E-Reader Usage Climbs Among NY Subway Commuters for Week of January 16, 2012
By Howard Polskin
January 21, 2012: E-reader usage soared this past week in New York subways. That’s the conclusion of The Tab Farm’s exclusive analysis of the mobile media consumption habits of New York’s subway commuters on the R and N lines. During the week of January 16 (well…really January 17, because The Tab Farm took the Martin Luther King holiday) e-readers captured 12% of mobile media consumption on the subway, up from 7% the previous week. Friday afternoon in particular, The Tab Farm saw e-reading on e-readers everywhere…..even as commuters were walking (not wise in crowded subways at rush hours, but some content is just so compelling it is just unputdownable). The Tab Farm thinks that many people got e-readers for the holidays and they are now becoming comfortable integrating the device with their mobility. Plus, they are beginning to become adept at downloading compelling content like magazine articles, video games, books, and newspapers and it’s harder to tear away from it once the commute starts. Tablet computer use was at 5%. Last week tablet use was at 6%. Smartphone usage dropped from 51% to 38% (e-reader gain equals smartphone loss?). Newspapers consumption jumped from 15% to 19%. Perhaps it’s readers wanting their dose of news about the headline-grabbing race for the GOP nomination or the New York Giants.
| Device | Week of 1/16/2012 | Week of 1/9/2012 |
| Smartphones | 38% | 51% |
| Newspapers | 19% | 15% |
| E-Readers | 12% | 7% |
| Tablets | 5% | 6% |
| iPods | 1% | 1% |
| Books | 16% | 14% |
| Magazines9% | 9% | 8% |