Tonight, we talked about the phenomenon known as the iPad. We started off by trying to define what the iPad is. Is it a mobile device? Is it a game changer or a fad? You know . . . like the Internet was a fad. Or water is a fad. We decided (or at least I did), it’s NOT a mobile device. People are not walking around taking pictures of things without looking like a real dork. Making a call on one is not social acceptable and it is mobile in the sense that a laptop is mobile. Then we moved onto iPad stats
- 40 million iPads sold as of October since it launched in 2010
- 75% of the tablet market
- 97.2% of tablet traffic is from the iPad
- 33%-66% higher conversion rates than PCs
These stats, combined with the following information are indicative of the US entering a post-PC era.
But, while PCs will continue to be much-used devices, they’re no longer at the leading edge of computing. They’re going the way of the vacuum tube, typewriter, vinyl records, CRT and incandescent light bulbs.
Soon, the PC will be at work, sad and alone. While, most of consumer “computing for entertainment” will be done on smartphones and tablets. (Think social networking, watching videos, listening to music and reading eBooks.) If PCs are taking a back seat, than Flash is in the trunk. HTML 5 is the new standard for web based code and offers animation much like Flash as evidenced by sites like Layer 51. That is the least of it’s strengths; so sayeth SEO peeps.
We then talked about the future of the iPad in regards to consumer behavior. These are based on existing stats and give you a feeling for when/how consumers will be utilizing your business “online”.
- 6am – 8am: tablet
- 8am-9am: smartphone
- 9am – 5pm: PC or smartphone if the Interwebs are blocked or the user is on lunch
- 5pm-6pm: smartphone
- 8pm-10pm: tablet
- Pull down to reload
- Swipe left/right to navigate
- Treat app as one big sheet of paper. (The web dynamic of “click this button and it takes you somewhere” is just not that appealing to humans. We’ve gotten used to it.)
- App is two-sided. (Front is the app and the back is managing your account
- Facetime option for things such as customer service
- Navigation is more web-like. (Nav on smartphones needs to be at the bottom. You know. Where the thumbs are!)
- Think bed or couch. People use the iPad most early in the morning or late at night. Where are you at those times?
- Increased scale. When you see Vimeo’s new “Couch Mode“, you’ll get a feeling for what I mean.
- Manipulability of detail. If you have a product detail included in your app, people better be able to rotate, zoom and essentially “hold it with their eyes”.
- Print like. If you’re creating content, think of Flipboard as what you need to at least get to.
- Sliders. This is something that the smartphone app for Path uses very well. If you click in the upper right hand or upper left hand corder, you get access to a lot more information. Like the two-sided.
Next class is Analytics!
