Japanese students too want Apple computers

This survey from Ringrow, a computer and other electronics refurbishment company, looked at university students and computers.

I am far too old to have experienced any of this computer stuff at university, and my dissertation was prepared on a terminal in Tex and vi, if I remember correctly.

One interesting figure you might spot is that 7.7% use a smartphone and 21.9% a computer for lecture notes, leaving about two-thirds presumably taking notes on paper. I would have thought that a computer might be faster, but I don’t know if it a typing speed issue, kanji conversion bottleneck, using pen and paper makes it easier to remember, or if just that many lecturers ban computers as distractions. Or if you want to go all Japan Cultural Expert, is the sound of tapping on the keyboard rude? Any current students or lecturers out there with an insight? Previous surveys of the general population have indicated that there is about a 50:50 desktop to notebook split, so it isn’t just that everyone has a desktop, I don’t think.

Here’s some classic art brought up-to-date…

Research results

Q1: What kinds of internet access devices do you have? (Sample size=279, multiple answer)

Smartphone	99.3%
Computer	90.0%
Tablet	18.6%
Feature phone	3.2%
kindle	0.4%
iPod touch	0.4%
DS, PSP, vita	0.4%
PS4	0.4%
Other games console	0.4%

Q2: Which is your main internet access device? (Sample size=279)

Smartphone	87.5%
Computer	11.1%
Tablet	1.4%

Q3: Computer owners, which functions are you comfortable using on it? (Sample size=255, multiple answer)

Internet	98.0%
Document creation	93.7%
Email	91.0%
Presentation	83.1%
Spreadsheet	64.7%

Q4: After graduation, do you think your computer use will increase? (Sample size=279)

Yes	96.4%
No	3.6%

Q5: Would you like to try studying how to use a computer? (Sample size=279)

Yes	83.5%
No	16.5%

Q6: Which of the following do you create on your smartphone, computer? (Sample size=271 and 278, multiple answer)

	Smartphone N=271	Computer N=278
Reports	12.2%	97.5%
Lecture notes	7.7%	21.9%
Diary	17.0%	4.7%
Schedule	59.4%	13.7%
Job application forms	9.2%	48.2%
Resume/CV	6.3%	29.1%
SNS posts	92.3%	28.4%

Q7: How often per week do you use your smartphone, computer? (Sample size=271 and 278, multiple answer)

	Smartphone N=271	Computer N=278
Up to one day a week	0.0%	14.7%
Two or three days a week	0.0%	29.4%
Four or five days a week	0.0%	24.0%
Six or seven days a week	100%	31

Q8: If you were to buy a computer in the future, which manufacturer would you want the most? (Sample size=279)

Apple	37.6%
Microsoft	3.4%
Toshiba	2.5%
NEC	2.5%
Fujitsu	2.9%
Panasonic	2.2%
Lenovo	1.4%
Dell	1.8%
HP	1.8%
Other	41.1%

Q9: What was the main reason that you selected the maker in Q8? (Sample size=258)

Has a good spec	34.1%
Like the design	13.6%
Famous maker	8.5%
Like the maker	7.8%
Other	6.5%
No particular reason	29.5%

I don’t know why there was a sample size of 279 for Q8, but only 258 for Q9. Perhaps in the “Other” group there was “Don’t want to buy a PC”?

Demographics

Between the 8th and 17th of June 2017 279 university students in their fourth year of university completed a web-based Google Form. How the sample was selected was not described.