3 ms·

>Can you remember when the iPad came out and everyone said it was a giant bloated iPhone (myself included.) Now it’s indispensable to most. This is a little OT

by jmilloy 14y ago

>Can you remember when the iPad came out and everyone said it was a giant bloated iPhone (myself included.) Now it’s indispensable to most. This is a little OT, but I just find it hilarious when people say this sort of thing. Something like 10% of people in the US have an ipad.

zachinglis 14y ago
Fair enough. I am talking about the people who will be reading my post. The techies, designers, etc. I can't imagine anyone from outside that will be reading the article.
sedev 14y ago
Ten percent of the US population is (a) a very large absolute number and (b) easily enough that you're likely to see an iPad every day if you look around you. Then if you move into San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, and similar population hubs - the places that matter in the US - you can expect to see rather higher than 10% market penetration, especially if you then look primarily at affluent people (like engineers and entrepreneurs) in those areas. Ten percent is not a small number here.
qq66 14y ago
Also, it's important to realize what technology is "indispensable" and what technology is not. If all of the iPads vanished tomorrow, or even the Internet, people would basically be OK. If the electricity went out across the country and wasn't coming back, it would basically be the end of our civilization. In fact, the "indispensable" technologies are so refined that people take them for granted, but their existence is much more amazing than that of the iPad. Being able to flip a handle in your own house and get life's most essential substance, ready-to-drink? Being able to get inside a metal tube and go clean across the country for a few hundred dollars? Being able to have your own vehicle that can go 80 miles per hour with refueling stations all over the country? Absolutely unbelievable.

by jmilloy 14y ago

zachinglis 14y ago

Fair enough. I am talking about the people who will be reading my post. The techies, designers, etc. I can't imagine anyone from outside that will be reading the article.

sedev 14y ago

Ten percent of the US population is (a) a very large absolute number and (b) easily enough that you're likely to see an iPad every day if you look around you. Then if you move into San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, and similar population hubs - the places that matter in the US - you can expect to see rather higher than 10% market penetration, especially if you then look primarily at affluent people (like engineers and entrepreneurs) in those areas. Ten percent is not a small number here.

qq66 14y ago

Also, it's important to realize what technology is "indispensable" and what technology is not. If all of the iPads vanished tomorrow, or even the Internet, people would basically be OK. If the electricity went out across the country and wasn't coming back, it would basically be the end of our civilization. In fact, the "indispensable" technologies are so refined that people take them for granted, but their existence is much more amazing than that of the iPad. Being able to flip a handle in your own house and get life's most essential substance, ready-to-drink? Being able to get inside a metal tube and go clean across the country for a few hundred dollars? Being able to have your own vehicle that can go 80 miles per hour with refueling stations all over the country? Absolutely unbelievable.