What Are You And I Doing On Our iPad

A survey took a snap shot of what iPad users are doing on their Apple tablet.  The gist is this:  we consume and consume.  In all likelihood, we have evolved into a different kind of coach potatoes.  A digital or mobile variant of it.

The top activity we do on our iPads is surf the Web.  Love Apple or not, Apple had done in incredible job duplicating the desktop browsing experience and ported it over to the mobile experience.  While the native mobile Safari on the iPad lacks some of the bells and whistles of the deskop version, for 90% of what you need to have a seemless Web experience is there.  And before, you get into Flash, ask the Android folks, not devotees (I wouldn't ask you take anything an Apple fanboy say either), and you'll know that Flash isn't quite there yet.  It's not Google's fault.  It's Adobe.  

The second thing we do a lot of on our iPads is socialize.  In this day, "socializing" means tweeting, checking or update Facebook statuses, or sending messages back and forth with friends/family.  Surprisingly, this category is put into one of its own. I would have thought that they fit in with the Web browsing experience.  After all, I don't use a separate app for Facebook on my Macbook Air.  However, I do use an assortment of apps for Twitter.  

Others is the next biggest category but I'll get into that later.

The next two groups are close enough for me to call it a draw.  Gaming and watching video.  I get why the two are separated but I think they give developers a clearer picture about their development, what to develop, and how to market their apps.  I think it's okay had the survey takers put the two together into one category.  It's entertainment.  

This is a great start but I think something might be missing.  What about business use?  It is possible that some of the Web browsing, e-mailing, and the "other activities" should more appropriately be put into a productivity category.  However, the fact remains that iPad or tablet use is largely non-business related.  It is possible that over time, we will see higher tablet adoption in enterprise.  It is only a matter of time before productivity gains a bigger share of tablet use.  

Another category I like to see surveyed is tablet use in education.  And not just as education in general but how iPads and tablets are helping teachers and students become more engaged in the classroom as well as the learning materials.

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