iPads everywhere you look

[joescrivens]

Last week I was at the Frankfurt book fair. This is the largest gathering of publishers in the world, more than 280,000 people attended the event and over 7,500 exhibitors.

The one thing that struck me was that iPads were EVERYWHERE. In the exhibitors stands, as products, as tablets that the visitors were carrying. Literally everywhere.

And when I say iPads, I don't mean tablets. In fact I don't think I saw a single other tablet. It was all iPads.

The general consensus from the publishers I spoke with was it was largely to do with the android marketplace. They had nothing against the other tablets, but selling content on the android marketplace was not a business model for them. The fact that you can litter the marketplace with whatever you want makes searching for quality a challenge and people just don't seem to buy from there.

I knew that iPads were the most popular but I was shocked at how prevalent they were.

 

[Rob 80386]

It's one of those things, like when you buy a new car, look around, before you buy it hardly see any, after you buy it, see lots of them driving around.

The iPad does what it does really well, I have an android phone and it too is super, but for mobile internet, IMHO the iPad has it licked..
instant on, long battery life, no fuss no worries

 

[joescrivens]

It's one of those things, like when you buy a new car, look around, before you buy it hardly see any, after you buy it, see lots of them driving around.

The iPad does what it does really well, I have an android phone and it too is super, but for mobile internet, IMHO the iPad has it licked..
instant on, long battery life, no fuss no worries

Lol, yeah!

Although I was actively looking for other brands once it occurred to me and they just didn't exist, although there were also lots and lots of kindles

 

[ding76uk]

I can remember the amount of oversized iphone, never going to work comments on here when the first one was announced. Another game changer from Apple.

 

[joescrivens]

I can remember the amount of oversized iphone, never going to work comments on here when the first one was announced. Another game changer from Apple.

lol, yeah, I just read back through the first thread and there are some classics in there:

I am very surprised this got launched to be honest. I know there were rumours of it etc but I'm not sure there will be much of an audience for it.

all this is is a playskool ipod

They never learn, two words: Apple Newton

One very large bag of 'fail'.

Whilst I can see the market that Apple is aiming at, I really don't know if one exists

This has a single use: Home

It is completely impractical in every single other environment.

Ironically this point, two years later couldn't be further from the truth. Every single state in the US has an ipad adoption program for education and the use in the medical profession is now growing hugely.

although I have to also comment on some of my own posts:

I would much rather lay in bed and watch a movie on the iPad with the LED screen than a) my iphone which is tiny

I take that back, it's too heavy to hold up. I still use my iphone

It's very niche

I don't think it's niche anymore.

I think with the ipad people didn't get it at all until they held one. There are still lots of people who don't see a use in tablets but you can't deny that the majority of the comments above were way off the mark.

 

[MartynK]

Yeah. Video on DSLRs might be another example, widely criticised as an an ingenious solution looking for a problem when it first appeared, but mainstream now.

I don't have an iPad or any other sort of tablet. I don't need one, don't want one and can't afford one; but maybe one day?

 

[neil_g]

I can remember the amount of oversized iphone, never going to work comments on here when the first one was announced. Another game changer from Apple.

i hold my hands up on that point, i didnt see the point of them when first released. these days its replaced my laptop..

 

[Slaphead]

I think with the ipad people didn't get it at all until they held one. There are still lots of people who don't see a use in tablets but you can't deny that the majority of the comments above were way off the mark.

I've used one, and while I can see it's attraction it misses the mark for me. For one it's not that portable from my point of view - bear with me on this. I choose not to load myself down with bags whenever possible, and as it's too big to stick in a pocket it means it would never end up coming with me - basically the whole point of having an iPad is it's portability. Now, even if I did carry a bag habitually then I still probably wouldn't have one, as I believe that an 11" MacBook air would be far far more useful to me, and it's not that much heavier than an iPad.

That said, I find my iPhone more than sufficient for all the general tasks that I would do on the move anyway.

I'm not dissing the product at all, but it simply doesn't fit into the way I work and live.

 

[joescrivens]

I've used one, and while I can see it's attraction it misses the mark for me. For one it's not that portable from my point of view - bear with me on this. I choose not to load myself down with bags whenever possible, and as it's too big to stick in a pocket it means it would never end up coming with me - basically the whole point of having an iPad is it's portability. Now, even if I did carry a bag habitually then I still probably wouldn't have one, as I believe that an 11" MacBook air would be far far more useful to me, and it's not that much heavier than an iPad.

That said, I find my iPhone more than sufficient for all the general tasks that I would do on the move anyway.

I'm not dissing the product at all, but it simply doesn't fit into the way I work and live.

yeh, I think like everything, one size doesn't fit all and plenty of people have no use.

regarding it's portability though at the tradeshow I was at, every single person who came up to me to talk in the both had an ipad to get their notes on and show their products and their websites etc. Over the last 6 years working at tradeshows this has never happened.

People would either bring a laptop and we'd need to find a surface to sit at or they wouldn't bring a computer at all and I'd walk to their booth to see their product, or they'd have notes on a writing pad. It was quite an eye opener

 

[cambsno]

i hold my hands up on that point, i didnt see the point of them when first released. these days its replaced my laptop..

Me too - pointless I thought, it made you look like a midget holding an iphone!!! Then I spent 10 mins playing with one and bought it!!!

 

[Slaphead]

yeh, I think like everything, one size doesn't fit all and plenty of people have no use.

regarding it's portability though at the tradeshow I was at, every single person who came up to me to talk in the both had an ipad to get their notes on and show their products and their websites etc. Over the last 6 years working at tradeshows this has never happened.

People would either bring a laptop and we'd need to find a surface to sit at or they wouldn't bring a computer at all and I'd walk to their booth to see their product, or they'd have notes on a writing pad. It was quite an eye opener

I totally agree, and I've seen some fantastic uses for it. For example there's at least one hospital in the USA that's using them to be able to pull up patient records, show the patients x-rays, and graphically show them how the procedures will be done, plus everything else regarding patient care. It's real improvement for both the doctors and the patients in terms of communication and ease of use.

The example you cite also shows how much of an improvement the iPad can provide when doing business in that environment.

If I was ten years younger I'd have snapped one up straight away, and then discovered that I didn't honestly have a valid use for it, but that wouldn't have mattered because it's a really cool gadget. These days I'm little more wiser, and a bit more cynical, hence I tend to think through what I'd use something for before buying it, and so far I can't see where an iPad would bring a significant improvement, or advantage, to how I'm using and presenting portable information already.

 

[mid_gen]

Same, I didn't really know what I'd use it for when I bought it.

Now it is easily my most used piece of gadgetry, goes with me everywhere. It's particularly useful when travelling with work. I'm in India at the moment, and it's great being able to have all my music, some games, some TV episodes,electronic version of newspapers, and Kindle books...all in one tiny little package.

 

[MisterE]

BA have started supplying their First Class passengers' entertainment on Ipads. Loaded with the films, music etc, as a way to avoid the complexities and problems frequently encountered with the aircraft's built in entertainment system it's a good step forward. The cabin crew also use them for the onboard management - passenger meal requests, trip reports etc.

Never one to be sucked in to the Apple machine, I got myself a 7in HTC Flyer and am more than happy with it. Fits in a pocket and goes everywhere with me.