Interested in consumer behavior regarding tablet usage, office-supply retailer Staples decided to poll a group of tablet users during June 2011 to find out typical patterns in personal and business related daily use. Thirty-five percent of tablet owners owned up to consistently bringing the mobile device into the bathroom. Thirty percent of tablet owners bring their iPads into restaurants and 78 percent of all respondents take the tablet into bed. Sixty percent of tablet owners take the thin device on vacation to check up with the office and catch up on email while relaxing on the beach.
Seventy-five percent of tablet owners use the mobile computer for email, but just a third of users edit documents with the tablet. However, 60 percent of tablet users claim that productivity increases when using a tablet. Forty percent of tablet users purchased the device for keeping up with communication in and out of the office, but 90 percent of all respondents claim that the convenience of portability is the primary motivator for purchasing the expensive device. Over 80 percent of the survey takers declare that the tablet has improved the balance between work and home life. Regarding data security, over two-thirds of tablet owners don’t bother backing up data from the tablet and only 15 percent utilize anti-virus software on the tablet.
This study corresponds to a recent survey that found nearly 1 in 5 people end up dropping a smartphone into the toilet since 40 percent of smartphone owners take the device into the bathroom to surf the Web, catch up on email as well as use various mobile applications. Fortunately, replacing a tablet that falls in the toilet as of late is likely less traumatic with the recent $99 fire sale on the HP TouchPad. Otherwise, the replacement cost of a tablet typically ranges between $400 to $700.
