4 ms·

Do you really need a tablet?

2 points by PretzelFisch 8y ago

josefresco 8y ago
We hardly ever use our iPad's anymore - kids use the newest one (old one is unusable except for Netflix) to stream YouTube and use Facetime (gaming chat) and not much else. Bought them Kindles last year, can't remember the last time they last used them. I started using one as an eBook reader which given their lack of power, is basically all they're good for. Wife has one of those jumbo iPhones so she doesn't require a larger device. I expected the iPad to revolutionize computing, and interfaces - unfortunately it ended up being a "second-class" device.
- simonh 8y ago
  I use mine like crazy, but it's true our kids use their phones more than the tablets. I think the numbers don't bear out the surface analysis here though. See my other comment, but basically the story for tablets generally is not the same as the story for Apple. High powered pro iPads with advanced features continue to do well, and those can't all be going to new users that don't realise how little they will end up using them. I went from a 6.5" iPhone to a 5.5" because it's much handier and an iPad is a better larger format device. Larger phones have killed the Mini though.
simonh 8y ago
It's always interesting to read these articles. As is often the case, there are some good points and some silliness for the sake of an interesting narrative. However there's actually a much more interesting story in there. Yes global tablet sales are half PC sales, but it includes detachables and convertibles of which only a small fraction are used regularly as tablets. Probably only two thirds of these 'tablets' are slates or see regular use in tablet mode. Meanwhile those PC sales include a ton of laptops. IMHO a much more interesting contract is a direct slate to laptop comparison but that's hard to tease out of the press releases and summaries of the data. It odes look like overall laptop sales probably exceed tablet sales by about double though. Looking at Apple though, we see the opposite story. They sell significantly more than twice as many iPads compared to Macs. No wonder they are doubling down on pro features for the iPad to prop up the ASP, but they're also aggressive at the low end with an entry level price at $329 including pencil support. I really don't think they see the iPad as being a small niche. For them this is a diverse and differentiated market segment.

2 points by PretzelFisch 8y ago

We hardly ever use our iPad's anymore - kids use the newest one (old one is unusable except for Netflix) to stream YouTube and use Facetime (gaming chat) and not much else. Bought them Kindles last year, can't remember the last time they last used them. I started using one as an eBook reader which given their lack of power, is basically all they're good for. Wife has one of those jumbo iPhones so she doesn't require a larger device. I expected the iPad to revolutionize computing, and interfaces - unfortunately it ended up being a "second-class" device.

simonh 8y ago
I use mine like crazy, but it's true our kids use their phones more than the tablets. I think the numbers don't bear out the surface analysis here though. See my other comment, but basically the story for tablets generally is not the same as the story for Apple. High powered pro iPads with advanced features continue to do well, and those can't all be going to new users that don't realise how little they will end up using them. I went from a 6.5" iPhone to a 5.5" because it's much handier and an iPad is a better larger format device. Larger phones have killed the Mini though.

simonh 8y ago

It's always interesting to read these articles. As is often the case, there are some good points and some silliness for the sake of an interesting narrative. However there's actually a much more interesting story in there. Yes global tablet sales are half PC sales, but it includes detachables and convertibles of which only a small fraction are used regularly as tablets. Probably only two thirds of these 'tablets' are slates or see regular use in tablet mode. Meanwhile those PC sales include a ton of laptops. IMHO a much more interesting contract is a direct slate to laptop comparison but that's hard to tease out of the press releases and summaries of the data. It odes look like overall laptop sales probably exceed tablet sales by about double though. Looking at Apple though, we see the opposite story. They sell significantly more than twice as many iPads compared to Macs. No wonder they are doubling down on pro features for the iPad to prop up the ASP, but they're also aggressive at the low end with an entry level price at $329 including pencil support. I really don't think they see the iPad as being a small niche. For them this is a diverse and differentiated market segment.