A new study released Tuesday said 17% of homes with the Apple iPad have two or more tablets in the home. Does this portend a future where everyone will have multiple tablets?
The study was released by YouGov and it said that most who owned more than one iPad purchased the second device for their partner – you know, his and her iPads.
While I’m on holiday visiting family, I’ve found that none of my multiple gadgets attract attention quite like the iPad. The Galaxy Tab, e-readers and multiple smartphones I have garner little attention compared to the Apple tablet.
Sure, most of the usage is actually on little games like Plants vs. Zombies but there are some issues when other people want to check their e-mail. For all of its “magical” properties, the Apple iPad is still geared as a solitary device.
This is something that could easily be fixed with future software updates though, as I would hope that iOS 5.0 would have the ability to sign in as different users. This would enable adults in the same household to use the device without encroaching on the other person’s e-mail and, maybe just as importantly, this could also give parents a mode where they could hand it over to a kid and not have to worry about things like porn or spend a ton of cash on in-app purchases.
Maybe we’re just heading for a future where everyone will just have their own tablet. If that’s the case, I do like the portability of a 7-inch screen like the Galaxy Tab. I laughed when Samsung said it’ll fit in the back of your jean pocket but I’ve actually done that.
How would you change the iPad and other tablets to make them better devices to share? Or, should each person just have their own tablet?
[Via Apple Insider, YouGov (PDF)]