[Shown: iPad 2, starting at $499; first version debuted in 2010]
In a new story about Wednesday's expected launch of the iPad 3, The New York Times reports today that tablets are poised to replace PCs sooner than many might expect. That trend comes as Gannett prepares to introduce tablet and smartphone versions of its community dailies with this spring's launch of paywalls.
Bullet points from the NYT story:
- For the last two years, PC sales were flat, while iPad sales were booming.
- Last year, PCs outsold tablets almost six to one, estimates Canalys, a technology research company. That's still a significant change from 2010, the iPad’s first year on the market, when PCs outsold tablets 20 to one.
- Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, estimated the tablet market could exceed the one for PCs in 2017. But Horace Dediu, an analyst with Asymco in Finland, argues that tablet sales would pass traditional PC sales in the fall of 2013.
- iPads accounted for 20% of Apple's total revenue during the holiday quarter.
My partner has an iPad that I almost never use, because I do too much typing, and he doesn't have a separate keyboard.
ReplyDeleteiPad Christmas present in 2010. Never use my PC at home anymore.
ReplyDeleteiPad 2 that I bought as soon as they came out. I use it on short trips instead of hauling my laptop. Great for taking to doctor's offices to read from my Kindle too. One of the reasons I have it and my iPhone is because of the style of keyboard. No way I could be thumbing with the chicklets with these hands. So now I have a PC desktop, PC laptop, iPad and iPhone. I guess you could call that computer diversity.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Jim, that iPads are not great for actual work!
ReplyDeleteAre we really racing? A year or two is too damn long ... The Indy tablet site is a nice start but it suffers from the same problem as every uscp website: so much stuff, so much clutter, no rationale organization. Gannett really needs to borrow from NYT on tablet design
ReplyDeleteI need a keyboard to do real work. I have an iPhone for on-the-go web browsing, email, texting, etc. So I don't see how an iPad will meet my needs.
ReplyDeleteI love my ipad2. I have a keyboard for it but never use it. I like the mobility of it.
ReplyDeleteCarrying my iPad2 means that I have my New York Times, New Yorker, USAToday, Wired magazine, etc., etc., et al, with me at all times -- as well as the Facebook and Twitter updates from all of the breaking-news sources I'm following.
ReplyDeletePlus, it's fast. Just touch an app. No booting, no browsing, no searching, no sweat. Very unlike a laptop.
iPads are great for consumption, poor for creation. Sure you can hook one up to a keyboard, but I've never yet seen anyone do so. Still, a lot more people are simple consumers rather than creators, so the tablet market is definitely a growth area. The owner at my (non-Gannett) newspaper is keen to get ipads into the hands of reporters for remote filing of stories, ability to take video, pictures, etc, but we haven't made the leap yet. As for an ipad version of the newspaper, our market doesn't justify it as yet.
ReplyDeleteYou see all the typos in usat web stories? Every day, headlines spelled wrong, Dave Teeuwen has people so intimidated they can't work straight. I wish someone would monitor the situation. Doesn't seem to be a lot of oversight over the most important part of the organization.
ReplyDeleteInstead of surfing for porn and playing words with friends, shouldnt there be better management supervision? Where are the adults?