2011:  The year of the Tablet

So we gave my in-laws an iPad for Christmas.

I love my in-laws, but when my wife first suggested that we and her uncle go dutch on the iPad for my in-laws I gave her one of those looks.

You know the look.

My in-laws are wonderful but they're the folks in the family who needed me or my brother-in-law to come over to fix the blinking clock on the VCR.

But my wife consulted her uncle who swore that each of her parents played with his iPad when they visited him.  So we bought the iPad.

And then an interesting thing happened, a week later we talked her my sister-in-law who said that each of her parents spent the whole week on the iPad checking the internet and playing games we had loaded for them.

And that is why 2011 will be the "Year of the Tablet."

Of course, that's not the only reason.  This week at the Consumer Electronics Show, more tablets will be introduced to entice the masses.  Some will be smaller than the iPad and others will run on the Android operating system.  But they will offer similar alternatives that Droid phones have offered to iPhones.  Experts expect tablet sales to quadruple in 2011.  They have already eaten into the Netbook market.

And of course, that's all before the iPad2 launches later this year.

What does that mean for us in marketing and PR?

• We need to understand how people use their tablets.  They are a great tool to check emails and for internet use.  But it is through Apps that they really come to life.  If your brand does not have an App you will be missing on the great tablet opportunity.
• If not an App make sure your website is optimized for mobile use.  You may also want to consider how extensive you want to go down the "Flash" road, as flash-heavy websites are still no good for use on Apple products.  This may be mitigated by the growing Android tablet market.
• If they are better "web-access" tools, they are also better social media platform tools, right?  For the most part.  It depends on how people access their social media platform of choice, through the web or through an App.  For example, Facebook has a much richer tablet (and mobile) experience on the web than through Apps.  On the web you can access custom landing pages, on Apps not so much.  The bottom line is if you think of a tablet as a larger smartphone (more on that coming), and people use their smartphones to check in or update status, then the tablet provides a bigger screen and better experience to Facebook, Tweet, Foursquare, whatever…on.
• If you believe that the iPad2 will include two cameras, we are then just a short step away from your tablet becoming your videophone, with a much bigger screen.  The new Skype App just released for iPhone is a step in that direction.
• The bottom line is there are two ways to look at how we communicate to folks online.  First is which platform they use, websites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Second is which devices they use to access them, desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets.  Brands need to "be" on all these places and they need to offer what consumers and fans want, interactivity, information, offers, etc.

So if you agree that 2010 was the Year of Mobile, 2011 is the Year of the Tablet, or Year of Mobile2, the sequel.  The tablet enables mobile but in a larger-screen way.  For communicators who want to extend their brands, understanding how people use these devices is critical since people not only take them from meeting to meeting but from room to room.

If you haven't figured out a way for your brand to have a "tablet home" now is the time.

Would love to hear your thoughts.