Apple iPad Love-Fest: No End in Sight

Apple iPad owners have largely been happy with their tablet computer purchases from the start, and surprising new findings from a University of Missouri survey shows that satisfaction levels keep going up.

"It's unusual for new technology devices," says Roger Fidler, program director for digital publishing at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. "In most cases, satisfaction tends to drop off significantly after about 13 weeks. That clearly is not the trend with the iPad."

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Apple launched the iPad in April of 2010 and rolled out the iPad 2 in March of this year (now rumors are milling about an iPad 3 for possibly later this year). Plenty of competition has emerged since the iPad debuted, but most vendors are struggling to make much of a dent in Apple's market lead, with even many Android smartphone users opting for iPads rather than Android tablets.

Fidler found in his initial survey of 1,600 iPad users last fall that 94% were either very or somewhat satisfied.

In a follow-up survey this past spring (iPad 2 was only available to limited numbers of people at the time), he found that 70% of 561 respondents said they were even more satisfied than in the fall, with consumption of news and other media while relaxing at home on a chair or couch being among the most popular applications. Only 4% said they were somewhat or much less satisfied.

Most respondents in the latest survey said they have dozens of apps on their tablets

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This story, "Apple iPad Love-Fest: No End in Sight" was originally published by Network World.