June 3 - 6, 2024
technology
IPad Tickles Enthusiasts, But Others?
- by Aaron Baar , June 29, 2010
Apple's iPad has had tremendous success among Apple enthusiasts and early adopters, but many consumers beyond that seem to be waiting to see what all the fuss is about.
According to a survey of 1,600 consumers (500 of whom were already iPad owners), YouGov.com found only 7% said they had an interest in purchasing an iPad. A similar percentage said they had an interest in buying a tablet built on Google's Android operating system.
"A lot of the people who have bought [the iPad] are tech enthusiasts and Apple loyalists," Katy Mogal, senior vice president of YouGov tells Marketing Daily. "There's definitely room for someone to come in if they offer something different."
Of those who have already purchased an iPad, 90% already own one Apple product and more than half of them own two, according to the survey. And while those owners are mostly satisfied with their purchases, they aren't really generating any more buzz than for other products; 80% are talking about the products with their peers, and 69% say they would recommend one to a friend.
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Both of those percentages are about on par with Android-powered devices and lagging behind the Kindle and the iPhone 3GS.
That lack of buzz may be keeping non-owners from pulling the trigger on a purchase. According to the survey, 41% of non-iPad owners said their biggest barrier to purchase was not knowing what they would use it for. Eighteen percent said they were waiting to see what other brands came out before buying it.
Those who own the device are generally using it for content consumption. According to the survey, 70% of owners are using it to read e-Books, while two-thirds are using it to surf the Web and about 40% are using it to watch television and movies. Only 18% are using the tablet for business applications.
"It's still a niche product; it's constrained to being a media consumption device," Mogal says. "If it can become more of a productivity device, it can really threaten netbooks -- and to some extent, notebooks."
Aaron,
I think it's sad that "died in the wool" PC enthusiasts are so obviously grasping at straws on this. This article is a desperate attempt to downplay and minimize the successful launch of the iPad.
"It's still a niche product; it's constrained to being a media consumption device," Mogal says.
LOL. As if "media consumption" is not the most important(Re: profitable) thing that the internet allows people to do.
Projections now are Apple will sell 7.1 million units in 2010. http://www.isuppli.com/News/Pages/iPad-Sales-to-Hit-7-Million-in-2010-and-Triple-by-2012.aspx
You need to just get over the fact that people want to buy it and they don't care whether or not it replaces their "productivity" device (PC).
For goodness sake it's just a technology product. You shouldn't take its success as some kind of personal affront that attacks your sense of self-worth.
Move on. Let it go.
Roger
I don't think it's necessary to play the PC/Mac card. I have both platforms as well as an iPad and I think that there are other more compelling reasons to think carefully about the iPad introduction.
The iPad should be thought of as an important beginning milestone and it should be put into perspective as one of the first commonly adopted media devices, with many more spinoffs and adaptions to follow.
The introduction of the iPad comes at a critical point in time for media producers, distributors and consumers. The explosion of media services becoming available on an ever increasing number of devices is truly an evolutionary if not revolutionary turning point for media.
The opportunity to use the iPad introduction as a pathway to study and analyze how media producers adapt their content and advertising, how distributers devise new distribution models and most importantly how media consumers shift their media behaviors is incredibly valuable to media researchers.
cheers,
max
1. $500+
2. Plus another monthly charge
3. On top of other monthly charges
4. On top of multiple charges for the same thing on multiple devices.
5. There will be more
6. Prices will adjust, at least somewhat
7. Just because one owns one or more Apple products and once you go Mac, you never go back, doesn't mean one has to blabber constantly about it. So this knickers in a bunch bunch need to get a grip.
According to our analysis of iPad customer reviews published on retail websites, both iPad 32 and 64 are on the bottom of the e-readers and tablets list when it comes to its functionality, reliability and support. Overall customer satisfaction is dismal. You can find the report at http://www.scribd.com/doc/32802950/Apple-IPad-earns-poor-reputation-for-Reliability-and-Support. These results are produced by automated opinion mining technology described here http://www.amplifiedanalytics.com/Consumer-Reports-Analysis.
And some of us are just waiting for the second generation release to pounce.