We may be a nation of couch potatoes, but it seems that nowadays we spend more time slumped in front of our computer screens than glued to the traditional goggle box.

Like many other people who grew up during the so-called golden age of TV, I have been amazed by a recent Google survey. Apparently, the average person in the UK now spends two-and-a-half hours a day surfing the Internet, compared with just over two hours watching TV.

The Internet is now entering its golden age, very much as TV was in the 1970s and 1980s, and we are all relying on it to an ever-increasing extent to run our lives.

We are all desperate to log on to find out if we've got mail.

There's no doubt it is making our lives much easier.

Mobile technology, including Bluetooth and 3G, are having a massive impact on the way we work and play. It all means that we can work anywhere and at any time. Our virtual office can be accessed instantly.

We can work on the move, while staying in contact with our real offices, and being that much more efficient in everything we do.

As more people than ever use the Internet for work and leisure, it is not surprising that other media get forced out. The under-25s are the biggest consumers of the Internet, with more of their time now spent e-mailing friends, blogging or logging on to social networking sites, such as myspace.com.

But TV and the Internet might not be as mutually exclusive as we think. Sky and BT are now putting the finishing touches to plans to deliver TV over the Internet in the next few years. It looks as if we might all soon be relying on the Internet for our work and entertainment.

Kelvyn Gracie is joint manager of Russell Telecom, the North's first private telecommunications company established in 1984. The Newcastle company specialises in telecommunications sales, installation and maintenance for companies including Arriva and Bishop Auckland College. For more information, contact Kelvyn on 0870 112 5402.

Published: 25/04/2006