Tablets Hitting Sweet Spot

Chicago view from Adler Planetarium

There was a time not too log ago when a personal computer meant a rather bulky desktop unit. This gave way to the laptop to some extent - lighter in weight than desktop units, but which still could feel heavy after carrying it around for awhile. The iPod, of course, made entertainment portable, which was then followed by the iPhone, making communication even more portable and user-friendly. Several other smartphones also have taken off, so what could be left? The answer is the tablet, led by the iPad and its spinoff, the iPad mini. 

Consider some of these statistics:

• the 50 billionth app download on the iTunes App Store just took place earlier this week; the App Store has been around for just under five years
• Adobe noted a study predicting that by 2018 consumers will be watching TV online as much as they do on broadcast or pay/cable
• the BBC reports that for the first time, there were more requests on its iPlayer TV service than on mobile phones
• the Yankee Group estimates that tablet sales will increase from 233 million this year to over a billion in 2017

For viewing video and reading text, these are possible on smartphones but the user experience is generally much better on the larger screen of the tablet. Laptops might be portable, but they can still be cumbersome. Tablets fall somewhere in the middle, which helps explain why they have become so popular so fast. 

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