U.S. Connected Device (Tablet, E-Reader) Adoption 43%

The number of Americans ages 16 and older who own tablet computers has grown to 35 percent, and the share who have e-reading devices like Kindles and Nooks has grown to 24 percent, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. 

Overall, the number of people who have a tablet or an e-book reader among those 16 and older now stands at 43 percent. 

In some cases, that will be important for reasons other than device adoption. Some market watchers consider connected tablets and e-readers to be part of the machine-to-machine services business. 

Those who own the devices are especially likely to live in upper-income households and have relatively high levels of education. In addition, women are more likely than men to own e-readers. 

Hispanics and Asians are more likely to own tablets than blacks or whites, the study found. Blacks, Hispanics and Asians are more likely to own a mobile phone than white users. 

Those sets of findings are instructive. It now has become commonplace for mobile networks to be the way most people, everywhere, get access to voice, messaging and Internet apps. That also seems to be the trend in the U.S. market, for Asians, Hispanics and black users. 

That also has implications for understanding voice, messaging and Internet access usage patterns. Simply, some groups tend to prefer use of mobiles for Internet access more than others, and more than average. 

That, in turn, has implications for understanding the voluntary actions of citizens and consumers. We should not expect rational consumers to use every form of high-speed access in the same way.