We live in the future, having finally achieved the tablet computer if not our jetpacks. But are we happy?
According to CNBC, if you own an iPad you most likely are. A study by the American Consumer Satisfaction index has put Apple high atop the technology tree, as it were, with a whopping 86% satisfaction rating. The PC industry itself had a banner year, too, with 78%—but it’s really the iPad that’s changing the way we respond to technology that’s made Apple such a success. In fact, CNBC reports that “the iPad is the highest-scoring product that a leading consumer satisfaction index has ever tracked.” You know that’s got to make Mr. Jobs and Co. absolutely giddy.
Before the iPad came out there was such a hullabaloo about it that I tried not to write much on the subject. Speculation is a strange business, and while the iPad definitely piqued my interest, I wanted to wait a while to see it in action, to see what the actual consumer response was.
So, now that the craziness has died down, I think it’s apparent that whatever the iPad is—be it a computer, a tablet, or simply a gadget filling a hole in our techno-consciousness like no other—people like it. In fact, people love it. To hear some of my writer friends go on about the joy of reading books on the iPad you’d think they’d had a religious epiphany. Yes, Apple has a way of converting people to their products who then espouse them with unparalleled zeal, but this goes beyond the Apple brand. I honestly think that the iPad taps in to an unseen need hardwired into our minds. And I’m sure that was the company’s intention from the get-go.
Why is this? Well, here are the five reasons I think the iPad is so successful and brings such satisfaction its owners. It’s by no means a complete list, and please give your reasons—or disagreements—in the comments below.
Now, I don’t own an iPad (not to say I don’t want one). So these observations are definitely those of someone who’s fiddled with an iPad for less than a few hours total, but doesn’t live with one. But I have been watching and listening to users. So weigh in. Why do you think the iPad makes people happy? Or do you disagree outright? Are we just being deluded into happiness, or is the iPad a truly welcome vehicle for technological zen?
(Image CC by John Åslund)
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