'The Tablet Revolution' offers mixed prospects for news organizations

The Pew Research Center tonight released a wonderful study that uncovers all kinds of surprises related to 1,159 tablet users, and more specifically, 894 who read news on their tablets at least weekly. 

The study, officially titled "The Tablet Revolution and What It Means for the Future of News," was conducted in conjunction with Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism and The Economist Group, the British publishers who have been at the vanguard of paid-digital content initiatives. I think they got their money's worth. 

Tablet owners represent an affluent, educated demographic (Graphic: Pew Research Center).Some takeaways from tablet users:

• 11 percent of U.S. adults own "a tablet computer of some kind," this just 18 months after Apple launched the iPad. The study isn't specific on what brands make up tablets but indicates iPads are owned by the large majority of Brand is a factor in generating app downloads, but no necessarily for paying for news (Graphic: Pew Research Center).respondents, and questions how next month's launch of the Amazon Kindle will change usage and behavior by bringing a lower-cost alternative to the masses. 
• 77 percent use their tablets daily, and for an average of 90 minutes. Wow. 

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