Would You Swear Off a Favorite Food or Give Up an Hour of Sleep to Work from Home?

It's no surprise that telecommuters have reported feeling happier and healthier--and more productive--because they work from home. It is interesting, though, just how valuable this working arrangement is to each telecommuter (aside from the $3,439 annual savings of not commuting just two days a week). In a recent Staples survey (conducted for the company's Business Advantage B2B segment), telecommuters said they were willing to give up some common comforts and even sleep to continue working from home.

According to the investors' report:

Respondents would give up their favorite TV show (54 percent), forgo an extra hour of sleep (48 percent), swear off a favorite food (40 percent) or take a pay cut (40 percent) rather than stop telecommuting.

There are other interesting statistics offered, such as 44% of telecommuters ranking their home office chair a grade of "C" or lower and nearly one in three saying they never back up their data (sorry for the heart palpitations, IT admins!).

Since the survey only consisted of 140 participants, you might take the results with a grain of salt, but it is interesting to ask or consider: how far would you go to work from home or preserve a telecommuting arrangement?

Related: How to convince your boss to let you work from home | Is telecommuting right for you?

[via Mashable]

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source from about.com

Which Would You Rather Have: Free Xbox or $100 iTunes Gift Card?

Both Microsoft and Apple are offering students back-to-school promotions with qualifying computer purchases, but despite Microsoft's free Xbox 360 offer being much more interesting and worth about twice as much as Apple's lame $100 iTunes gift card offer, education sales of Macs are outselling PCs by four to one, according to research cited by Apple Insider.

In better years past, Apple has offered students a free iPod with their Macs, so the iTunes promotion change this year is underwhelming. Guess that doesn't matter to young new computer users and their parents, as 80% of incoming students are buying Macs.

Seen another way, the $100 gift card may be more useful to students because they can buy apps for their new computer with it, whereas an Xbox is designed for distraction and entertainment. However, research also shows that students are using the iTunes gift card to download songs rather than productive or educational apps, so in the end it seems these promos aren't making any difference to student buyers.

Apple is also making headway in the enterprise, the same report says, due to pressure from high-level execs for their IT departments to support iPads, iPhones, iMacs, and MacBooks.

Free gaming consoles haven't worked; can anything stop this Apple invasion?

Stay on top of the latest in mobile computing, telecommuting, and working on the road: Free weekly newsletter | Blog posts subscription | Follow me on Twitter: @melaniepinola

source from about.com