Since its April release, more than 5 million iPads have been sold worldwide. Certainly there have been a fair share of them sold here in Qatar (or purchased for much less in another county and brought here), so I thought I might take a moment to reflect on why I am loving my iPad, how people are using it and find out what you love about yours.
First, some research. A recent post on Mashable highlighted the findings of Resolve Market Research on how people are using the iPad and its impact on other technology devices. (I asked Resolve for the actual research, but they said the report costs $1,750 – way over Digital Qatar’s budget!). As most predicted, iPad is a potential killer for e-readers. Of those surveyed, 49% said they would not purchase an e-reader after buying the iPad. The next device least likely to be purchased after owning an iPad was any gaming device, which is a bit surprising.
The study showed that most people still see the iPad as an expensive toy (55%) as opposed to a breakthrough technology (33%), but for a large number of those surveyed (37%) the iPad is their first Apple product. This means it is not just Apple junkies buying the iPad and that it has great potential to bring new people to the Apple world.
One of those new users is my mom. She is actually new to a lot of things. Through the iPad she sent her first email, from her first ever email address. She said she is using the iPad mostly for e-Books, but she has also taken to downloading music, and is now also staying in touch with her kids. She’s not alone, it seems that people in her age bracket (45+) are the second round of adopters for the iPad (after the young professionals) and they are finding it easy to use and accessible.
The email my mom sent from her new iPad!
I tend think the iPad is a bit more than just an expensive toy, but it probably does not qualify as a breakthrough either. It certainly seems to fill a gap though, making digital content available, and more importantly, easily accessible, to a wider range of people. I doubt that my mom would have set up an email address if it wasn’t so easy to access through the iPad. The cost still remains a bit high in my opinion for mass adoption, but it is certainly less expensive than many laptops and does much more than any e-reader currently on the market. I definitely expect the iPad to stick around and grow in popularity, and ways it can be used.
So what do you think about your iPad? Yes, tell me why you love it!
