more info on netbooks!

this is another article i found with some good stats in it. i think we should definitely think about 'tablet' computers as well as netbooks and ipads.....i particularly like the last paragraph when it said that apple says "50% of Fortune 500 companies are integrating ipads into their businesses."



Report: Tablets To Grab Market Share over Netbooks
By Herb Torrens07/26/10
Tablet handheld computers will begin to outsell netbooks in two years in the United States, according to Forrester Research.

The Massachusetts-based research firm classifies tablets as a "form of personal computer," even though the definition is sometimes considered up for debate by the industry. By 2014, consumers predominantly will use tablets over netbooks. In 2015, Forrester predicted, tablets will constitute 23 percent of PC unit sales.

According to Forrester's report, "The US Consumer PC Market In 2015," published last month, PC sales will reach nearly 500 million units in the United States between 2010 and 2015. Forrester lumped PCs into four categories: traditional desktops, netbooks, notebooks, and tablets. However, tablets represent the fastest growing category, according to the report. Tablet sales will grow from 3.5 million units in 2010 to more than 20 million units in 2015.

In 2015, Forester projected, notebooks will have 42 percent of the market, while tablets will have 23 percent, followed by desktops at 18 percent and netbooks at 17 percent.

Forrester's announcement noted that vendors will need to capitalize on this trend with "chipsets, displays, accessories and content that anticipate the growth of tablets and the continued relevance of traditional PCs." Forrester said it doesn't see desktops disappearing soon.

"I wouldn't characterize it as a move away from desktops," said Sarah Rotman Epps, author of the report and research analyst at Forrester, in an e-mail. "It's true that in 2015, U.S. consumers will buy fewer desktops than they do today (15.7 [million] in 2015 [versus] 18.7 [million] in 2010), but more consumers will own desktops (158 [million]) than any other form factor. Slowing sales of desktops can be attributed to market saturation rather than lack of interest."

In a blog post this week, Epps said that interested parties ("even those not in direct competition with Apple") should keep a close eye on the adoption of Apple's iPad. She said Apple is claiming that 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies around the world are "deploying or piloting" the iPad. She noted in an e-mail that they are probably doing it on a small scale for CEOs, board members, and execs.

how many businesses are using netbooks?

so i found this article about ipads...but i haven't found anything else about netbooks yet...but basically the article is about a poll that was sent out by this company called Citrix. Citrix is:

"Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) is an American multinational corporation that provides server and desktop virtualization, networking, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud computing technologies for more than 230,000 organizations worldwide. Customers include the world’s largest Internet companies, 99 percent of Fortune Global 500 enterprises, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses and consumers worldwide. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies worldwide in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1989, annual revenue in 2008 was $1.6 billion."

They sent out a poll and although it might be biased a tad bit because the people responding to the poll probably are customers of Citrix, this is what they found out...it's pretty interesting.



• 80% will purchase and use the iPad for business
• 84% of organizations will support personal iPads; 50% expect their organization to purchase for them
• Primary app to be used on the iPad are productivity apps with 87% response rate
• 90% of respondents will use ipad for business email, closely followed by the ability to view, edit and create presentations. - Nearly 60% of respondents indicated that they will use iPad for online meetings and to access critical business information
• Largest benefits: 90% indicated increased mobility to work remote, at home, or anywhere, 74% indicated improved productivity and satisfaction


here's a copy of the article if you want to read it yourself!

http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=141690231

Observations

What are college students carrying on a normal day?
I sat around campus the other day and I saw some stuff:

Females:
-some carry two bags (one purse and one for books)
-girls carry fairly large bags, sometimes tote bags
-when it was raining there were several people who complained that their bags were wet (and so was the stuff inside)

Males:
-majority wore backpacks
-had to take off their bags to get stuff they needed out
-most just had one bag (backpack for everything)


What are business professionals carrying on a normal day?
Again, I sat around and saw some similarities:

-a lot of black
-a lot of laptop bags and briefcases
-the bags themselves were (for the most part) at opposite spectrums ...either super sleek and minimalist or with tons of pockets and more of a utility/bulgy style
-most people (female and male) were carrying just one bag...sometimes a woman would have a purse or small handbag
-i also saw a lot of males have those pager/cell phone cases attached to their belts


so that's what i've been seeing so far!

Current Working Criteria

Given that bags are very mobile and succeptible to drops, laptop bags should protect their contents, laptops especially, from impact as measured by how well the existing laptop bags resist impact.

Given that these bags are worn for extended periods of time and for commutes, these bags should be comfortable as measured by how comfortable existing swissgear bags are.

Given that certain contents are more often accessed, these contents should be easier to access more instantaneously as measured by amount of steps to get to these objects.

Given that contents need to be found and somewhat organized, the bags should break up the contents and separate them to make them easier to get to as judged by amount og steps to find any given object.

Given that these bags are used to transport things, the load should be secured as measured by the amount of movement of the contents in all stages of usage.

Given that a variety of people will be using these bags, they should be customizable as measured by variance in strap placement, size, and length.

Given that transportation of these bags is subject to various weather conditions, the bags should repel water from laptop inside as measured by amount of water that gets into bag during rain.

Given that commuters do work while commuting, bags can have workspace while commuting as measured by ability to work on train, bus, plane, or cab.

Given that these bags will be sold by Swiss / Wenger, they should be aesthetically related to their existing products as measured by viewers ability to relate them to Swiss / Wenger.

Given that these bags will be sold to consumers, they should be aesthetically pleasing as measured by user's desire to purchase the bag.

Given that these bags will be used for daily commuting and transport, they should be durable as measured by the existing swiss wenger bags.

Given that these bags may utilize transport technology (wheels, handles, etc.), they should minimize and hide this transport technology as measured by bulk of existing products with transport technology.

Given that bags contain electronic devices, these bags could accomodate charging while contents are stored as measured by existing products.

Commuter bags in the marketplace

this is a video i found of a company that made a bag that attaches to a bike....pretty coooool

if this little embeded thing doesn't work here's the address: http://www.bikecommuters.com/2010/04/13/pcych-commuter-bag/

height="390">

the other stuff i found are pretty typical. A lot of people are calling their bags "commuter bags" and a lot of companies make these bags. Basically what makes it a commuter bag is that it has outside pockets for easy access, either a messenger bag or backpack, and most of them are for storing laptops too. A few of the bags attach to bicycles or motorcycles, like the one in the video and I actually found one that was like a little trolley thing you attached to the back of your bike and it trailed behind you as you rode it.

I talked to my dad about the project and he thought it was a great idea that you guys came up for that universal plug thingy where you only had to plug one thing in and it would charge everyhing in your bag. My dad uses a computer bag everyday for work and he recently had to get a new one and doesn't like the one he has (he got a backpack style one). He said that it doesn't hold documents as well as his old messenger bag one. (He says their isn't really a good pocket in the backpack for documents and when he puts papers and folders in it they get bent at the edges and stuff like that).

So that's what I got so far!