Tablets: What changes with this Gadget? *

It was only a short time ago that tablets came into people’s lives, yet it seems they’ve been in our lives for a long time. They emerged early in the year 2010 with the launch of the Apple iPad, which already today has great public acceptance. Increasingly tablets are gaining popularity, and it certainly marks a major technological trend for the coming years. The first tablet, the Apple iPad, sold more than 10 million units in 2010, and now competitors are investing huge sums on other tablet models in order to compete with the current sales leader, Apple.

So what exactly is a tablet? It’s nothing more than a clipboardshaped, ultra-light computer with a keyboard in the screen, which is sensitive to the touch and does mostly what computers do, such as connecting to the Internet, accessing emails, editing simple documents, watching videos, viewing photos and listening to music. All of these features in one device, ready-made for easy handling and transportation, has fallen into the hands of today’s users.

Tablets are not only about who boasts the best game sophistication or the greatest capacity for music or the finest screen resolution. They are also about developing a device that puts communication in the pockets of nearly everyone, and not just for talking and writing, but to enjoy ongoing participation in a universal chat, much as the 20th century envisaged communications in the 21st century.

In Brazil, tablets arrived shortly after they were introduced in the United States, and the reaction was the same, with hungry consumers running to the stores to  urchase this new trend in computing. It didn’t take long before tablets sparked active debate and controversy, especially when technology analysts said the tablets would replace traditional devices such as the computer, notebook and netbook. The tablets’ detractors posed questions like, Can we seriously expect someone to work on a computer without a mouse? While the tablets’ supports believed they were truly a magical revolution. Why would a person return to using a mouse and keyboard after having experienced the interface of Apple’s visionary iPad!

The debate on tablets will certainly continue, but there is one relevant point in the discussion worth noting: Tablet technology may be the best computer for people who hate technology.
What lies ahead for the future of tablets, we don’t know. Certainly, if their popularity continues to grow, their prices will become more affordable, and if that happens, tablets will probably become as popular as cell phones are today.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Growth of Internet and Computer in Brazil

The number of people with Internet access in any environment (homes, workplaces, schools, Internet cafes or other places) reached 73.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Ibope Nielsen Online. This represents an increase of 9.6% compared to 67.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the access to the Internet at work and at home has grown even more.

This confirms the excellent performance on sales of computers in Brazil where in 2010 grew 23.5 percent over the previous year to 13.7 million units, putting the country in fourth place globally behind the United States, China and Japan. The highlight of the sales went to the third quarter, with a different scenario than we saw in the past when most computers were sold on account of Christmas. With the anticipation of retail purchases in the year-end, the third quarter of 2010 was stronger.

Of the total number of PCs in 2010, desktops represent 55 percent of sales and notebooks to 45 percent for both business and home consumers. However, considering only the domestic segment, notebooks surpassed desktops for the fourth consecutive quarter, with 30 percent more sales. The trend could be observed earlier.

According to IDC, the transition from desktop to the background should be intensified with the growing popularity of computers tablets. According to another research firm, 100 000 tablets were marketed in the country during the past year.

Project to establish rules for personal data on websites

Where does the information go when you fell up a form with your information? Who knows when you liked on facebook? What your search on Google tells about you? Probably they say much more than you think. That is all there in some database, and until now there is no law or norm that defines how this information should be treated.

The main topic of this project which is under public consultation, the citizen needs to have control about his own information. He needs to know which information is being gathered, what will be used for and for how long the company or government will store this information. Today there is no control over this and it's common to see cases of sales database to third parties for example.

When we have a society in which any segment of the consumer works from the information of their consumers, the information becomes an input market. Today there are tools to monitor the users steps - like where he sails or his last purchases, locations and preferences. It's a great useful resource for advertisers to reach a specific audience.

As this segment is booming, a survey of Wall Street Journal revealed that exists more than 200 tools monitoring connections. The 50 most popular websites in the U.S. have some type of mechanism. In 2010, total investment in web ads was $ 8.9 billion. Of that, $ 1.1 billion were for targeted ads - and the figure should double by 2014.

In the same direction, advertising can not be seen as a villain: it pays for the services we use and also gives us more relevant ads. But we need to know that everything free, has a price somehow. The project tries to establish a minimum standard of protection, something that is in the Constitution: the right to privacy.