back to article Apple's iPad not so shiny once you get it home

Many Brits can't be bothered to use their fruity fondleslabs once they have them and don't think they're worth the money, a new study has found. The survey, by money-off coupon site MyVoucherCodes, showed that over a quarter of UK iPad users only used their Apple tablet once a week and one in 10 don't even bother with it that …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I use mine daily - office has free WiFi and it means I no longer have to lug a laptop around just to surf the web and read email..

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I use my smartphone for that.

      I think I'd get some funny looks if i wandered out the lavs with an ipad tucked under my arm.

    2. A. Nervosa

      Yup

      Everyone I know who has one, including myself, can't put the damn thing down.

      You've got to wonder, though, what kind of demographic was targeted by "MyVoucherCodes" when they did this survey and the validity of these findings. We're presumably talking about the kind of person that spends their time trawling a website looking to see what they can get on the cheap. The sort of person that buys something they probably don't really need but can't afford to pass up simply because they got 10% off? The kind of person that would, for example, buy themselves an iPad to massage their spending compulsion only to discover they didn't REALLY need it that much?

      £63 billion national credit card balance?

      Just a thought.

      1. Oninoshiko

        I have one of them, I won it. Its kinda neat, sometimes I use it to view PDFs, sometimes (technical) books, sometimes TED talks.

        None of this vary often. It's easily worth what I paid for it. It's not worth the price they normally go for.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why I didn't blow £450 on a iPad2

    Because it's a tablet of limited use.

    Why I blew £400 on an Asus Transformer.

    Because it's a netbook too (and I sold my netbook to part pay for it).

    That is all.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      What about an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard?

      1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
        Coat

        Bluetooth Keyboard

        It'll add extra costs plus the transformer can be used as a netbook.

        I still wouldn't buy either.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        It's not the same

        nowhere near the same.

        For starters an iPad2 even with a Bluetooth keyboard doesn't have USB ports in the keyboard, nor does it have an extra battery giving 18 hours of use.

        Apple owners won't really understand the benefits of the Transformer until they own one. They will continue to believe the line that it's just a tablet with a keyboard... It's FAR from just that.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          re: It's not the same

          "Apple owners won't really understand the benefits of the Transformer until they own one. They will continue to believe the line that it's just a tablet with a keyboard... It's FAR from just that."

          I use my iPad to create and perform music - mainly through apps, but also plugging instruments – and this one of the *main* things I use the device for. Would you be able to explain the benefits of an Asus Transformer over an iPad in this instance?

          Don’t get me wrong the Transformer is a lovely piece of kit – I have a couple of friends who own one and both are delighted with theirs, but their needs are different from mine (for that matter, both of theirs differ from the other, but the Transformer does them proud).

          One tool isn’t inherently superior to another - you need to know what the user needs, before making the judgement.

          1. Giles Jones Gold badge

            Exactly

            The device you buy must be able to do what you want. Android is still playing catch up in terms of software quality when it comes to music apps.

            iPad has iMS20, Garageband and NanoStudio. Hard to beat.

            1. Zee_SS

              Re: Exactly

              Damn, you're right I just spoke to the 4 people who got the iPads and they all said it was because Android doesn't have Garageband.

        2. Zee_SS
          Unhappy

          It really is that pathetic

          I got a Transformer when it first came out. I took it into the office and showed it to a few people including an iPad2 owner who took the opportunity to flash his kit off too.

          Everyone to a man agreed that the amazing functionality of the extra battery, decent keyboard, SD card slot and USB port had the Transformer winning hands down in a direct comparison.

          6 months later and 4 of them now own an iPad2 and none of 'em plumped for the Asus.

          It is a pathetic display of brand fealty (FAILty?) over function.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            No, it's a perfect display of your inability to recognise that even though certain functions *seem* like a good idea (keyboard, USB port etc), the reality is that these extras are not always needed.

            Sometimes less really is more

          2. Giles Jones Gold badge

            But you don't buy a swiss army knife if you only really need or want a knife.

            I know that I don't ever need to drive a car off road, so I don't buy a 4x4. But there's dozens of people driving around London in the damn things.

            1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

              You do

              If the Swiss Army Knife is cheaper.

  3. QwalifiedRegistarHack
    WTF?

    Riiiiight so, swapping these figures around a little bit and massaging in another direction...

    86%, or the vast majority of people bought their own iPad

    82% wouldn't even consider parting with it for money

    73% of people can find tasks that they find their fondleslab useful for

    Just over half (54%) of the respondents think it's actually quite good value for money

    In other news, statistics is proven to be the biggest source of confusion by 367% of the population...

    1. James Howat

      Even if you swap around the figures, they still mean the same. Fewer people are satisfied with their iPad that you might expect. Only half of your customers think your product is good value for money? Only three-quarters of owners have a use for your product? Those are not great results.

      For the record, I am an iPad owner, I use it often, and I fully expect that these results would be the same or worse for Android tablets.

      1. Pete 2 Silver badge

        @James Howat

        But to put it in perspective, lots of people have cars - a proportion don't use them every day.

        All sales and marketing is hit and miss. You could argue that Apple's is highly (overly?) successful as they are able to sell their products to people who don't want them and don't use them. Maybe this just goes to add further evidence to the possibility that Apple is really a marketing company, not a computer company?

        1. Neill Mitchell

          Bingo!

          "But to put it in perspective, lots of people have cars - a proportion don't use them every day."

          The inevitable meaningless Apple car analogy in it's usual first page slot. Well done sir!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Confused of Epping...

            I don't quite get it, why is it meaningless? Seems like a fair point of view to me? :-/

      2. LarsG

        THREE OR FOUR YEARS FROM NOW....

        they will be gathering dust in the bottom draw along with old mobiles, pdas, mp3 players and all the other useless gadgets that promised amazing things.

        1. DF118
          Headmaster

          "Draw" is what you do with crayons

          I believe the word you are looking for is "drawer".

          And just because nobody in the south east can pronounce "drawer" properly doesn't make "draw" an acceptable written alternative.

          1. LarsG

            Yes Teacher...

            Pedantic, but I stand corrected, but as my third language is English I don't think I'm doing to badly.

            1. DF118
              Thumb Up

              @LarsG

              I noticed your handle, but it was a chance I had to take!

              Chapeau sir.

    2. sisk

      Flipped around those numbers don't look any better. At the pricetag of an iPad if 86% of the people bought it themselves then at least 86% should find it useful. Instead, only 73% do. And if only 54% of the people who bought any other product found it to be a good value then you'd see it vanishing from the market within a year or two. Realistically a successful product should have somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% at least who think it was worth their money.

      I will say, however, that I don't really consider this study to be very trustworthy. Consider the source: this isn't exactly a trusted consumer reporting publication we're talking about here. Much as I'd like to take the numbers and run with them I sincerly doubt their accuracy.

  4. Cameron Colley

    This amuses me greatly.

    I won an iPad and thought I am anti-Apple decided this would be a good opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.

    I have found some uses for it other than surfing the internet, but i'ts far more limited than a netbook and almkst anythjng that would be good to use it for costs more for the app. The apps also seem to cost more than the Android equivalents, which in some cases are free.

    Over all it's a shiny toy for people who'd rather spend money than make effort.

    Typed, slowly, on my iPad.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Ditto, won one in a raffle and ended up giving it away as a Christmas present to a computerphobe relative (he loves it and has finally ventured onto the internet because of it).

      If you have an aging relative who's scared of tech and can't cope with a proper computer then it's great, other than that?

      Shiny toy for posers with too much money.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        go on then, i'll bite - what's a "proper computer" then?

        1. Cameron Colley

          For the record.

          I kept the iPad to try it out and it is useful as a secondary device to the EeePC. Were kt not for the fact I've been without a PC for a couple of months I'd have tried to swap it for a cheap droid tab -- still might but I've lost the bix now so I know the resell value has halved.

          As for a "proper PC" I knkw it wasn't asked of me but I'd say a device on which the user can install any software they see fit, which can cary out general purpose computing tasks. The iPad is an appliance on which certain designated tasks can be carried out.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          mouse, keyboard, screen and total flexibility in how you use it, what you install on it etc and not some walled garden that's locked down to prevent you hurting it (which is, coincidentally why the iPad is ideal for newbies of the 'older generation' who are terrified of 'proper computers').

          The iPad is gorgeous, the user experience is lovely, I was honestly upset I couldn't find a use for it that made me think it was being utilised but it ended up back in the box inside a week which was a huge waste, least this way it's being used and has broken down a bit of the technofear, I can send him email and he can do his own internet research and shopping instead of asking me all the time.

        3. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
          Boffin

          @AC - What's a Proper Computer?

          To em, at least, a proper computer is something that you can have full control of without having to pay a fee to a third party. Something you can hack away at and write your own software for. Admittedly, Android systems are not as completely open in this respect as they could be, but you can download a (free) IDE, install it on your PC, attach your Android device, and transfer and run software that you have written directly onto it. You can also directly access the file system and diddle with it to your hearts content.

          With a bog-styandard laptop or desktop PC, you can do these things directly on the device, without having to involce a second machine at all. With Apple's current set of devices, you have to pay Apple for the ability to put software you have written on the device, or allow others to do so. As far as I am aware, you also have very limited access to the file system. I don't know if it is true of the current generation of devices, but with previous ones, you had to use the hideous iTunes just to transfer your files on and off the device.

      2. Kieran
        Stop

        posers with too much money ...and by your own argument "users who can't (won't) cope with proper computers."

        "Here's a PC. It will do amazing things for you. But whoa! Wait. First you need to learn all about AV, Malware, Drivers, MDI vs Multiple Windows, Preferences v Options v Settings, storage options , compression, formats, codecs, file systems, protocols Zzzzzz"

        Step back a moment, and just think about how much crap you know about computers. Then about how much time it took you to acquire that knowledge. Then about all the other things you (and I) could have been doing in that time if we hadn't had to.

        1. HipposRule
          FAIL

          @Kieran

          What a load of cods. I'd agree with the first two but 99% of users need no more than that.

    2. Markl2011
      Happy

      well if you don't want it

      I'll take it off your hands. Thanks very much.

  5. Stewart Knight
    Thumb Up

    I buck the trend

    Because I use mine constantly, in fact I have to prise it out of my wife's hands.

    I use my 3g phone...... Ok, it's an iPhone, but I'm not a fanboi honest! To give me the same service as a 3g ipad!

    Truth be told, I'm kicking myself for not getting one with larger storage.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "I'm kicking myself for not getting one with larger storage."

      And if Apple hadn't been such dicks and included a memory expansion slot then you wouldn't have to worry about that.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Did you expext otherwise?

        Every aspect of Apple's designs are to maximize revenue. An SD card slot would just mean no one would buy their even more overpriced 64gb models and ensures that those lower end models will be obsolete within a couple of years.

  6. AndrewH
    Happy

    Strange

    I got my wife an iPad2 on the day of release, and she's used it extensively every day since. As a ready recipe reference in the kitchen (no keyboard to collect dirt), ebook reader, web browser, email reader, and much more. As a result, she has barely touched her laptop, with even less need to since the release of iOS 5

    Not only that, but during the time when she's not using it, the kids love the chance to avail of some of the games and drawing apps.

    I only wish that more of these selfish, unimaginative people who aren't using them would list them for sale and drive the second-hand prices down so that I could get one for myself :-/

    1. JEDIDIAH
      Linux

      Does that tablet dissolve in water?

      > As a ready recipe reference in the kitchen (no keyboard to collect dirt),

      Yeah... like a smudge slab won't collect dirt or be prone to other kinds of damage.

      Not all of the detractors here are "unimaginative".

    2. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Problem is.

      It's actually not very good at ANY of those things you mentioned. Sure it can do them, just not very well.

      I couldn't read an ebook on one for more than 20 minutes without eyestrain (compared to a proper e-ink reader, which I can read for hours).

      Web browsing is clumsy compared to a proper PC or a netbook.

      ditto email...

      1. Steve Todd
        FAIL

        You have some strange kind of allergy

        to LCD screens? The iPad screen is better than most laptops and all netbooks. Unless you're the kind of person that insists on sticking your nose in a book then the iPad screen is just fine for reading at arms length (where anyone past 40 with normal eyesight will tend to hold it anyway).

        I wonder if we'll get the same kind of whining from you after the Kindle Fire is released (and Android's font handling is demonstrably worse than iOS)?

        1. Windrose
          Unhappy

          "Unless you're the kind of person that insists on sticking your nose in a book then the iPad screen is just fine for reading at arms length"

          You suggest holding 600+ grams of tablet *at arms length* for a number of hours? Who are you, Hercules?

          "I wonder if we'll get the same kind of whining from you after the Kindle Fire is released"

          Was that for me? Why, thank you. The Fire's 169dpi display isn't particular useful either, so cut the crap about whining. This issue isn't about Apple, it's about making poor design decisions - and have them defended right, left and center by people with nothing better to do with their time.

          1. Steve Todd
            FAIL

            What?

            "You suggest holding 600+ grams of tablet *at arms length* for a number of hours? Who are you, Hercules?"

            You hold books straight out in front of your face rather than rest them comfortably in your lap? What are you, some kind of idiot?

            1. Windrose

              Decidedly some kind of idiot. The kind, specifically, that doesn't manage to hold a book at "arms length" and "in my lap" at the same time.

              I am as much an orangutan as you are polite. Which should say it all.

              1. Steve Todd
                FAIL

                Most people

                have arms that come down to crotch level and can hold a book at arms length in their lap with ease. Orangutans need only apply if I'd suggested holding the book between your knees. Don't do a lot of reading do you?

                1. Windrose
                  FAIL

                  Just a little

                  ... bit more than you do, it appears. I'd ask why you insist on being such a stuffed shirt, but your rudeness does speak for itself.

                  Now. "At arms length" means "with your arm stretched out". Sitting in a chair, with my arm stretched out, means I easily reached ... the knee. So holding it "at arms length" *and* in the lap becomes quaintly difficult, unless you are Möbius or Listing.

                  Or perhaps you insist, Jobs' style, that we should STAND while we read, necks bent, and looking just slightly idiotic. Well, that's up to you. Me, I'll go on thinking that half-a-kilo-plus is somewhat more than I like holding as if it was a book.

                  Somewhat like your 'tude, actually.

                  1. Chad H.

                    Ipads just fine for browsing and reading

                    In fact I'm reading more thanks to the convenience factor. Its fine at normal book length.

                    Maybe he's right - you could be holding it too close... No offense meant but have you had your peepers checked recently?

                  2. Steve Todd
                    FAIL

                    @Windrose - let me get this right

                    you're trying to stretch the definition of "at arms length" in a way that HELPS my argument (with arms locked rigid most people would be holding a book resting on their legs above the knee, your Orangutan jibe implied that your arms were too SHORT to reach even your lap.

                    Add to that you're making what may be most charitably be described as controversial remarks on an Internet forum and are receiving responses that would be regarded as mild in almost any debating chamber you care to mention, and you complain that I'm not being courteous to you? You're two kinds of idiot for thinking you'll get any better than that.

      2. pdogguk
        WTF?

        Web browsing is clumsy compared to a PC or netbook?

        C'mon!!!!

        A proper PC? I agree.

        A Netbook? Don't be ridiculous.

  7. Mark #255

    And remember, you can assign your Sale of Goods Acts rights to the recipient (all my love and SoGA rights...)

    Or so I recall Which saying once.

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