In addition to the 71 percent of iPad users (drawn from TradePub’s 30,000-strong installed base) who were at least managers, 48 percent of were at the level of “Director” or above. While TradePub’s audience may skew toward higher-level employees because of the nature of its content (it offers trade magazine and technical support documentation downloads), this does back up previous reports that the iPad is generally seeing a top-down adoption pattern in general.

TradePub’s report also showed that users consume more content on the iPad than on the iPhone. TradePub.com app users in general request 45 percent more reports and assets from the iPad app than they do from the iPhone app. It makes sense, if you consider that the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen is more conducive to reading than the iPhone’s smaller 3.5-inch display. Longer-form content works best on the iPad, TradePub concludes, which is probably why two-thirds of U.K. iPad owners use it for reading newspapers and magazines, too.

Surprisingly, the top days for accessing content from the TradePub app were on weekends. TradePub attributes this to professionals shifting industry research and catching up with trade trends to the weekend to avoid work-related interruptions. The app’s presence on the iPad might also be a contributing factor, since the device can blur the lines between work and home use. Late evenings and Sundays were the most popular times for app access.

The iPad seems to be getting use as a tool that enables enterprise users to better stay on top of work after hours and during down time — worth considering if you’re a business thinking about deploying iPads as a way to extend productivity.

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Tim Cook was joined by Apple SVP of Retail Ron Johnson and CFO Peter Oppenheimer during the meeting with Shope. Of course, they remained mum on the details of future Apple products (including iOS 5, which is due for at least a preview Monday at WWDC 2011), but they were vocal about iOS and Android as a general subject.

Shope came away from the meeting with the iOS-Android battle framed by the Apple execs as a showdown between integrated and fragmented platforms. It’s a line Apple has used before, but Apple expanded on its position, noting “that an open and free OS like Android was bound to enjoy a rapid expansion in its overall installed base near-term, but over time, the perils of platform fragmentation would weaken the value of this installed base and the overall platform ecosystem.” Basically, Shope is saying Android’s hardware agnostic approach will give it lots of users fast, but those users ultimately won’t add to the strength of the platform as much as iOS users do. Apple seems to be stalling its market share decline recently relative to Google, in app downloads and in handset use, so the negative effects of that fragmentation may already be taking hold.

I found it much more interesting that Cook believes tablet sales will eclipse PC sales, though he did say that it would happen only gradually “over the next several years,” something that seems inconceivable given the current reach of the PC. But Business Insider previously reported that consumer PC growth is set to be negative for the first time in quite a while, Gartner shows that PC growth is slowing amid a shift to mobile devices, and iPad sales are on track to increase 72 percent year-over-year for the June quarter, according to Shope’s estimates. Microsoft seems to also see tremendous potential in the tablet market, since the Windows 8 operating system it just started previewing also sports a fancy tablet mode.

In terms of use, it does seem like a lot of users are using their tablets as computer replacements already, and the iPad is leading that charge. It is very possible that one day, the iPad could be the standard computing device for most users and households, but I’d say it will be years before we see a tipping point. What do you think? Is the tablet the next PC?

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First, IBM is reluctant to see Papermaster go to Apple. Understandably so, considering the former VP’s role as one of the main architects of IBM’s POWER microprocessor technology, which formed the basis for the Apple-IBM-Motorola developed PowerPC architecture. As Apple competes directly with IBM in server, PC, and microprocessor tech (owing to the recent purchase of P.A. Semi), IBM is claiming that Papermaster would be violating his non-compete clause and potentially transferring valuable IP and trade secrets to his new employer.

While it is unlikely that any ruling body would ultimately find in favor of IBM (such a precedent would seriously hamper healthy executive level staff flow in Silicon Valley), that doesn’t mean the two companies could become entangled in a protracted and expensive legal battle. So why is IBM is even threatening? They want a parting gift for the loss of Papermaster, most likely information on what he’ll be working on at Apple, although they might even try to force a limited IP share on the grounds that their proprietary knowledge is being used in the ex-VP’s work.

It’s a shrewd move, but Apple can always decide to just drop Papermaster and look elsewhere if IBM pushes too hard. Although they’re hard-pressed for time now that it’s official that engineer Tony Fadell will be stepping down next month as SVP of the iPod division.

Fadell, iPod chief since 2005, is cited as leaving for “personal reasons.” It is possible he was asked to leave by Apple, however, on the heels of the recent drop of iPod revenue to 14.2 percent of Apple’s overall earnings. While the drop is due partly to increases in computer and iPhone sales, Apple is not known for resting on its laurels, and is likely looking to shake up the iPod line, lest it become an under-performer. Replacing the top brass is a common tactic in a product-line shakeup, and Papermaker definitely has the know-how to provide a major revamp, at least in terms of the iPod’s internals.

Expect to see Papermaker’s processor experience extend to the iPhone as well, should he develop new, in-house designed low power chips for the iPod platform. The possibility is also there that we could see an Intel Atom competitor come out of Apple’s new exec, for use in an Apple-branded netbook. Steve Jobs did claim, after all, that they weren’t offering one because they didn’t know how to make something good at that price range. It might be Papermaker’s job to figure out how, with the iPod chieftaincy just a distraction to throw us off the trail. His official title, after all, is SVP Hardware Engineering, which in my mind allows for a pretty broad scope of duties.

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