I, like many others, like the iPad. I don’t own one, and never have, because as much as I love my iPhone, I don’t like one simple thing:
– it’s got no separation for users
Separation for users, while a common thing on computers, including OS X, is very uncommon on phones and tablets. On phones like the iPhone this is entirely justifiable because phones in general have only one intended user. It’s a PIM, or personal information device. Computers are very much the opposite, where more then one users frequently accesses the same computer both in a work or a home setting.
Enter the tablet. The tablet seems to fit right between those two groups, but one thing is for sure: a tablet is often shared amongst people in a household.
Now comes the issue of user separation: my girlfriend and I both have email accounts, Facebook and twitter accounts, etc, that we would like to access on a tablet we would share. We also both have iPhone’s and Mac’s. But neither of us has any interest or business in the other’s email or Facebook, and the mentioned apps are not build to support more then one user for the most part, anyway.
Now, one might argue that we could just choose not to use email, Facebook, twitter, and what not, on the tablet, and this is possible. However, how much sense does it make to purchase a device for about € 499, and then be utterly limited in it’s use? And no, buying two would simply be wasteful.
So, one seemingly innocent feature, would probably open up a whole new piece of the market. I know it would for us. I imagine tablet manufacturers would much rather sell everyone in the household his or her own tablet. But in cases like this it’s not about making the most money, but just doing what’s right. You’re probably not going to loose sales over it. Some households will still buy more then one tablet, simply because the demand is high enough to justify such a purchase.
