Britain is so far from being a homogenous entity when it comes to the way we use the media and adopt new technology that policy makers watching from the sidelines are now scratching their heads in bewilderment.
In fact it is even difficult to generalise about the communications patterns in cities 30 miles apart, within the same nation, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh.
So think of the UK as a patchwork quilt in terms of media consumption, rather than a fleecy blanket, and tread carefully.
That's the main message I took away from Ofcom's fascinating annual Nations & Regions Communications Market report, published last week, which for the first time is in four separate sections on England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, exposing the nation's geographical quirks in their full glory.
Much of the report focused on the way that rural areas have now nosed ahead of cities in their adoption of broadband internet - 59% compared with 57% - a striking change since highspeed internet began its tentative roll out back in 2000.
But it is a simplification to see take up of any service in broad brush terms. For example, for reasons no one can really explain, Sunderland in the north east is the digital capital of the UK, with the highest broadband penetration, at 66%. And 96% of homes on Wearside have digital television.
When it comes to making telephone calls using voice over the internet services, the canny folk of the Highlands and Islands are ahead, with 18% in the region saying they've used it, compared with Scotland's average of 11% and the UK's overall 12% uptake.
In Wales people gave their sources of local news in the following order of importance: first, TV, 45%; second, newspapers, 16%; both in line with national averages. But the researchers were startled to find that "talking to people" was also put at 16%, compared with the UK equivalent of 6%. How do you explain that?
The Ofcom research also shows that the Welsh are most dissatisfied with their television services, despite having the most per head spent on them, thanks to the subsidy of S4C.
Another oddity about Wales: despite the somewhat older population profile than the UK as a whole, the gap between those with broadband in urban and rural Wales is far larger than average. In rural Wales 51% of households have broadband, compared with 43% in urban areas. Web surfing Welsh farmers seem to be coming to the fore.
Social networking is highest in Londonderry/ Derry. at 28% of adults, compared with 20% across England on average. This is thought to be due to the relative youthfulness of the city's population. Yet overall Northern Ireland is not particularly fast at adopting new technology.
Then take the issue of broadband penetration and digital television adoption in Scotland. Overall 53% of Scottish households have broadband. But in Glasgow broadband has a lowly 32% penetration, compared with Edinburgh's 62%.
The disparity, says Ofcom, is probably explained by poverty, transient populations, the cost of computers and broadband. Yet in Glasgow 95% of homes have digital television, compared with Edinburgh's 89%.
Where does this leave policy makers? I'd say very hesitant about doing anything irrevocable or rapid. If policies are to be framed to close the digital divide, something being taken increasingly seriously within the government-led convergence think tank, then the evidence suggests that policies could be overtaken by events.
For instance, if the number of mobile phone-only households continues to grow, then - and Ofcom hinted as much - future auctions of spectrum should favour telecoms operators aiming at easy wireless internet access.
The adoption of broadband in rural areas can surely be explained by a mixture of wealth, the middle class flight out of cities, and needs. I know first hand that people in Welsh villages are swapping to home delivery internet grocery shopping to save on fuel and because the big supermarkets are delivering an ever wider range of products. And at my son's scout camp last year on Exmoor, Tesco provided home deliveries.
