I came across an interesting study by Pew Research on the adoption of tablet usage and daily activity. Of 1159 tablet users surveyed, the report claims that 11% of Americans have purchased tablet devices since the launch of the iPad in March 2010. So what are they doing?
Some other interesting findings for tablet owners:
- 77% use their tablet every day.
- 14% have paid for news services on their tablet devices.
- Over half tablet owners share the device in their family.
- Only 23% reported preferring reading books vs. reading on the tablet.
- Apple dominates with over 81% surveyed owning an iPad.
Is news worth paying for on a tablet device?
Yes and no. If publishers just churn out the same garbage that can be read on a web browser then there is no added value and attempts at charging a fee will fall flat resulting in poor customer lifetime value.
But if done well, the magazine reading experience far outperforms the experience of reading a magazine the traditional way. I love, and pay for, the experience Wired and Popular Science provide based on their use of integrated animation (see this month’s cover of Popular Science as an example), videos (for ad content or features), more intuitive layouts (that do not have the restrictions of traditional print) and interactivity (tap for more content). Publishers who think about the user experience in their niche and develop new ways to interact around the tablet device will be the winners as more and more people engage with tablet devices.