Gartner predicts tablets won’t impact enterprise
By Jenny • Apr 12th, 2010 • Category: Industry News
- Photo: Gartner
While technology publications are enamored with the Apple tablet and touch devices in general, research company Gartner predicts these devices will have traction with some, but not with others.
Cool with the kids
Gartner predicts that, come 2015, 50 per cent of all PCs bought for children under the age of 15 will have touchscreens. That prediction isn’t that hard to believe, considering how many touchscreen computer screens, laptops and tablet devices have been released lately and are currently in development.
Not so bullish on enterprise
Where this is not applicable, however, the research firm continues, is in big business. Gartner predicts less than 10 per cent of PCs sold to enterprises, for ‘mainstream knowledge workers’ will have touchscreen interfaces.
Essentially, the firm believes it will be the consumer market that forces the market to start adopting newer technology.
Analysis
Before analysing these predictions, it is worth being mindful that any predictions research companies make regarding new technology like the Apple tablet and other tablet devices are essentially shots in the dark.
- Photo: Apple
Having said that, the fact that the consumer market will force enterprise to adopt change will always hold true since it is far more costly for enterprise system overhauls than for individual consumers. Rather let technology prove itself in the wild before making multi-billion pound mistakes.
The second thing worth being mindful of is that no killer app has been developed for enterprise on tablet computers. Just like it required killer apps like VisiCalc and productivity suites to help computers break into businesses, tablets and touchscreen devices may have software like that just waiting to be built. This may be for the Apple iPad, or for a multitude of other devices, but it takes just a group of applications to render Gartner’s prediction false.
Tags for this article: Apple iPad, Apple tablet, Gartner, ipad, touchscreen
