Whenever you travel on the train or bus today, you’re likely to find a good proportion of people engrossed in some form of personal entertainment, or using another device which is providing them with information or entertainment.
Recent years have seen the market for the devices we use to consume our media become ever more emphasised on the compact end of the market-. The first, and most obvious, application for this was in the devices we use to listen to our music. The first portable music-listening devices were cassette players because, at the time, this was one of the dominant media which brought us the music which we wanted to listen to.
The big step-change came with the arrival of the compact disc. This was a media form which, by its definition, was easily portable, and so a number of machines came about on which its content could be played. The big difference was that the content on the CD was produced and could be consumed without the need for any physical contact between the mechanism of the device and the CD itself.
And now, a few years later, digital media is the means by which we consume most of our music, pictures and even films. And in that respect, its big advantage has been that it has further miniaturised the devices on which we can watch or listen to the content concerned.
The end result is that we are tempted to carry around huge quantities of information and media which we love watching and listening to – but will very likely never have the time to enjoy in its true glory.
But a tablet device is the perfect solution for this. We can combine our music and video collections on a single device, and add to or delete material from it as we please.
The real dilemma for anyone who is carrying around such a rich collection of material, though, is how to keep it safe, and how to ensure that the device on which we consume it is, likewise, maintained in working order so that we can watch or listen to all this fabulous stuff wherever and whenever we want.
Luckily, as with any gap in a market, a number of enterprising people have come along with the answer to the problem. As a result, we can now choose from a wide range of covers and protective surfaces which keep our devices safe. They range from a simple protector for their screens – which are a great idea to help minimise the build-up of greasy fingerprints on the tablet’s surface – to a protective case which is tailored to fit the particular device we have, and leaves all surfaces apart from those with which we need to interact safely concealed.
Tablet covers, and others designed for the new breed of flip-top mini-PCs which are now coming onto the market, are made of a sturdy inner cover, but they also come with a wide array of outer protection in many different colours and designs. And as with any device which contains sensitive inner workings, adding a few layers of protection can clearly do a great deal to help prolong its life. It’s also a good way of individualising our devices. So if you prize your new present, and want to ensure that it lasts as long as possible and is protected from the hard knocks of day-to-day use, a light yet sturdy protective case should be your next purchase.
Post contributed by Christina Jones – a freelance technology blogger, who loves to review the latest gadgets and accessories, such as the new iPad 4 cases.
