Post-PC era? Hardly... most travellers carry both laptop and iPad
By David Flynn, September 12 2011
In brief: One in every four US travellers carries a tablet – and it's almost certainly an iPad, according to US in-flight Internet provider Gogo.
Yet despite the boom in tablets, four out of five flyers still carry both their notebook PC and their tablet on board, while only one in five tablet-toting travellers leave their laptop at home.
Their tablet of choice is the iPad, and their smartphone is an iPhone, based on network data analysed by Gogo engineers as signals are beamed down from US airlines such as American, Delta, United and Virgin.
The iPad/iPhone pairing accounts for 78% of Gogo's in-flight Internet access, with Android phones and tablets a distant second at 15%, while the BlackBerry cowers at a mere 4%.
Gogo pulled those and other stats for website Mashable, which then created an interesting infographic – part of which we've included below. For all the numbers and the complete pretty picture, head to Mashable.com.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Aug 2011
Total posts 41
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that carries both!
My logic is that carrying an iPad as well as a Laptop, takes little efford. As an owner of an iPhone, I already carry a charger, USB cable and have iTunes installed on my laptop. All I need to do is slip my iPad, which is smaller than most books and forget about it. Don't even need to get it out at security.
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Ditto. MacBook Pro + iPad (first gen, 3G + Wi-Fi) + iPhone 4 is a really good solution for me, because (a) I'm bought into the Mac OS/iOS ecosystem, so things just work, (b) I only need to carry one charging cable for the laptop, plus USB cables for the iPad and iPhone.
For long flights (especially since in-flight power is spotty and often doesn't work for my 85w 17" MacBook Pro adapter), I can work on the laptop until its battery dies, and use the iPad for movies without being concerned that watching a movie now means I won't be able to work later.
The iPhone also serves as a tethered 3G modem if I need it to. I'll often leave my camera at home on a short trip and use the iPhone's camera.
(I've got in the habit of taking the iPad out of my bag at security, though. Rules differ across the world and it's less hassle to whack it into a tub than put it through and then have them put it back through afterwards, especially with a fair amount of cabling, external hard drive, and so on in my bag.)
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2563
Count me in as a member of the "carry both" brigade, because both devices serve different purposes.
My iPad is more for 'viewing' than 'doing' – reading ebooks and magazines, watching movies, browsing the web, checking email etc. The amount of content creation I do on the ipad is the square root of bugger-all. But I can whip it out in two seconds and power it up in one more, which makes it perfect for many on-the-go uses as well as a more relaxed device for downtime.
My MacBook Air is mainly a 'doing' device for when I'm working, so I always carry it. I suppose I could see myself carrying just the iPad if I was to fly away for a weekend in Melbourne or Hong Kong or such, but even then i'd lean towards the Air anyway – takes up almost no additional space and adds almost zip in weight, but the versatlity I get from both devices is a win.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Aug 2011
Total posts 41
Totally agree with what you are both saying...
The MacBook+iPad+iPhone combo works. Espically with the iPad/iPhone cables being the same.
Those are the only three devices I carry these days, don't even carry portable hard drives , I have joined the lazy photographer's club and take photos with my iPhone 4 these days, the quality is good enough for most needs.
Heh, the inconsistantcy of iPads at Australian airports never cease to amaze me. At my home airport I'll usually have no problem with it staying in my bad. Maybe once a month I'll get told off for leaving it in, being advised "The rule has always been to take your iPad out"
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2563
I've had to remove the iPad on every single trip I've taken over the past three months at least. :(
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Yeah, I just pull the iPad out of my bag now with my laptop (they're in adjacent pockets anyway) rather than even asking.
(On the plus side, at least the security people have stopped going "OMG, is that an iPad?!" now...)
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