According to new research from The Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) that looks at how the iPad is affecting how people get news, the iPad tops both the Web and print for getting news.Highlights of the research:
- iPad news consumers prefer newspaper apps to newspaper websites; less likely to use print.
- The vast majority of those who read news on their iPads each day prefer to use a newspaper’s app for reading news and feature stories as opposed to using a Web browser to navigate the newspaper’s website.
- The more one uses the iPad for news consumption, the less he or uses printed newspapers.
- There’s a statistically significant correlation between iPad news consumption and the likelihood of canceling their print subscriptions.
- One out of 10 report that they have canceled their subscriptions to printed newspapers and switched to reading digital newspapers on their iPad.
- Nearly all of the respondents (99%) indicated that they used their iPad for some period of time during a typical day to consume news.
The trend could be another blow to traditional newspapers, especially given predictions for explosive growth in tablet computer use in 2011.Other highlights of the research:
- More than nine out of 10 respondents rated their overall satisfaction as either very satisfied (70.2%) or somewhat satisfied (23.4%).
- More than three-quarters (76.1%) indicated that they are very likely to recommend the iPad to a friend or relative.
- Using the iPad to follow breaking news reports and current events is the most popular use for the device. Next according to popularity: leisure reading of books, newspapers and magazines (81.5%); browsing the Web (80.8%); and e-mail (75.8%).
- The news apps that come closest to meeting user expecations include: The New York Times, USA Today, The Associated Press, and The Wall Street Journal.