes to backing up their personal computer files.

Imation, a leading developer and manufacturer of removable data storage media, including floppy diskettes, CDs and DVDs, recently surveyed more than 500 PC users regarding their preferences, habits and opinions about how they store their digital information.

The results show a distinct difference between men and women:

• Women are more likely to view floppies vs. CDs as the safest backup medium (42 percent vs. 27 percent for men).
• On the other side of the breakfast table, 44 percent of men view CDs as the best backup medium. Only 29 percent of women feel the same way.
• Men are more likely than women to have household financial files (58 percent vs. 39 percent), business documents (57 percent vs. 46 percent) and tax records (50 percent vs. 35 percent) on their computers.

"We were struck by the differences between men and women and between users of different ages," said Carla Pihowich, marketing manager, consumer optical, Imation Corp. "Of equal interest to us was seeing how quickly CD-R/RW technology has been adopted and adapted to be a part of consumers' lives."
Pihowich noted that people are drawn to CDs and DVDs because the amount of valuable files on computers is growing incredibly fast. "One CD can hold hundreds of digital photos, music files and financial records," said Pihowich.

One place men and women find common ground: the need to keep paper records. The survey shows that 78 percent of home PC owners say they keep paper records of important files primarily because they fear losing electronic copies. This isn't surprising, Pihowich notes, since 57 percent of respondents report having lost important electronic files.

"Our survey shows that both men and women understand that backing up is important if they want to protect their files and information-but a significant number aren't getting to it often enough or at all, and remain concerned about loss," said Imation's Pihowich.

According to Pihowich, this battle of the sexes on the computer is one that may be over as soon as people learn more about how to capture, transfer and store their digital photos, music and files onto removable CDs and DVDs. "Both men and women need a better understanding of how to manage their data and the importance of regular backup removable media like CDs or DVDs. Kept free from dust or scratches, people can archive their digital valuables for a century."

The entire report, which contains plenty of insight into the info-gender-gap, can be found at www.imation.com/storagesurvey.

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