A new survey of US consumers has found that one in ten Americans think that html is some type of sexually-transmitted disease. The full survey results of the 2,392 adults polled is a real treat, noting that 29% thought a migraine was a type of rice, 42% thought a motherboard was a type of deck on a cruise ship, and 23% thought an MP3 was a "type of Star Wars robot."

15% thought that software was a type of especially comfortable clothing.

Most notable to our readership: 27% of those polled thought that a gigabyte was a type of South American insect.

That's actually considerably better than I've seen elsewhere; a survey a few years back suggested that 83% of consumers didn't know what a gigabyte even is or how many they use each month.

Note the survey above didn't bother to ask people how much data is held in a gigabyte, something I'd imagine a minority of Americans actually know. No wonder ISPs (both fixed line and wireless) have been in such a rush to start charging by the gigabyte: they know that most people would have absolutely no real idea what they're specifically being charged for.
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