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6/28/2013 0 Comments

Pilot Use of iPads Soaring

PictureiPad use by airline pilots continues to take off.
For a device that has been on the market for only three years, it is nothing short of phenomenal how quickly the iPad has taken hold. The Los Angeles public school system just this month announced that it was purchasing over 30,000 iPads for its students. The Mayo Clinic has over 15,000 iPhones and iPads on its network. Hyatt Hotels is rolling out thousands of iPads to its employees. General Electric, founded by Thomas Edison, is connecting thousands of employees with in-house apps.

For years, commercial airline pilots have carried flight bags with reams of paper - estimated at 45 pounds - on board. At 1.5 pounds, the iPad is saving an incredible amount of fuel, not to mention trees. United Airlines estimates the annual savings at 16 million sheets of paper and 326,000 gallons of fuel, not to mention much faster access to information. American Airlines says it will save 400,000 gallons per year. JetBlue is expanding a pilot program (pun intended) to provide all 2,500 of its pilots with iPads. Alaska Airlines is requiring its new pilots to go the paperless route - in fact, noting that lugging around and digging through heavy flight bags at times would lead to pilot injuries. American Airlines estimates that iPads will eliminate the need for 3,000 pages of paper per pilot.

Many airline passengers are waiting to see how the FAA's review of on-board passenger use of electronics will fare. Some suggest that many of the current restrictions are archaic, while others prefer to err on the side of caution. It's amazing to realize that just over a decade ago, the iPod was primarily a music player. Today, you might see anyone from infants to pilots using iPads on aircraft.

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6/14/2013 0 Comments

TABLETS CONTINUE RAPID GROWTH

PictureThinking of the residents of Colorado Springs
In ancient times, the writing was on the wall (often literally) or wood or papyrus. People communicated via hieroglyphics. Charlton Heston famously played Moses over half a century ago in the Hollywood version of The Ten Commandments. So we see that the concept of delivering information via a tablet is not particularly new.

What is new is that the electronic version of the tablet has grown from a "nice-to-have" item to an integral part of many people's connected lives - for general news and during emergencies, for social networking, and for thousands of apps. More and more people are purchasing an iPad, Galaxy Tab, Nexus, or Kindle Fire. According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, in just three years, from May 2010 to May 2013, adult tablet ownership has soared from 3% to 34%, with no letup in sight. Other highlights include:
  • ownership is slightly higher among women (35%) than men (32%)
  • the 35-44 age bracket has the highest level of ownership (49%)
  • ownership increases with higher education levels (49% for the college-educated)
  • the higher the income, the greater the ownership (56% for household income of $75,000+)
  • when you consider the 3% overall ownership across all income levels just three years ago, then the 20% figure for those households with income <$30,000 is very significant, impressive, and encouraging
  • 50% of households containing a parent and minor child own a tablet computer

This writer believes that the main reason for the success of the tablet can simply be attributed to its portability and reader-friendliness. Tablets are much more compact and lighter in weight than laptops, but the reading experience is much easier than on smartphones. Tablets hit a sweet spot. 


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6/7/2013 0 Comments

Facebook & YouTube Dominate Social Media

PictureNetworks - not just railroads, traffic lights, utility wires
With the continuing growth of mobile devices, led by smartphones and tablets, social media access is easier than ever. This is reflected in usage statistics. According to data from Experian, Facebook leads the way by a wide margin. For the week ending June 1, 2013, Facebook had over 2 billion visits, representing a 58% share. The next closest was YouTube, a distant second at 24%.

The remainder of the top 10 is comprised of (3) Twitter, (4) Pinterest, (5) LinkedIn, (6) Yahoo! Answers, (7) Google+, (8) Tagged, (9) Tumblr, and (10) Reddit. Even though all of these sites have less than 2% of total social media visits, over the course of a year, that translates to hundreds of millions to several billion visits each. 


The growth of social media has transformed business (Kodak was a top brand for many decades, until digital photography replaced film photography), weather (Twitter feeds and comments often were the quickest way to get updated information during Hurricane Sandy), news (real-time updates during the Boston Marathon and the days that followed led to thousands of leads as well as inaccurate reporting at times), nations (the change in Egypt is just one of many examples), and communications (text messages and video chat have supplanted "snail mail" to a great extent). Despite some challenges, the use of social media is now an integral part of our daily lives,and will be so for the foreseeable future.

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    Blog Author - Ken Felsher

    With over 25 years of writing, editing, and research experience. I enjoy sharing with my readers my love of working with content on a variety of subjects.

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