Some Americans have big needs - and they include iPods, flat screen TVs and air conditioning.
Some even doubt they could survive without their music players or high-tech televisions, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.

The survey asked 2,000 Americans to rate 14 items as necessities or luxuries. While it may not be surprising that the necessities list included more than primal needs, the survey showed many of us are wedded to a host of appliances, tools and gadgets.

Indeed, fully 5% of respondents view having a top-of-the-line TV as a necessity, while 3% can’t imagine life without an iPod.

The list of modern conveniences-turned necessities keeps changing, too. In a 1996 survey, just under a third of Americans thought they had to have a microwave, and half as many as now needed a computer.

Pew considered cell phones “so exotic in 1996 they weren’t even placed on the survey.” Today, 49% must have one.

The survey found that young people were quicker to call gadgets necessities, though older respondents were more likely to say they “needed” home appliances.

Cary Leahey, an economist at Decision Economics, said the current economic outlook makes luxuries look like essentials.

“But if the unemployment rate climbed to 6% or higher, versus the current 4.5%, people’s attitude toward needing products like iPods will change,” Leahey said.

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