[LINK] Tablets, smartphones and PCs

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

While there is a lot of talk about mobile computing, there is a 
significant difference to the way people are using tablets, smartphones 
and PCs.

This is according to StollzNow Research director, Neil Stollznow, who 
shared the results of his "Mobility and the Internet Experience: 
Australia’s Online Expectations in 2012" survey at a recent Compuware 
media event in Sydney.

Compuware commissioned the research to see how Australians are using 
different devices and the experiences people have with them..

When it came to the frequency of using a device, the survey found PCs are 
used more frequently than smartphones or tablets, with 94 per cent of 
online users using their PC daily. 

The number dropped significantly when it came to tablets and smartphones, 
with 58 per cent of people using their tablet daily and 69 per cent using 
their smartphone daily. 

“If you have a tablet and a smartphone, you’re still using it very 
regularly,” Stollznow said.

“Smartphones and tablets used a little bit less frequently, but not that 
much.”

The research also discovered that almost everyone in Australia (98 per 
cent) uses a PC to access the Internet.

The rest access it through another way, with smartphones coming at 47 per 
cent and 19 per cent using a tablet. 

Stollznow says the age difference is quite substantial. 

“You’re more likely to use a smartphone under 34 years of age,” he said, 

"It also not about ownership of a smartphone but Internet use."

To illustrate his point, Stollznow says his father has a smartphone but 
never browses the Internet on it, 

“”My eyesight is worse than his, so it’s not about usability,” he said. 

“My father just doesn’t think of a phone as a way to access the Internet 
even though he owns one.”

As a result, smartphone usage was found to be much higher for the under 
34 age group.

Tablet usage is not very high in the under 25 group and only begins to 
rise in the over 25 to under 34 age group, lending to an older age 
profile. 

“Maybe that’s the cost of getting into a tablet or people use it as a 
third device, as a tablet isn’t necessarily a young person’s thing, but a 
between age person’s thing,” Stollznow said

As for what are people doing online and how are they doing it, the survey 
found the most common thing to do on any device is checking email. 

“Whether it is a PC, tablet or a smartphone, email still rules as the 
number one thing people do online,” Stollznow said.

He adds it is interesting how people have a tendency to get sidetracked 
by the latest thing, but forget about the nuts-and-bolts of communication.

“Namely, if you are going to do one thing it’s send an email,” Stollznow 
said. 

As for social media, it is the only task that has similar usage among PC, 
tablet and smartphone. 

“There’s not a lot of difference in the percentage of people who use a 
smartphone or a PC or a tablet for social media,” Stollznow said.

http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/442779/despite_smartphone_tablet_hype_pcs
_email_still_dominate_says_research/

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Cheers,
Stephen