Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 2, 2019 Will tablets go mainstream, so much so that they’re the first device consumers reach for? A persistent yet small group of Americans use their tablet more than a smartphone or PC. Are the rest missing something? Might this edge group grow? The size of the tablet-first segment…
Digital publication readership – to be saved by Apple News+? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 5, 2019 Magazine and newspaper writers envision a world of digitally-connected readers hanging on their every word. Despite the ubiquity of connected devices, from smartphones and PCs to tablets, that’s not currently the case. Fewer than half of online adults regularly read a magazine, newspaper, or periodical using any…
Which activities span many devices? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 22, 2019
So many of us have done it – started doing with our smartphone or tablet what we only formerly did with our PC. Are some activities so addictive or prevalent that people do them across their many devices? Based on our latest research, the answer is yes, and especially so for certain activities.
Device jugglers stretch certain multi-platform activities [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, February 16, 2019
Consider the device juggler – emailing with a PC, then a smartphone, and then with a tablet or different PC. Do they seem more talented or rare than most of us? Our research shows they are not that unique. Ninety-six percent of those with 2 or more connected devices do at least one type of personal activity across multiple devices. However, the range of multi-platform activities is so broad and unique to the individual user that no single type of activity is cross-platform for the majority. This defines the demand for smoother user experiences.
How and where PCs and tablets are used differently than smartphones [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 11, 2019
People love their Smartphones and find more to do with them than PCs or Tablets. Around the world, there are few activities done with PCs as regularly as are done with Smartphones. Furthermore, there are no activities done more so on Tablets than on either Smartphones or PCs. Usage profiles vary somewhat by country. Online adults in the U.S. use their connected devices differently than users in many other countries.
Major sites visited in last 30 days other than Facebook [MetaFAQs]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 11, 2018 Which websites do Americans regularly visit besides Facebook? Where else are these Facebook-avoiders turning their attention? This MetaFAQs reports on online adults in the US who have not used Facebook in the prior 30 days, and details the sites they have visited. About MetaFAQs MetaFAQs are answers…
Facebook users hop, skip, or jump? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 6, 2018
The share of online Americans using any of Facebook’s sites has dropped in the last year. The % of online adults using Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, as well as any of these three, is lower than one year prior. This is based on the 2018 wave of Technology User Profile (TUP), a survey of technology users now in its 36th year.
Three in four online adults (76%) report having used Facebook in the prior 30 days, down from 84% in the prior year.
Are tablets and computers being used the same? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, November 14, 2018
Is an iPad a computer? Is a Microsoft Surface a tablet? What about Chromebooks – how do they fit into the user’s uses? The major tech marketers are working to shift perceptions, such as Apple’s positioning of the iPad as a computer. Even though perceptions do shift buying decisions, user innovation and inertia are a force to reckon with. Many users have already pioneered ways to use their devices. We went straight to the users to see if they’re using tablets and notebooks the same, using iPads differently from Android tablets, and Windows notebooks from Chromebooks. Our basic hypothesis is that perceived differences, if substantial, can be confirmed by measuring user behavior.
iPads are more useful – based on users doing more with them. A higher share of users of recently-acquired home-owned tablets utilizes their Apple iPads for more of the major tablet activities than users of new Windows tablets or new home Android tablets. This is based on results from the MetaFacts TUP 2018 survey, conducted among 14,273 respondents across the US, UK, Germany, India, and China.
Smart speakers more talk than action? Voice assistants across platforms [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, October 19, 2018 Convenience is the surest bet to reach technology consumers. When it comes to voice assistants, convenience must be handy. It shouldn’t be surprising that consumers first choose what’s familiar and close to hand. More are actively speaking to devices they’ve already had before using smart speakers. Among…
Google+ … reversing the polarity? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, October 10, 2018 This week, Google announced they’ll be pulling the plug on the consumer-facing Google+, although after unreported widening abandonment. Google’s social network rocket never quite left orbit and was already on its way down. Although the decision was partly portrayed as protecting user’s privacy, recently a substantial number…