Could you live without your iPhone, Facebook or coffee?

Facebook, your iPhone, coffee or sex -- which could you not do without?

Boston-based Gazelle is a large, high-end consumer electronics trade-in website. Conducting a recent survey, the company explored how much impact mobile devices and online platforms have on the modern-day consumer -- and what this may suggest about our social habits.

Focusing on customers who have traded in at least one iPhone model with them, the survey was completed by over 1000 customers. When asked whether they would prefer to go without their social networking fix or leave their phone off permanently, fewer than 1 percent chose Facebook over their iPhone.

Nearly 15 percent reported they would rather go without sex, and 40 percent would abstain from coffee instead of disconnecting. 18 percent wouldn't mind forgoing their daily shower. That's dedication to electronics.

However, it doesn't mean we're not fickle when it comes to the machines we love. Once an iPhone has been acquired, according to the report, 70 percent of consumers ditched other lower-tech items, such as their mp3 players and cameras.

In social settings, over a quarter stated they used their iPhone "almost always" during scenarios such as meals or parties -- sounding familiar? 58 percent "usually" do, whereas only 17 percent "rarely or never" commit what used to be a social faux pas.

"It's amazing to think about how much the iPhone has changed consumers' lives in just five short years," said Anthony Scarsella, Gazelle's chief gadget officer. Well, perhaps. Or perhaps we're just more open about peculiar habits we used to keep hidden behind closed doors -- before the digital age, when it suddenly became important to tell your friends the content of your breakfast over Twitter and Facebook.

If you're thinking about reaching over to view a friend's photos on their phones, think again. Almost 85 percent of respondents admitted to using their iPhone in the bathroom -- and 4 percent found it completely normal to use their iPhone when having sex.

Interestingly, away from some of our peculiar ideas as iPhone users, nearly 40 percent want to see an increase in screen size when the next iPhone model comes into existence. Apple has not yet committed to any definitive idea concerning screen sizes, but a fair amount of users may be open to going back to the days of brick-size devices it seems.

We have to keep in mind that the results are biased towards users of Gazelle, and the sample size was only 1000 consumers. However, with similar stories in the press every day, perhaps our reliance on mobile technology is reaching new levels -- and bringing along some strange habits with it.

Image credit: Gazelle

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