iPad having an Impact

Whether the iPad will change the nature of personal computing remains to be seen. However, it does seem to be having its impact. One area is in eBooks. Since its introduction into the US market a couple of months ago, the iPad has captured 22% of the market for eBooks. Also see this summary. Not as much as the Kindle, but clearly a contender.

In another article it is pointed out that iPad users are large consumers of downloaded data, consuming more than half of all the data at one location. iPad users in this test consumed 300 mg of data per week, compared to 31 mgs for the average phone user. That's significant and may be an early indicator of the stress that will be put on the internet with these new computing tools.

The remedy for this usage may be new payment schemes, that ensure that heavy users of data pay for it. That's probably the best way to ration out the data in a fair manner. Otherwise, people could be finding they face shortages of bandwidth for business purposes, which could lead to unforeseen changes in internet usage, including more data charges, higher prices, more (ugh) government regulation, etc.

There's a heads-up on this for everyone.