By Mike Weller

Take a peek at recent sales statistics of tablets and you will find a negative trend. Global tablet sales in Q4 of 2017 amounted to 49.6 million units, down 7.9 percent from the previous year.

This may not seem like a big deal, but considering how powerful modern smartphones are and the increasing portability of slim notebook laptops, it is possible to envision a world where tablets are a thing of the past.

You may be asking yourself, “So what?” And that might be because you’ve long abandoned your Samsung Tabs, Amazon Fires, and even your beloved iPads for the likes of 2-in-1s from Microsoft and Lenovo. But those in parking management haven’t.

Consider a local high school or college—two places that might heavily rely on parking management software. While no hard statistics exist, it would be safe to assume many of those institutions use tablets to run that software. The portability with relative computing power is perfect, not to mention the built-in camera.

With tablets seemingly on the way out, where do these institutions turn? Most won’t be able to afford pricey new devices and support/update cycles don’t last forever. We have some time, but we need to consider what our options are when developing parking solutions for the future, potentially in a post-tablet world.

Mike Weller is director of sales with Rydin.