Tablets Are For Girls Part 2

07/29/2011 Comments Off on Tablets Are For Girls Part 2 Tablets & Technology Like

In my last article (Tablets Are For Girls Part 1), we learned oodles and oodles about the mysterious creature we call woman (Except for why they won’t date me). And yes, as we all know, the opposite sex is mystery, wrapped in a riddle, inside an enigma. Yet, despite what most men would have you believe, we discovered that there is a tendency amongst women to prefer smaller sized “tablets”. Gasp! (You’re talking crazy Darryl!) (I know! That’s what I do.)

It also turns out that women tend to prefer eReaders. According to Forrester Research, 55% of eReader owners are female while the iPad tends to be more of a male consumer purchase, with men making up 56% of that particular market.

The New York Times recently reported that publishers of women’s magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health and O, The Oprah Magazine, have been surprised by the strong sales of their e-zines on the Barnes and Noble Nook Color eReader. In fact, sales via the Nook Color often rival, and in some cases, surpass those purchased for the iPad and iPad 2 combined. This fact is even more astonishing considering the disparity of sales between the two formats.

The (IDC) International Data Corporation forecasts that the Tablet PC industry is expecting to produce 53.5 million units in 2011, while eReaders are forecast to sell 16.2 million units during this same period. Numerically that’s quite a difference, however these numbers do not tell the entire story. From a percentage point of view, the worldwide e-reader market is expected to grow by a whopping 24%, in relation to last year’s numbers, while the Tablet PC market is forecast to increase by a far lower 6.2 percent in this same year. Are eReaders catching up to tablet PCs? Time will tell.

The publishers of women’s magazines such as More and Family Circle have also observed that electronic versions of their magazines are selling twice as well on the Nook and Nook Color in relation to iPad versions. Rodale Inc., publisher of Prevention, Runner’s World, and Women’s Health, boasts even more astonishing figures when it comes to their e-zine sales on the Barnes & Noble Nook Color. For every “single” issue they sell for an iPad device, they sell five times as many yearly subscriptions through Barnes & Noble devices. Combine this with the fact that women are also three times more likely to purchase an eBook than men, and publishers are beginning to see the potential in the eReader market.

So in conclusion, I zig, when females zag. Story of my life.

But what other mysteries do females cloister? Why is it I can go throughout my entire life without ever needing a single cotton ball and women buy them by the bag full? If girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, what kind of spices are they made of? Hmmm… Neil Young sang of his Cinnamon Girl. I know women named Saffron and Ginger (actually, I don’t, but theoretically I could), and the Rolling Stones sang of brown sugar, so that answers that question. Dang you, you mysterious women, with your oh-so-mysterious mysteriousness!

In a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of FuseBox, it was reported that tablet PC users are more likely to transmit sensitive information via their tablet devices than they otherwise would do on smartphone. This despite the fact that they have security concerns about transmitting said data.

There also appears to be a split on this topic when it comes to gender. Men appear to be more trusting of the security offered by tablet PCs and smartphones, with 47 percent of men reporting that they were confident in the security of the data when transferred over their electronic devices. Only 34 percent of females replied similarly.

Will the war of the sexes ever end? Hopefully not, the world would be a pretty dull place. Stay tuned sports fans.

UPDATE: Tablets Are For Girls Part 3