Tag: Personal computer

Just a bit outside!

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As we have covered, the iPad has totally changed the market for personal computers.  For a device that supposedly no one needed, it appears as if these forecasts were a bit wrong.  Just a bit outside 🙂

The growth of the iPad continues to be staggering.  Looks like it has become pretty important for consumers:

So the iPad is now used by 46.7% of those surveyed as their primary computer.  Impressive!

Looks like it has become a real favorite for non-work related activities.

And people are using their iPads for many different things:

Remarkable.  More on this report from Business Insider can be found at http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-usage-survey-results-2012-7#what-are-people-doing-with-the-ipad-that-makes-it-a-personal-computer-web-surfing-is-the-most-popular-activity-followed-by-email-and-then-other-applications-11

Well done Business Insider.

Webman

Touchscreens – Part 2

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Last week we touched on some of the amazing technology we are now dealing with as consumers and business people.  The touchscreens on our smartphones and tablet devices have enabled amazing things with regard to your creativity, productivity and overall engagement with the content on these devices.

These devices and the rapid emergence of social networks have provided an incredible amount of new advertising inventory for businesses to reach their consumers while also significantly increasing the difficulty of communicating with their customers.  So what is a business to do?  How engaged are consumers on these new devices and how responsive are they to advertising?

The IAB is the Internet Advertising Bureau and they have just published a new study about consumer responsiveness to advertising on touchscreen devices. Ads that appear on touchscreen devices like tablets and smartphones are showing some of the highest levels of engagement of all digital ads.

Before we delve into some of the detail, let’s pop it up a level and frame the different types of the mobile value proposition and consumer engagement.

Mobile value propositions vary by device type:

  • Smartphones are mission-critical devices for life, with nearly 70% of smartphone users saying they “won’t leave home without it.”
  • By contrast, tablets are a media consumption hub, with nearly 70% of tablet users reporting that their tablet is an “entertainment device.”
  • Engagement on tablets surpasses engagement on smartphones. Across key dimensions – use/consumption, the receptivity and action related to advertising, and the activity of shopping – tablet users are more easily engaged.
  • Although smartphones are more likely than tablets to be used outside the home, there is a clear reliance on their smartphones across high-value activities at home as well, for example while reading print media and watching TV.

Mobile affects traditional media consumption in distinct ways. Two audiences are emerging – one that drives traditional media through mobile (so mobile complements or augments their traditional media usage); another that detracts (so mobile substitutes for or replaces traditional media).  Almost half of tablet owners say having a tablet has had an impact (positive OR negative) on the amount of time they spend reading magazines and newspapers.

Here are some initial headlines from the report:

Size matters. Between tablet and smartphone users, the IAB found that those on tablets  are actually more engaged in advertising. When asked if they engage with ads more than once a week — that is, click on an ad for more information — 47 percent of tablet users responded yes, compared to 25 percent of smartphone users. Tablet users were also more likely to “take action” on the ad (that could mean buying something, downloading something, filling out a survey, or visiting another site): 89 percent of tablet users took action versus 80 percent of smartphone users.

The medium is the message. Also, as we’ve seen from other tablet research, people are more likely to be using their tablets to read and consume entertainment media for longer periods of time, while smartphones are about short bursts of use. Those shorter bursts imply that users will be less inclined to spend time clicking around on ads than on the tablet. Among smartphone users, 47 percent of smartphone users say they “never” interact with mobile ads, compared to just 23 percent on tablets.

Context is king. The top three categories for mobile ads, as ranked by respondents, were the same across tablets and smartphones, although their rankings differed. They were coupons related to things users were already browsing;  ads for products that were already being shopped for; and favorite brands (again possibly related to your browsing activity).

Much more information can be found in the 70 page report that was completed.  You can download the full report at http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB-Mobile-Devices-Report-final.pdf.  More to follow on this once I can dig a little deeper into the findings.

Webman

Mobile – Changing the World

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What impact is mobile having on our behavior?  What changes have happened because we have these cool, powerful smart devices with touchscreens and more information that we could ever imagine right at our fingertips?  How quickly do we respond?  How quickly do we search for more information?  Well if you are like me, we are very quick on the trigger finger.  Do you see what I did there?  🙂

A few stand out stats:

  • There are currently 6 Billion mobile subscribers worldwide
  • This equals 87% of the world’s population
  • China and India account for 30% of this growth
  • There are over 1.2 Billion people accessing the web from their mobiles
  • Over 300,000 apps have been developed in the past 3 years
  • Google earns 2.5 Billion in mobile ad revenue annually

These are just some of the compelling reasons why you can’t afford to ignore mobile as a platform now. Thanks to the guys at Trinity!

86%?  Must be some men in that statistic.  Hmm, thought we could not multi-task?  Actually we can’t as we can only pay real attention to one screen at a time. 🙂

In the US 25% of internet users are mobile only.  So it is the only way they access their mail, web, photos etc.  As most of us are still using both the PC and our mobile devices, this is an amazing statistic.

There are significant cross-cultural differences in how we use our mobile devices.  Check it out.

Capturing our attention these days is also quite difficult.  However when you do, stuff happens:

Amazing statistics for an amazing, transforming technology.  Check out the full infographic at:

http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-2012-mobile-growth-statistics/

Enjoy the day.

Webman

Are you kidding me?

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So much is changing so fast. Are you keeping up?  Speed, change, innovation.  Moving faster all the time.  The research firm Gartner believes the personal cloud will replace the PC as the center of our digital lives in 2014.  So in less than 2 years the PC as we know it is dead.  Hey PC, we hardly knew ya!  Just as Steve Jobs predicted.  We are now definitely in the post PC world.

That cloud thing is becoming really important really quickly.  For consumers and businesses.  We have covered a number of emerging business opportunities recently but we are really at the tip of the iceberg.

Cloud services will become the glue that connects the web of devices that users choose to access their daily life in the cloud. The new iPad may be the most impressive piece of computing hardware ever seen. Yet its true power is held back by large enterprise software corporations that cannot keep pace with the new devices designed with cloud computing in mind…. It’s as if they’ve completely ignored one of the most successful computing platforms ever built, outselling the total number of PCs its closest competitor sold last quarter.

With the new iPad sold out, it seems only a matter of time that those not on board with the cloud — and with their wares available on any device — will face an existential question.

Here are the headlines for you:

  • Users are more technologically-savvy and have very different expectations of technology.
  • The internet and social media have empowered and emboldened users.
  • The rise of powerful, affordable mobile devices changes the equation for users.
  • Users are innovators.
  • All users have similar technology available to them.
  • People are visual – Sounds like an iPad to me
  • Apps rock – they are great, they are pervasive and they are awesome
  • Why have a lot of stuff on your hard drive when you can access your stuff in the cloud when you need it
  • Mobile rocks and will be the primary way we interact with the web – desktop dead – being tethered dead, Niedermeyer dead

OK, I digress.  But the headline is, no more big hard drives, you will just put it in the cloud, so wherever you are you can access it.  Only portability you need now is your access device.  Take a look at what is coming soon.

Hey it is now in the cloud and easy to find. As my friend Johnny says, “Are you kidding me?”

Webman

Is Your Business Mobile?

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Small Businesses – Are You Mobile?

Your customers are, are you?

In an era where there are more and more ways to reach and communicate with your customers and prospects, every day challenges us in how to connect and have meaningful dialogue.  How do I capture their attention?  What is it about my brand and my promotions that they care about?  How do I best engage customers for meaningful feedback or to reward them with special incentives that are relevant?

Smart devices provide a new and unique way to communicate with your customers.  Smart phones are projected to hold a 50% market share in the US by the end of 2011 and a 75% market share by the end of 2013.  This new medium provides incredible new opportunities to reach your customers in ways never before imagined.  Are you able to take advantage of these opportunities?

As a local retailer, you know it is all about location, location, location.  Well location now has a completely new meaning.  It is not about the location of the store, but the location of your customers and prospects to your store.  Mobile consumers are willing to share their location in exchange for real-time offers.  66% are willing to share their information in exchange for coupons, 55% for loyalty rewards and 37% for exclusive sales.

The exponential growth in use of smartphones, iPhone/iPads, and tablets (we’ll group all of these into “smart device” for this article’s purposes) attests to our preference for portability.  Unlike the PC or laptop counterparts, we typically keep these devices within 3 feet, 24x7x365(“Will 2010 Be the Real Year of Mobile?” (December 10, 2009), Jason Steinberg”) indicating our strong preference for smart devices as the communication device of choice.

Just as social networking changed the way companies communicate with their customers, so too will the adoption of smart devices.  While any business should consider how to take advantage of this trend, consumer driven companies in particular MUST start incorporating smart phone and device communications as an important part of their overall communications plan.