Our Readers Take The Tablets

eWEEK readers are taking to tablets for business applications, although a substantial proportion still are not using them.

When asked what business applications they use on tablets, the most popular answers were browsing and email, with “other” answers following close behind. Many readers clicked “none” though, suggesting tablets have not won everyone’s heart just yet.

A wide spread of applications

Apple’s iPad ignited the current tablet craze, but was launched as a consumer device. Analysts such as Gartner have advised businesses to make use of them however, and business is expected to buy a quarter of the world’s tablets this year.

There are still hold-outs though: twenty-one percent of the clicks in our poll were from people who use no applications on a tablet. This does not equate to 21 percent of the people who voted. The poll allowed each voter to click as many options as they liked.

Nearly 19 percent of the clicks came from people who browse for business on a tablet. It is possible that these people accounted for all the other clicks received, giving the tablet nay-sayers a slight majority.

It’s likely that the clicks in favour of applications were more spread out than that – making the balance more even between tablet boosters and tablet deniers.

And what about the applications used? It’s no surprise that browsing came top,with email following on 18 percent. Those are the top applications in any business day after all.

Sixteen percent of the clicks were for giving presentations, eight percent were for financials, seven percent were for conferencing, and four percent for the grab-bag of “ERP, CRM etc”.

What phone is best for business?

For our next poll, let’s have your thoughts on the future of mobile phone platforms for business.

Smartphones are officially a two-horse race between iPhone and Android. The consensus seems to be that the previous enterprise leader, RIM’s BlackBerry, is increasingly sidelined, and it is still early days for  Microsoft’s Windows Phone, which faces an uncertain future.

However, the enterprise is a market with its own dynamic – if you want to bang a drum for either of those platforms, here is your chance.

Alternatively, if you believe webOS (originally from Palm) still has a business future despite HP unceremoniously dropping it, now is your chance to speak out. And if you are keen on Nokia’s Symbian – even though Nokia dumped it for Windows Phone – tell us here.

If you rate a phone we’ve missed out, use the “Other” option to let us know.