As screen sizes shrink, tablets may start to outnumber laptops in UF classrooms.
The International Data Corporation predicts a surge in handheld tablet demand based on figures from 2012 sales.
After the release of the iPad mini in the Fall of 2012, most of the University of Florida Bookstore’s tablets sold out, said Brian Lee, a computer manager at the bookstore.
Lee, who provides many of the technology needs for students and faculty, believes a reason for tablets’ popularity is their convenience.
Generally, miniature tablets are less than 8 inches long, which is about 3 inches longer than a smartphone. About half the tablets sold this quarter had smaller screens, according to a news release by the International Data Corporation.
The bookstore offers two mini tablets: the Google Nexus 7 and the iPad mini. The basic 16GB Google tablet costs $199, while the 16GB iPad mini costs $329.
The International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker estimates tablet shipments will be about 350 million by the end of 2017.
Jordan Fincher, a 19-year-old information systems sophomore at UF, owns an iPad mini and an iPad.
Fincher likes his iPads, but he is keeping his eye on Microsoft for his next mini tablet.
“I’m mostly looking at Microsoft because the hardware on their new Surface is spectacular, but the software is so terrible,” he added, “and if Lenovo would come down on price, I might even go to them.”
