Using Tablets Becoming Popular Bathroom Activity

alphadogg says "With the market flush with hot-selling tablet computers, it shouldn't bowl anyone over to learn that many users are taking the plunge and bringing their devices to the bathroom. According to a new survey published by Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples Inc., 35% of tablet users copped to using their iPad or other tablets while in the bathroom, while a whopping 78% of tablet users said they used their tablets while lying in bed. And in a data point sure to further damage techies' reputation for social skills, Staples Advantage also reported that 30% of tablet users said they used their tablets while at restaurants."

Comments

What about driving?

[Anonymous Coward]

How many have used them while driving?

While cooking?

While watching TV?

Or while using another tablet?

Re:What about driving?

[magarity]

Never mind all that reasonably safe stuff - it's the airline pilots who should be of more concern.

Re:What about driving?

[Anonymous Coward]

You take airline pilots to the bathroom with you?

Re:What about driving?

[alen]

the ipad is a killer cook book. i have hundreds of recipes including video of how to do some things on mine

Re:What about driving?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hah - actually there have been some announcements about operations manuals for aircraft being converted from huge books to an app on the iPad. There are several articles about this from corporate jets to Alaska Airlines - http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/28/ipads-on-the-flight-decks-of-alaska-airlines-aircraft/ is just one of the articles.

Re:What about driving?

[xaxa]

the ipad is a killer cook book. i have hundreds of recipes including video of how to do some things on mine

That's the one time I think I prefer a netbook (though I don't own a tablet). The netbook screen is propped up from the counter, and stays that way while I have dirty fingers.

Re:What about driving?

[timster]

So is using an iPad as a cookbook "content creation" or "content consumption"?

Re:What about driving?

[Cryacin]

Easiest way to join the mile high club I guess.

Re:What about driving?

[Cryacin]

the ipad is a killer cook book. i have hundreds of recipes including video of how to do some things on mine

You cook on the toilet?!? I guess it cuts out the middle man.

Re:What about driving?

[wzzzzrd]

How many have used them while [...]

[...] using another tablet?

Best quote so far.

Re:What about driving?

[alen]

there are these things called cases for ipads and they prop it up just fine

Re:What about driving?

[xaxa]

How about while in the bathroom -- that being the room with the bath in, according to Proper English. Some people read in the bath...

(I didn't realise the article was talking about using the tablet while on the toilet at first. Silly language!)

Re:What about driving?

[arkane1234]

Right, because as everyone knows, the place where the toilet stays is called a restroom.
(tongue-in-cheek grin)

Re:What about driving?

[geminidomino]

And in which languages does the word for that particular location translate into "place to take a shit?"

NB:
"Toilet" is a fixture within that room
"Lavatory" is a place for washing
"Bathroom," as you pointed out, is a room with/for a bath

Spanish "bano[0]," French "salle de bain," and Italian "(stanza da) bagno" all also refer to bathing, not pooping.

This conversation actually came up in one of my foreign language classes one year. To date, I've still not gotten anyone who knows one.

I do, however, like the non-word "excretorium" to fill this rather large gap in our collective vocabulary.

[0](not gonna mess with getting the tilde-n since I doubt slashdot would handle it gracefully anyway)

Re:What about driving?

[X0563511]

Honestly I'd feel much safer with the pilots using a backlit, indexed, hyperlinked document over a huge pile of paper. ... so long as a paper copy was still around just in case!

Re:What about driving?

[X0563511]

You forgot "privy"

Re:What about driving?

[Luckyo]

Let me help you. It's called water closet, or WC for short. The short name is universal across most languages.

Re:What about driving?

[Gilmoure]

Creating content to consume?

Re:What about driving?

[Gilmoure]

I do, however, like the non-word "excretorium"

*golf clap*

Re:What about driving?

[element-o.p.]

Sigh...are you assuming that the only purpose for a tablet is playing "Angry Birds" and updating your Facebook status? My Android tablet is more a tool than toy.

...while driving?

"Daily Roads Voyager" and "Google Navigator". Next...

While cooking?

Yes, I have looked up recipes using the web browser while cooking. Keep going...

While watching TV?

You've got me there. I don't watch TV much, so when I do, it's something I'm actually, you know, interested in watching, so no, no tablet use while watching TV.

Or while using another tablet?

Well...I only own one tablet, so technically, no. However, I have used the tablet while using my smartphone and/or (yes, "AND/or") my netbook/laptop(s). Android doesn't multitask very well, so sometimes that's the easiest way to cross-reference data across many applications (pinging a host on one device while watching a web-based monitoring tool in a browser on another and making config changes through SSH to a remote device, for example).

Re:What about driving?

[geminidomino]

While plumbing is involved, thus the "water", it's still not particularly indicative of what the room is for, outside of familiarity of the use (which would then also disqualify the argument against 'bathroom').

Re:What about driving?

[Merls the Sneaky]

How about "outhouse"?

Re:What about driving?

[nabsltd]

there are these things called cases for ipads and they prop it up just fine.

Why is it that every Apple device requires that you spend at least an extra 20% beyond the purchase price of the device to get the accessories that are required to make the device functional in the real world?

Re:What about driving?

[gnick]

And in which languages does the word for that particular location translate into "place to take a shit?"

OK, you list a bunch of languages. BUT, you left out "American". In the language "American", a "bathroom" is someplace to possibly bathe, but certainly piss/dump and optionally wash your hands afterward depending on the damage.

Re:What about driving?

[black soap]

How many of those words evolved when "the facilities" involved an outhouse, or a bucket to be emptied into the street?

Re:What about driving?

[Greystripe]

Soo, guess I really did grow up amongst rednecks, none of y'all ever heard someone say "I gotta go to the shitter"?

Re:What about driving?

[Luckyo]

You argument could apply to hundreds of common use terms that have the exact problem you describe.

Of course, in reality no one cares. The commonly accepted terms are functional and widely accepted, even if their origins do not match modern end result to a tee.

Re:What about driving?

[martinX]

Sometimes your "real world" is different to someone else's "real world". Rather than trying to please all of the people all of the time, Apple has cultivated an ecosystem of accessory makers. It seems to work OK. In addition, they can screw retailers down on margins and convince them to make money upselling an iPad sale with accessories.

Re:What about driving?

[Belial6]

If price is your issue, you can use a picture frame holder. You probably already have an "iPad Stand" at home as it is. It was called a "cookbook stand", or "picture stand" when you bought it years ago and stuffed it in your closet. I have an Android tablet. I use velcro on the back to store the tablet the face of a cupboard myself. I'm pretty sure that the same "stand" would work for the iPad.

Re:What about driving?

[Belial6]

I use a tablet as a cookbook, and would never even consider using a netbook for the same purpose. Food will destroy a netbook. A tablet is a flat piece of glass that is easily wiped clean. Tablets are VASTLY superior for kitchen use.

Re:What about driving?

[Belial6]

How about the crapper.

Re:What about driving?

[martinX]

While watching TV?

I'll look up things about the TV program or movie while watching. It's silly, unnecessary but I still do it.

Re:What about driving?

[xaxa]

And in which languages does the word for that particular location translate into "place to take a shit?"

NB:
"Toilet" is a fixture within that room

In British English, a "toilet" is also the room containing the WC ("who left the light on in the toilet?")

But, with help from a thesaurus: garderobe, latrine, privy.

"Lavatory" is a place for washing

In current British (and probably elsewhere) usage, a lavatory only means a room containing a WC.

I'll invent "scatory".

Test n~: ñ

Re:What about driving?

[blind monkey 3]

I use a tablet as a cookbook, and would never even consider using a netbook for the same purpose. Food will destroy a netbook. A tablet is a flat piece of glass that is easily wiped clean. Tablets are VASTLY superior for kitchen use.

Then don't feed it.

Re:What about driving?

[Totenglocke]

Except that most bathrooms (rooms with a bathtub / shower) also have a toilet in them - thus making bathroom perfectly acceptable. Or you could just be like the French and pee in the stairwell! =p

Re:What about driving?

[Belial6]

That is why I wouldn't use one for a cookbook, since trying to punch keys with hands covered in food will lead the to the netbook consuming food.

Re:What about driving?

[Anonymous Coward]

So it's like Firefox but the extensions cost money.

Re:What about driving?

[dissy]

there are these things called cases for ipads and they prop it up just fine.

Why is it that every Apple device requires that you spend at least an extra 20% beyond the purchase price of the device to get the accessories that are required to make the device functional in the real world?

I ended up making my own stand out of one of two metal bookends I somehow ended up with a few of, and some of those little rubber sticky feet they always include with low end rack-mount computer gear that could also be used sitting on a table.

Stick two on the outside edge of the bottom to keep it from sliding off, and I also put two on the very top of the back so the fairly sharp (to plastic anyway) metal doesn't cut groves into the back of my tablet.

http://oi53.tinypic.com/2aanadl.jpg

Works great on the side of my desk at work in landscape mode to have a movie playing in the background, and in portrait mode you just sit the tablet upside down so you can still plug the cable in the 'bottom'. The screen reorients itself so it's always right side up anyway.

Like I said, I had the bits-n-pieces laying around already, but if I had to go on a quest to purchase those parts, I can't see it costing more than $2.
Most "dollar stores" should carry both, and you could probably beat one dollar on the bookends if you hunt around at salvation army type places.
With enough super glue, almost anything can become a sticky rubber foot pad.

Re:What about driving?

[Sulphur]

How many of those words evolved when "the facilities" involved an outhouse, or a bucket to be emptied into the street?

Gardyloo.

Re:What about driving?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fails two out of the three rules for joining the club: Someone new, none of the crew and not in the loo

Re:What about driving?

[narcc]

So it's like Firefox but the extensions cost money.

The analogy would work better if you needed to download a web brower plugin for Firefox.

Re:What about driving?

[JuliaNZ]

I'd recommend the Wallee case/wall mount for the kitchen: http://www.thewallee.com/ We've got one on a kitchen cupboard and it makes the ipad the perfect kitchen PC, once you disable the auto-off. We use it all the time.

Re:What about driving?

[geminidomino]

Yeah, the subthread started from someone pretending he cared (so I guess IHBT) but it's just one of those weird things about people that I've always found interesting.

Re:What about driving?

[Luckyo]

Another funny detail - water in "water closet" actually appears to refer to "letting out water", as in peeing. Original name applies to outhouses where you went to pee. No running water there.

Re:What about driving?

[geminidomino]

Ah, I hadn't considered that usage (don't hear it much over here). Good point.

I heard someone say the other day...

[mark0]

"Angry Birds has changed the way the world goes to the bathroom"

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[drpimp]

I morph the name when I am on the jon, "Angry Turds". Too bad there wasn't a theme to coincide with the name change.

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[Kvasio]

.... as people go to the bathroom like they were cast from the sling?

Probably because they procrastinate "loo break" while playing?

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[larry bagina]

for $0.99, you can buy the mighty brown python, but it can only be used once a day.

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[Tharsman]

If you buy the CanOBeans upgrade you get to use it 3 times per day.

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[skids]

If I were constipated enough to spend enough time sitting on the can that I require reading material, I'd be an angry bird, too.

Seriously, people don't realize there's something wrong with it taking 10 minutes?

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[Anonymous Coward]

How anyone could get addicted to slingshotting birds to kill pigs I'll never understand. I would rather play Sinistar!

Re:I heard someone say the other day...

[martin-boundary]

That's nothing. Just wait until they come out with the X-rated version of Angry Birds...

Laptops

[hjf]

So what's the % of people using laptops and smartphones in the bathroom? Didn't we have portable devices before the iPad?

Sent from my bathroom. (Really).

Re:Laptops

[Anonymous Coward]

So what's the % of people using laptops and smartphones in the bathroom? Didn't we have portable devices before the iPad?

Yeah, but nothing that you could really hold with one hand. And laptops, well, cover your lap - blocking any access to that area.

Re:Laptops

[thynk]

You can count me in the group using smart phones in the bathroom, ever since I first discovered an ebook reader... back on CE 5 or 6. Now my news reader is on my phone too :-)

Re:Laptops

[hjf]

And laptops, well, cover your lap - blocking any access to that area.

Why would I waOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I see what you did there.

Re:Laptops

[Hatta]

You people need to eat more fiber.

Re:Laptops

[scumdamn]

I take my full sized notebook into the shitter with me because I don't give a damn.

Re:Laptops

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't we have portable devices before the iPad?

No. Apple invented the portable device, the same way they invented the touchscreen, the grid layout, and the shape of the rounded rectangle. Any false memories of portable devices prior to that time are obvious forgeries planted by enemies of Friend Steve, and it is vital that these memories be corrected at once by your friendly iCorrectionGenius to prevent further false information from being spread.

Re:Laptops

[xaxa]

You people need to eat more fiber.

Agreed, I think. At least, I buy only wholegrain pretty-much-everything (bread, pasta, rice, wraps, muesli). I often take my phone with my to the toilet at work (I don't like leaving it out on my desk, so I pick it up as I walk away). It's generally still in my hand when I open the cubicle, but experience tells me I have time to read about half a short email.

TMI?

Re:Laptops

[trum4n]

You son, shit like a rocket ship. Like a rocket shit.

Re:Laptops

[Cryacin]

I can see why primary school is so much easier with Mac technology.

Who discovered America? Steve Jobs

Who invented gunpowder? Steve Jobs

Who discovered fire? Steve Jobs
...

Re:Laptops

[Dahamma]

You know, I'm fine with using a smartphone to check email or read the news in the bathroom. But do people really have to answer calls and talk in the stall??

Re:Laptops

[GameboyRMH]

That is fucking disgusting x_x think about what you're getting on your devices by using them on the toilet.

Re:Laptops

[Sedated2000]

Heh no kidding. People are gross these days. I don't want to talk to someone who's trying to lay cable. People don't seem to wash their hands anymore either, which instantly makes me suspect any cell phone or other handheld device. Here in my office I've gone in to the restroom and been punched in the face by a foul reeking odor, and the perpetrator of said odor emerges from the crime scene, swipes one hand under the water without soap or even drying their hands... and then struts out.

Re:Laptops

[Andrewkov]

I've taken my guitar in.

Re:Laptops

[Dahamma]

I have a theory that the next major human pandemic will be spread by tablets. At least with a smartphone people generally keep it to themselves. When you use someone's iPad, you are now sharing the bathroom habits of everyone else who has touched that iPad.

Re:Laptops

[flimflammer]

Everybody knows that Bill Gates invented America. Typical mac fanboys.

Re:Laptops

[bill_mcgonigle]

You son, shit like a rocket ship. Like a rocket shit.

Perhaps a well-exercised colon [why?]. I guess some people can move more inches per minute than others.

Re:Laptops

[Nadaka]

Whats better is taking the bluetooth headset from your xbox or PS3 while you take a piss between games.

Re:Laptops

[FatAlb3rt]

That's when it's time to flush, whether needed or not. I do my best to make sure whoever is on the other end know that the other half of the conversation is being held in a bathroom.

Re:Laptops

[Darinbob]

Kumbayah!

Re:Laptops

[Darinbob]

I leave the door open so I can hear voice chat while raiding. Occasionally someone asks for heals and I shout out "lag!"

Re:Laptops

[gnick]

Linus invented America, Steve patented it, and Bill copied it (the original America r3.1(TM)). Don't they teach history in schools any more?

Re:Laptops

[gnick]

Genius! When I go rogue and decide to bring down the country as a first step to my coup, my first step will be donating "loaner" laptops to Starbucks. *Sinister laugh*

Re:Laptops

[nschubach]

I guess some people can move more inches per minute than others.

I thought that was what Thai food was for...

Re:Laptops

[Dahamma]

I have done that, though at least I mute it until I'm done ;)

I have also dropped an Xbox controller right in the toilet that way - never try to stuff it in your front pocket and assume it will stay, just put it down on the counter...

Re:Laptops

[Dahamma]

Or if you can plan it in advance, that's when you get the loaded burrito for lunch.

Re:Laptops

[hjf]

A toilet seat is statistically cleaner than a kitchen.

Also, I don't get "anything" on my devices. I don't use toilet paper. Here in the civilized world we have a more eco-friendly and comfortable alternative called the "bidet". A soft jet of warm water cleans your ass much better than a piece of TP.

Re:Laptops

[Belial6]

In all honesty, it isn't anything that you are not getting you your much more absorbent pants when you pull them up. So, if you put your hands in your pockets later, or adjust the waist, you are at least as disgusting as the guy who took his tablet into the toilet. While I definitely encourage hand washing, there does come a point where you just have to accept that there will be some cross contamination. Most people do best to just not think about it. After all, you are not suggesting that everybody waddle out of the stall with their pants still around their ankles to wash their hands before handling their pants, right?

Re:Laptops

[blind monkey 3]

So what's the % of people using laptops and smartphones in the bathroom? Didn't we have portable devices before the iPad?

Yeah, but nothing that you could really hold with one hand . And laptops, well, cover your lap - blocking any access to that area.

???

Re:Laptops

[RightwingNutjob]

In-stall washbasin. Patent pending.

Re:Laptops

[CptNerd]

After the surgery I only have a semi-colon, you insensitive clod!

Re:Laptops

[markimusk]

I take my Sega Nomad in and play Virtua Racing...

Re:Laptops

[knorthern knight]

> I have a theory that the next major human pandemic will be spread
> by tablets. At least with a smartphone people generally keep
> it to themselves. When you use someone's iPad, you are now sharing
> the bathroom habits of everyone else who has touched that iPad.

You, sir, are paranoid. We can greatly improve business productivity by sending all the smartphone cleaning people away on the "B" Ark, along with all the middle managers and hairdressers.

Re:Laptops

[wed128]

why is this score:0? mods, this needs corrected. UPMOD! GO!

Re:Laptops

[Dahamma]

Don't forget the iPad commercial TV producers.

Re:Laptops

[Anonymous Coward]

That was a HHGTTG reference you seemed to miss.

Re:Laptops

[Dahamma]

So was mine, which you *clearly* missed...

Re:Laptops

[Macgrrl]

LOL, personally I blame it on a cat walking across the keyboard.

Re:Laptops

[Macgrrl]

I see your waistband comment and beg you to consider the situation for women who have had to change sanitary products - toilet paper really doesn't do the job for cleaning 'residue' off your hands or from under your nails (no applicator is going to keep your hands clean when step one is removing the previous tampon and you have to fish around for the string). A handbasin in the cubical would be awesome.

Re:Laptops

[Belial6]

Good point. Since we are already well into the realm of TMI, the problem exists from just having eaten the wrong thing for lunch as well. Hopefully not with as much regularity, but it is there for everyone. Toilet paper fails to be sanitary on it's own, once you get past a certain point.

So, I would agree that a handbasin in the cubical would be awesome. Honestly, I think that bathrooms are poorly designed from the get go. With more and more parents unwilling to let even older children go into bathrooms on their own, we are starting to see more cases of single user bathrooms. This is a start, but there is little forward movement in making the bathrooms themselves sanitary.

Re:Laptops

[Doggabone]

So what's the % of people using laptops and smartphones in the bathroom? Didn't we have portable devices before the iPad?

Asimov famously referred to them as "books". Perhaps the only difference between then and now is that I've never seen a basket of small computers in a bathroom.

Re:Laptops

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I don't talk to *anyone* when I'm in the bathroom. As far as I'm concerned, there should be places where no one - not friends, family, coworkers, media, etc - can get you. The bathroom is the first one that pops into my head. I really don't see why someone - other than a complete business junkie who should seek therapy - would want to interact with traceable media in the restroom.

Besides, magazines don't cost you a few hundred dollars if you drop them in the toilet by accident. Also, it'd be a nightmare for teenagers. All sorts of fun when the mirror tells their folks that Trojan Condoms are under the "Recently Used Products" category.

Perfect marketing

[Anonymous Coward]

iPooed

Re:Perfect marketing

[Reverand Dave]

More like this

"Using tablets" also now popular euphemism!

[Kenja]

Come on, we all know what your REALY up to in there.

Re:"Using tablets" also now popular euphemism!

[Anonymous Coward]

fap fap fap fap fap....

Re:"Using tablets" also now popular euphemism!

[Tharsman]

As I have stated in slashdot in the past: its easier to clean the glossy touchscreen than a laptop's keyboard!

Re:"Using tablets" also now popular euphemism!

[itsdapead]

There's an app for that! (NSFW)

Re:"Using tablets" also now popular euphemism!

[Darinbob]

My parents used to use tablets while in the toilet as well. They called them suppositories back then though.

Obvious

[rogueippacket]

1) Tablets are replacing paper media, not surprised to hear that magazines and other reading materials are disappearing from bathrooms.
2) I can't name anyone who bought a tablet who did not envision using it as an eReader. Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?
3) Tablets are great in restaurants. You can show things to your friends and family. It's the douchebags who use tablets instead of conversing at the table that give only themselves a bad name. No different than whipping out a smartphone.

Re:Obvious

[cayenne8]

Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?

No, I think with most people, that activity is fucking

If it isn't yours,you might need to put the tablet down for a bit..and find a real meatspace woman (assuming your a guy).

Now, if you want to prop it on her back as you're doing her from behind...kudos to you...that way you can surf, watch ESPN newscenter and cum at the same time....

Ahh...life is good some times.

Re:Obvious

[somersault]

Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?

I though it was sleeping. I'm way out of touch these days..

Re:Obvious

[TuringCheck]

1) Tablets are replacing paper media, not surprised to hear that magazines and other reading materials are disappearing from bathrooms.

Yeah, but in a bathroom there's still some other use of paper media in an emergency...

Re:Obvious

[geekoid]

yeah, hey everyone , lets touch my tablet I used in the bathroom just before we eat.

Re:Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

You jest but there was a photo contest at Gizmodo (or was it LifeHacker) that a user sent in that exact scenario of a laptop on the raised back of his girlfriend.

Re:Obvious

[Opportunist]

There's finally one application where newspaper beats iPad!

Re:Obvious

[geekoid]

No, it's watching TV.

Now fucking might be the most enjoyable pastime. but that's different. Far more hours are spent watching TV from bed then fucking.

I suggest you learn to think about definition and statistics.

If you are watching ESPN and having sex at the same time you are having LOUSY sex..so lousy in fact, why bother?

Re:Obvious

[Dunbal]

Sorry to burst your bubble but the most popular bedtime activity by far is SLEEP.

Re:Obvious

[jedidiah]

...I would also not associate this sort of behavior with "techies".

The techies are the ones sneering at the whole tablet thing in general. They're not the "target audience" and therefore less likely to be the ones pulling it out at inappropriate times.

Re:Obvious

[jedidiah]

I dunno. The nice thing about traditional bathroom reading material is the fact that it is disposable. It doesn't matter if it gets wet. It doesn't matter if it's contaminated. It's not something that's going to be dragged out of the bathroom and then through an airport and then hang around your mother's coffee table.

More people should find the idea of a tablet in the bathroom just plain disgusting.

Re:Obvious

[icebraining]

You know, all your body is in the bathroom. And I don't know about you, but most people don't take a shower every time they go to the toilet.

Re:Obvious

[geminidomino]

so lousy in fact, why bother?

The ancient wisdom that "bad sex is still better than no sex" still holds true today, if one understands that "bad sex" is not the same as "batshit fucking loco crazy bitch sex partner".

Re:Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

I've browsed slashdot whilst getting a blowjob on more than one occasion. Even posted about it once while it was happening.

Re:Obvious

[bruno.fatia]

Back in my day it used to be sex.. Maybe I'm out of touch these days..

Re:Obvious

[Nadaka]

so lousy in fact, why bother?

The ancient wisdom that "bad sex is still better than no sex" still holds true today, if one understands that "bad sex" is not the same as "batshit fucking loco crazy bitch sex partner".

I spent 8 years with her. The relationship sucked, but believe me, the kink was almost worth it.

Re:Obvious

[Duradin]

It'd be nice if they'd put away their damned netbooks and nomads, those things eat a ton of table space

Re:Obvious

[geminidomino]

BTDT. Keyword is "almost." *rubs scar*

Re:Obvious

[cayenne8]

You jest but there was a photo contest at Gizmodo (or was it LifeHacker) that a user sent in that exact scenario of a laptop on the raised back of his girlfriend.

Well, I did once balance an ashtray on her back with a drink (screwdriver) in one hand and a smoke in the other while banging her from behind.

Hey...I didn't want to flick ashes in her hair...that would have been rude.

Re:Obvious

[winkydink]

Do it doggie. That way you can both watch the game.

Re:Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?

I though it was sleeping. I'm way out of touch these days..

Really? I thought it was something else entirely...

Re:Obvious

[cayenne8]

The nice thing about traditional bathroom reading material is the fact that it is disposable. It doesn't matter if it gets wet. It doesn't matter if it's contaminated. It's not something that's going to be dragged out of the bathroom and then through an airport and then hang around your mother's coffee table.

I dunno, I gotta think if you're pissing and shitting on your reading material....you're doing it all wrong!!

:)

Re:Obvious

[shugah]

At least in the lavatory, there is one application for which a tablet will never adequately replace paper.

Re:Obvious

[nschubach]

They could touch you on the shoulder... you took that in the bathroom with you, right?

Re:Obvious

[Beat The Odds]

Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?

I though it was sleeping. I'm way out of touch these days..

The most time consuming is sleeping. The most popular is sex.

Re:Obvious

[mjwx]

If you are watching ESPN and having sex at the same time you are having LOUSY sex..so lousy in fact, why bother?

Because bad sex is still better then a good soccer game.

Re:Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

Also what about those eating by themselves? The guy that used to have a paper and now has a tablet will still be reading as he sips his coffee.

Re:Obvious

[wed128]

nomad, like the media player? Do people still have those?

Re:Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?

Only for the slashdot crowd.

Re:Obvious

[An anonymous Frank]

>> Isn't reading still the most popular bedtime activity?

> I though it was sleeping. I'm way out of touch these days..

I most certainly had something else in mind. ;)

ipad is great kid pacification device

[Sprogga]

in restaurants or on a journey its a godsend for keeping a rugbiter quiet.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[webmistressrachel]

Maybe you should educate your child and allow him / her to contribute positively to your conversations social life rather than expecting them to play dumb games and keep quiet?

Speaking from personal experience here. Learning == Rebelling where I'm from (a small English village in the Northwest - a bit like your deep south - think Christian Rednecks!)

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[webmistressrachel]

"Contribute positive to your conversations and social life rather than" ... that should say. I always miss out words when typing angrily and being frustrated even more by my palms moving the caret spontaneously on the massive gaming touchpad on my laptop.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Grizzley9]

Yeah but how is a 2-4 year old going to add anything to our discussion of politics and philosophy?

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Opportunist]

My solution is simply to not go to restaurants where I would expect kids. Why would I give my iPad to a child?

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[aclarke]

How many kids do you have? Good luck trying to get your 18 month old to "contribute positively to your conversations". Way to be both obnoxiously rude and out of touch at the same time.

The GP wasn't suggesting that this is ALWAYS the appropriate response, but that it's a good tool. I've done this with my kids too. Maybe one out of every 15-20 times I take the kids to a restaurant. I would venture to say that most people would consider this to be reasonable.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[geekoid]

yeah, you're an idiot, aren't you? DO you even have kids?
Sometime, the conversation id outside there experience or interest.

Do you expect a 3 year old to stay interested in a conversation about the newly adopted C+ standards?

And why do you assume dumb games? How about playing sttlers of catan? or ticket to ride? or many opther thinking games?

Even angry birds teaches a lesson about physics.

Daily conversation about current events? yeah my kids are involved. Hell my kids ar more involved in conversation with adults far more often then their peers, but I recognize that not everything is interesting to them. If my daughter as talking to her friends about the finer point of iCarly, a am pretty sure my interested would wane once they are talking about how cure her brother is..again.

So I would be the one playing the game dejour. In me example, I would probably play Plants v. Zombies because I can keep a portion of my concentration on the conversation in case a phrase or statement floats by the needs my attention.

I'm sorry you live in a village where learning is frowned upon. Had you been raised ins a civilized city you might understand that not everything is black and white.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Dunbal]

I find that the screen cracks usually around the second time I smack them.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[dc29A]

Maybe you should educate your child and allow him / her to contribute positively to your conversations social life rather than expecting them to play dumb games and keep quiet

Let me guess ... you don't have any kids?

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[xaxa]

Maybe you should educate your child and allow him / her to contribute positively to your conversations social life rather than expecting them to play dumb games and keep quiet?

How old do they need to be for this?

My housemate's friend + wife + 18 month old daughter visited recently. I very rarely get to talk to babies/children, so I hung around for half an hour. I didn't really approve of how they were caring for her -- strapped in a carry cot in a garden on a sunny day -- but I wasn't going to interfere. She was pretty boring, but I decided it was probably because she was stuck with nothing much to do.

(So, the baby couldn't talk, which prevents conversation, but it doesn't prevent interaction or communication.)

Speaking from personal experience here. Learning == Rebelling where I'm from (a small English village in the Northwest - a bit like your deep south - think Christian Rednecks!)

I've not been to North West England, although I'm going to Manchester on Monday for an afternoon/evening. I really, really hope you're exaggerating by many orders of magnitude...!

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[jedidiah]

Helps if the kid in question and the associated parents are not big duffusses.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[jedidiah]

If the kid hasn't yet mastered civilized table manners, they shouldn't be put in the position to act out in the first place.

If you need some sort of electronic pacification device you have failed at some level.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[hedwards]

Because you've got huge mounds of cash and nothing better to spend it on than replacement iPads, duh.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[arkane1234]

The point of talking to your child is not to learn anything from him/her... it's the parent's job to accustom their child to the world and it's inner workings.
I can't believe you even said that!

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Opportunist]

In my experience, having huge mounds of cash and nothing better to spend it on is usually directly related to not having any kids, so it kinda makes little sense...

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[GameboyRMH]

Can't be any worse than have the same discussion with a Tea Party member XD

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[arkane1234]

Your right, it's best to only give toys to children.
That's why there are android tablets, now.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[NatasRevol]

God forbid you tailor the conversation to the people present, whether they be 4 or 94, engineers or farmers, kids or politicians.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[NatasRevol]

18 mo olds can't really talk much. But they can learn plenty of sign language. My kids both knew about 50 signs before they could physically speak. It was really surprising how much they were aware of the world around them.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[icebraining]

Even angry birds teaches a lesson about physics.

Sorry, but no. Even disregarding problems like the lack of air resistance, there's too many flaws in the model to teach you anything accurate.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[webmistressrachel]

No, luckily for you Manchester isn't the village I'm referring to in the GP post.

We have a saying here in England; "It's grim up North." Usually this refers to anyway North of Manchester, including the North of Manchester! Places you want to avoid include Preston, Harpurhey and Collyhurst.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Anonymous Coward]

Manchester hasn't qualified for the label 'village' in quite some time.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Opportunist]

So insecure about your decision?

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[UnknowingFool]

No but there are times when you need a pacification device. It could be a toy, a book, crayons, whatever. A tablet is just the latest in a long list of devices. An advantage is that with the right apps, a tablet can replace the need to carry multiple things. Heck you can get them to learn something like their numbers through educational games. But feel free to judge others on their parenting.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Hatta]

Any kid old enough to use an iPad is old enough to mind their manners at dinner.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Sprogga]

Try it edge on. Hurts a lot and doesn't damage the screen.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Sprogga]

Just as a point of info, toddlers who are no more than 2 seem to be able to pick up the iPad and have fun with it. Good luck with trying to get one of those to mind their manners at dinner.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Hatta]

True, but they're just as likely to have fun playing with the box it came in.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[interkin3tic]

Maybe you should educate your child and allow him / her to contribute positively to your conversations social life rather than expecting them to play dumb games and keep quiet?

Do you expect a 3 year old to stay interested in a conversation about the newly adopted C+ standards?

Are you saying the only education you can give your child is about newly adopted C+ standards, or are newly adopted C+ standards just the only things you have conversations about? Because I feel like there is plenty of middle ground for both that doesn't involve anything as dry as C+ standards, but isn't playing ipad games.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[morethanapapercert]

Why does the satire by Jonathan Swift come to mind? A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick"

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[nschubach]

Teaching doesn't always have to be accurate...

I mean, the first thing you learn about gravity as a kid is that things fall. You aren't taught that things fall at 9.8m/s^2 until terminal velocity.

You learn that things are hot or cold before you learn that there is a reason for that.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[nschubach]

Games and development, I thought that was the norm here... the only things left out are sleep and caffeine. Who has time for middle ground?

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[vux984]

It teaches at least one useful physics lesson:

past a certain point increasing launch angle starts to reduce distance travelled.

with the corollary:
there are multiple firing solutions with different trajectories that will arrive at the same point.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[toriver]

Ever hear the term "fifth wheel on the wagon"? If person A needs to talk to person B about subject X, should the presence of person C force the conversation into subject Y instead? Why? Can't person C play a game on the iPad until the conversation finishes? And when person C is a young child, what do you do three minutes into the conversation when the child is getting bored?

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[toriver]

I think too many nerds' only exposure to toddlers is watching "Baby Geniuses" on Netflix.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[icebraining]

Sure, but when you as a kid watch things falling, that may not be very detailed, but it's not wrong (unless you're on a different universe), while in AB some stuff is actually wrong.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[NatasRevol]

I have 2 kids. If you actually include them in the conversation, they'll learn & grow. If not, they'll become iPad staring idiots because that's what they were taught.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[toriver]

Heh.

- "... but now you can just use 'auto', and the compiler will deduce what actual type to use!"
- "Daddy is being boring."

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[NatasRevol]

- "Honey, you're being an ass talking about work at the dinner table."

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[xaxa]

No, luckily for you Manchester isn't the village I'm referring to in the GP post.

We have a saying here in England; "It's grim up North." Usually this refers to anyway North of Manchester, including the North of Manchester! Places you want to avoid include Preston, Harpurhey and Collyhurst.

I was born and grew up in the Midlands, but for some reason my parents never really visited the North with me. We went to Scotland many times, and also Wales, and SE and SW England, but the only place north of Derby I remember visiting is York. I was 6.

I know "it's grim up North", although I've lived in London since I was 18, and round here, that's anywhere north of Zone 1, Camden Town, Watford, the home counties, or somewhere in the Midlands (Nottingham, say), depending who you talk to... I choose north of Nottingham to be "North", but the grim can be anywhere. Avoid Slough, Chatham, Luton, all of Essex ... I suppose the weather's better, but the people aren't.

Since finishing university, and in an effort to see more of my own country, I've stopped around in the north whenever I've passed through. So far, I've seen Durham, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford, but I've not really been in the countryside yet. I didn't like Bradford, and Durham was unexpectedly boring, but I found nice things about the other cities. I'm sure I will for Manchester.

My favourite example of northern (well, not southern...) people being friendly is a child in a park in Scotland (but only just) offering me a swig of his Frosty Jack's Strong Cider. That wasn't what I was expecting...

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[webmistressrachel]

Scotland is exempt from the negative "up north" status, well, most of it anyway. Preston sure sums up the depressed North right now, a city in name only and the sad birthplace of this particular bitter old cow... and I'm only 29. Trust me, never go there.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[dwightk]

so I'm guessing you've never met any toddlers.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Anonymous Coward]

Quite possibly the greatest film every made.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Hatta]

Sure I've known toddlers. Never known one I'd trust with an iPad though.

Re:ipad is great kid pacification device

[Grizzley9]

Missed the /s tag.

What percentage

[arcite]

Wash their hands and disinfect their iPad...afterward?..

Re:What percentage

[Dunbal]

About the same percentage that disinfect and wash their clothing, which also accompanied them on the little trip to the bathroom. Oh and your napkin goes on your lap, on your pants - yeah, those same pants that were pulled down and touched the dirty toilet bowl/floor. Yeah, now wipe your mouth with that napkin.

Attention Germ freaks: A LITTLE GRIME WILL NEVER KILL YOU. You just think it will.

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't touch my poop with my ipad just like how I don't touch my poop with my book/magazine/newspaper.

Re:What percentage

[hedwards]

Care to provide any citations for that bullshit? Bacteria are small and have a hard time traveling around. Chances are good that they're not going to be able to move the several inches that it would take for that scenario to play out before drying out or dieing.

Your hand, the same one that you use to wipe your ass is also the same one that you use to carry your iPad. Any guesses as to what proportion of the folks that are using those devices in the can are washing their hands between wiping their ass and using their iPad? I don't have numbers, but I'd be surprised if they were anal retentive enough to set the device down, wipe the ass, wash the hands and then pick up the device and leave.

Also, I take it you're not familiar with a nasty bacteria called Escherichia coli 157. It's really hard to treat and fatal in even low concentrations when it makes its way into the blood stream.

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

"Oh and your napkin goes on your lap, on your pants - yeah, those same pants that were pulled down and touched the dirty toilet bowl/floor. Yeah, now wipe your mouth with that napkin. "

I'm in IT - I don't wipe my mouth with someone else's napkin...

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

Similar to a newspaper, roll it up, put it under the arm, wipe and wash your hands. Make sure you dry them, no need getting your tablet dirty or wet.

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

Tablets in a work environment will be serviced by the IT department. We're going to have to start carying handi-wipes and latex gloves. Someone else's grime CAN kill you.

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh and your napkin goes on your lap, on your pants - yeah, those same pants that were pulled down and touched the dirty toilet bowl/floor. Yeah, now wipe your mouth with that napkin.

Not my pants; I take them (and my boxers) off and hang them on the hook. Too many of you assholes apparently can't hit an 18" target from a foot away and instead piss all over the floor.

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

THIS SO MUCH.

Hell, if anything, it will BETTER you in >99% of cases.
Hiding yourself from infections is unhealthy. It disallows your immune system to get used to the infection, which combined with anti-biotic washes leads to you having a significantly weaker immune response against a significantly stronger infection since all the weak ones have been wiped out again and again.
This is now a scientifically proven fact (not that it needed to be proved since common sense is usually right)
Killing anything less than 100% of anything is only going to lead to bad things. And since that is almost certainly an impossible task for general cleaning, attempting so is a waste of time since it is going to bite you in the ass in a future period. Be it "an off day" or slightly nauseated, most likely that germ you thought you killed.

Most people don't even wash their bathrooms as much as they should, if they wanted to kill off all infection vectors.
Most infections in a bathroom travel through the air from farts and feces bouncing in the water and throwing crap all over the place.
This can land on a number of things, most of these including:
toothbrushes
wash clothes
soap
scrubbers
open toothpaste lids
open shower cream lids
open shampoo lids
basically anything steam would settle on, almost certainly has some of last nights dinner on it.
How many people wash all these things in boiling water before use?
How many people have fans in their bathroom here?
So if you are a clean freak, I can bet most probably just crapped themselves, hopefully figuratively.

Re:What percentage

[MartinSchou]

Attention Germ freaks: A LITTLE GRIME WILL NEVER KILL YOU.

That definitely depends on the grime and where it ends up. If it's a nice mix of viable Ebola, MRSA, e-coli and bacillus anthracis, you probably don't want to swallow it.

Re:What percentage

[Dunbal]

Care to provide any citations for that bullshit?

See the medical degree on my wall? That means I really don't need to. You look it up. A pathogen is a necessary cause of disease, but it is not a sufficient cause all by itself. Infection is dependent on a) the presence of a pathogen b) the inoculation dose c) the length of time exposed to the pathogen and d) the host's/host tissue's general health and efficiency of the immune response. If you had any idea what is currently living in your mouth and up your nose right now, you would die of fright. A little poo never killed anyone, except for the very unlucky. While hygiene and hand washing is always a good idea (it can't hurt) especially if you're in the food preparation business where your dirty hands touch food that might lay there for hours (increasing the size of the colony) or be fed to hundreds of people (increasing the chance of someone with a weak immune response biting into it), some people take it to an extreme that prevents normal behavior. Please keep YOUR disease to yourself.

Re:What percentage

[Dunbal]

And how often do you run into this mix in the wild? Confusing fantasy with reality is called psychosis.

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree with you, but what are you doing when you go to the bathroom that your pants touch the floor or the toilet bowl? I mean, MAYBE I could see the back of your pants touching the lower part of the toilet bowl if you are somewhat.. special... but those are the back of your pants. Do you eat off of your ass?

Re:What percentage

[Belial6]

Do you also go out of the stall and wash your hands before taking them off the hook?

Re:What percentage

[Anonymous Coward]

Taking a tablet computer to the bathroom all the time will cause trouble if you don't clean it frequently. After a while you will be carrying a small zoo on it.

On the other hand, pants can be washed. At very high temperatures if need be.

Re:What percentage

[Dunbal]

I was being illustrative. After all your pants are as close to the bowl as your iPad is to your groin... Of course some gas station rest rooms make you feel filthy the moment you touch the doorknob to go inside. I guess Einstein was right and distance can be relative...

Re:What percentage

[lupinstel]

I don't understand. If not the items on hand then what do you use to touch your poop? Have you devised some grand poop manipulation tool? Let me know, and please include a price plus shipping to NY.

Crap Puns

[Heed00]

Wow "flush" and "bowl" used in the first sentence.

Re:Crap Puns

[hodet]

..and plunge. Subby thinks he's on Fark.

Re:Crap Puns

[Java Pimp]

Crap Puns

I see what you did there...

Re:Crap Puns

[Anonymous Coward]

You missed "flush". Also, was the pun in your subject intentional? Would that a recursive pun?

Re:Crap Puns

[SleazyRidr]

Yeah, it's pretty shitty.

What's weird at a restaurant?

[blogan]

If I'm at a restaurant alone, what should I do while waiting for my food to come? If I have a tablet, why not?

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[rthille]

If you are there with a group of friends and you're trying to decide what movie to see after, or describe directions to the bar you're heading to next, why not use your tablet. The dig against geeks social skills is idiotic and shows the writer's lack of social skills.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Anonymous Coward]

people with social skills aren't alone at a restaurant...

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[ZombieBraintrust]

If I'm at a restaurant alone, what should I do while waiting for my food to come?

Find some friends to eat with you.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Anonymous Coward]

I did, but they're on skype.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[HipToday]

Ha ha, you're at a restaurant alone. Nerd!

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[wbav]

Ha ha, you're at a restaurant alone. Nerd!

Well it was either that or hang out with you. I think I made the right call.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are you carrying a 10" tablet to a restaurant on an evening out with friends? It's not like it fits in your pocket like a phone that does all the things you mentioned.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[geminidomino]

Yeah, because gods forbid you decide to feed yourself without latching onto your social circle to validate your every meaningless decision.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[wbav]

Then you need bigger pockets. Fits in my jacket just fine. And I can show people where to go without bumping heads.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope, it's weird. And you are obviously going to stop and nothing to justify the behavior.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[element-o.p.]

Do you never leave your home town? I have been hired to fly airplanes through Canada to or from Alaska a handful of times. I have taken solo camping trips. I have attended conferences or training out of town by myself. If I am a thousand miles from home, how many friends am I going to find to go have dinner with me? In that case, what exactly is the problem with using a tablet or a smartphone to occupy the time while waiting for my food to arrive?

Or are you one of those obsessive control freaks who thinks that anyone who does things a little differently than you has some kind of social problem?

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[element-o.p.]

Wish I had mod points. You, sir, just made my day. Nicely done.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[ZombieBraintrust]

Whoosh. Calm down. The above post was not a serious reply.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Darinbob]

The problem are the people who are with friends and who look at their tablet or smart phone instead of talking to their friends. I told a friend once that this was rude and he responded that it was rude not to reply to a text immediately.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[element-o.p.]

Maybe I should have double-checked your username before replying. Of course a zombie braintrust is going to want friends to eat...with :P

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[ArsonSmith]

Exactly, a PC is stuck at home in an office, a phone is too small, a laptop is too cumbersome to share. All these end up being very intervened geek items.

The tablet on the other hand is able to socialize the internet in face to face situations.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[nschubach]

I personally don't find it rude at all. I don't expect people to stare me straight in the eyes while I talk about mundane crap. If they aren't listening, who cares? Me? No.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Thundercat007]

See, people use these ideas like "oo I want to see what movies are playing" or to kill time while waiting, some other reason why it's a legit thing to use. Since when did simply enjoying where you are, or people watching become obsolete? The reality is, these people simply check & update their Facebook or creep someone, these are the same people usually that justify why their 9 year old has a cell phone "in case they need to call me in an emergency" even through the school, mall, other persons house has a phone line.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[wbav]

Ha ha, you're at a restaurant alone. Nerd!

Oh while I'm at it, let me correct something here, just because I'm eating alone it does not make me a nerd. A dork maybe, but not a nerd.

That said, the fact that I'm correcting your use of a derogatory epithet, that sir, makes me a nerd.

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Anonymous Coward]

The very moment that bars/restaurants started to have TVs in them.

And quit staring at other people, it is rude. Didn't your parents raise you better than that?

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[toriver]

Sounds like you describe someone who is socially dependent, not skilled. "I just cannot eat alone!"

Re:What's weird at a restaurant?

[Anonymous Coward]

What's so droll about people watching, or observing one's surroundings, or just quiet introspection? If you're constantly plugged in to a digital pacifier, you may miss out on a lot of life's best quiet moments.

News?

[nege]

I use my iPad in all of those locations and I really don't see a problem with it. My iPad is where I read my books now, and people take those to the bathroom or restaurants as well.

Also this isn't particularly new either. I have been taking devices to the bathroom since my first Palm device. I have a very specific routine (not really by thinking about, it just developed naturally) I have developed to ensure the device never gets dropped in!

Porn

[Anonymous Coward]

A more accurate title should be, "Using tablets and viewing porn is becoming a popular bathroom activity."

netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[Anonymous Coward]

"78% of tablet users said they used their tablets while lying in bed"

Tablets suck for use in bed. Netbooks have a nice hinge which keeps the screen at a suitable angle for viewing when it's resting on your chest, and there's a handy attached keyboard to type on.

What is this obsessive need everyone has to pick inferior devices just because they are trendy?

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[Anonymous Coward]

Tablets suck for use in bed. Netbooks have a nice hinge which keeps the screen at a suitable angle for viewing when it's resting on your chest, and there's a handy attached keyboard to type on.

Agreed in general BUT the Asus Transformer is great for this too - attached to the keyboard it has the hinge to get the viewing angle but you can also scroll, follow hyperlinks etc. using the touch screen, which is handier than a mouse of trackpad in that position.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[Opportunist]

Computers are even better if you have a screen on a wall mount so you can pull it over your head. Typing gets a bit inconvenient after a while, I didn't find a good solution for that yet, but there is no better way of lazy computing. I mean, you just can't beat lying on your back without even having to lift your head.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[element-o.p.]

What is this obsessive need everyone has to pick inferior devices just because they are trendy?

"Inferior" is a very subjective term. A tablet is a tool, just like any other computing device. It's size, weight, portability and battery life make it ideally suited for some people in some applications. The tablet is only "inferior" if it is less suited for a particular job than a competing device. So, yeah, if you want to use Photoshop to touch up photos or you want to do some serious developer work, a tablet is certainly inferior to a good laptop. However, if you only need to run a few lightweight applications, but batter life, weight and portability are your top priorities, a tablet blows a 17 inch laptop away. Basically, you are only griping that a hammer is useless because it's not a screwdriver and that is, IMHO, just moronic.

Personally, I own a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook and several laptops. I probably wouldn't have bought the tablet, but I won it as a door prize from Dell at a conference, and I have found it to be more useful than I expected. I probably wouldn't have bought the netbook or some of the laptops either, but we got them at work for evaluation purposes. The laptops are definitely the powerhouses, but their size means I often don't take them when I leave home or the office, and the poor battery life means even if I do take them, I have to be very careful about when I use them if there's not an AC power source nearby. The phone is just a little too small to do anything more than check e-mail or run Google Navigator (and it's battery life sucks, too). The netbook is cool, but isn't powerful enough to replace the laptops and isn't portable enough to replace the tablet; in fact, it's actually easier to type on the tablet touchscreen than the abomination that Dell calls a keyboard on the Mini-9 netbook (the -10s are better, though). So guess which device I tend to almost always have with me? Yep, the tablet. "Inferior"? No, not hardly.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[Anonymous Coward]

Tablets have keyboards that are more than adequate for browsing the web or whatever you'd like to do while in bed. If the viewing angle is a problem you can do like me and pick up a protective case that doubles as a stand. Most people seem to get some kind of protective case for their portable devices anyway.

I wager my iPad has a better screen, weights way less and has about twice the battery life of your netbook. It has a resolution more fit for reading books and comics alike. The best thing is that it's ready for action the instant you want to use it. If someone talks about something they saw online, want to check directions or whatnot it's not a hassle to pull it up, and the UI is more responsive than a better part of the desktops I've seen.

Sure, it can't replace a workstation, but since I got a tablet I've mostly stopped using my laptop and smartphone alike.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[multipartmixed]

I like to lie on my side while reading in bed.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[no bloody nickname]

"78% of tablet users said they used their tablets while lying in bed"

Tablets suck for use in bed. Netbooks have a nice hinge which keeps the screen at a suitable angle for viewing when it's resting on your chest, and there's a handy attached keyboard to type on.

How on earth are you shaped man? You lie on your back and the netbook is on your chest... This means you need to bend your head almost 90 deg to view the screen from the front. Ouch.
Personally I prefer to read on my side in a non-contorted position. Here a netbook is much less useful.
Is a netbook is better for writing? Yes, without doubt, but reading is a different story

What is this obsessive need everyone has to pick inferior devices just because they are trendy?

Some of my reasons for using my "inferior" device instead of my netbook:

My netbook has a regular CPU which can become hot after use and needs a fan. It is not suitable to have it in bed where it may end up covered by blankets.
My tablet uses a low power CPU and does not need any air cooling.
My netbook has a magnetic drive. It is not particularly well suited for moving around during use.
My tablet uses solid state storage. It may be quickly moved, turned or even dropped without harm.
My tablet weighs much less than my netbook.
My tablet is thinner than my netbook.And shaped more like a book or magazine
The viewing orientation of my tablet may be switched at any time with no hassle. This is not true for a netbook.
My tablet has better battery time than my netbook. (I know there are netbooks with better batteries. This is just a description of my personal experience).
My tablet has a larger screen than my netbook. Many tablets also have higher resolution than a netbook.
My tablet can play most 720p videos. My netbook struggles even with the most basic low bitrate ones.
Scrolling a capacitive touch screen is much less of a hassle than a netbook using a touch pad.
And a final thing: Ever seen anyone pick up a netbook and show someone something in the same manner as one would show a magazine article or a printout? This happens with tablets all the time. A tablet is a high tech, low weight book/magazine with space for a million+ books or articles and internet access.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[Anonymous Coward]

So do I. But when I do, an iPAD would not be laid out the way it would if i were sitting or standing and holding it in hand. It would be 90 degrees rotated from the direction I'd be reading, and rotating the tablet wouldn't stop that.

Doesn't last long though - I usually fall asleep after a few minutes

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[multipartmixed]

That's why the switch on the side is there. You flip it to stop the screen from rotating on you.

Re:netbooks are better for lying in bed!

[Macgrrl]

???

I use my iPad in bed most nights to read, browse the web or poke the Zen Garden in PvZ.

I either prop it up on my knees or hold it while lying on my side.

The biggest problem I have is if one of the cats decide to sit on my chest so that I can't see the screen.

It's slightly heavier than my husband's ereader, but the weight doesn't prevent me from comfortably using it in bed.

Techies?

[pushing-robot]

And in a data point sure to further damage techies' reputation for social skills

Wait, "techies" wouldn't be caught dead using a tablet. After all, they know notebooks have far more features and power and do everything so much better than silly tablets. Tablets are just for Apple cultists and hipsters following the latest fad! As soon as the novelty wears off, people will buy notebooks again... I know they will...

(cradles my HP EliteBook and cries)

Re:Techies?

[Beardydog]

I have some comfort for you:

By the end of my first day with an iPad, I thought to myself, "You know what would be great? A nice, protective folding case with a keyboard attached to the inside of D'OH!"

I just tapped out a fairly long email with it, but man... keyboards... they sure are good for typing.

One advantage I didn't really think about before the pad: a (non-Apple) charger + cable is like, 10 bucks, so I just have three dedicated chargers for different locations around the house. Not having to move a power brick when moving between heavy-use areas is a wonderful luxury.

Re:Techies?

[JWW]

A corollary to this is that while I agree an attached keyboard is a nice thing, when I'm using my netbook instead of my iPad, I get an urge to touch the screen to click on icons, links, and such.

Re:Techies?

[Candid88]

LOL, my thoughts exactly.

Someone using an iPad at a restaurant, is categorically NOT a techie on 2 counts.

Re:Techies?

[NatasRevol]

Bluetooth keyboards make it all ok. And you don't always have to carry them.

Re:Techies?

[dissy]

By the end of my first day with an iPad, I thought to myself, "You know what would be great? A nice, protective folding case with a keyboard attached to the inside of D'OH!"

I purchased one of these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/e65a/

Absolutely love it! Leather carry case that the ipad slips into, with a built in bluetooth keyboard made from a rubber membrane, and even has some special iOS keys like the home button and volume/media controls. There's a usb jack on the side to charge it.

If you prefer metal (Aluminum in this case) there is also http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e7e7/
I haven't used the metal one, but it sure does look a lot better than the leather case I currently have.

Also if you run jailbroken, install activator and you can assign command-key combinations to perform most any event, action, or run an app.
I have a few simple ones that are easy for me to remember, like command-s to open settings, command-n to open notes, command-p for ipod. Command-1 to 4 switches to page 1-4 for my icons, and command 7-0 opens the four main folders I keep at the top of my home screen. There is already a home button so navigation is much easier without taking your hands off home row. Alt-tab works for me too with multiflow.

Bluetooth keyboards work native with iOS, but once jailbroken you can install the keyboard and mouse apps for the alternative bluetooth stack.
I find a keyboard makes SSH sessions much more pleasurable, and keyboard plus mouse makes full screen remote desktop usable.
It's pretty funny to enable the mouse though. You actually get a regular cursor on the home screen like a desktop. I must admit to not using that feature very much.
Unfortunately that's actually about the only thing I use a mouse with it for. The keyboard part is much more handy for other uses like emails or even writing up drafts in notes to email to the PC for the finishing touches.

Since any bluetooth keyboard will work (It doesn't have to be built into a case or anything), you have options all the way from the el-cheapo $20 discount bin bluetooth keyboard, up to those cute little boxes that use a laser to draw a keyboard on your desk and watch where your fingers hit for a couple hundred bucks.
There are also all sorts of tiny "media" keyboards that are bluetooth and will work, easier to toss in the laptop bag with the tablet.

From what I hear, Android supports bluetooth devices in the same way.
Unfortunately I don't know what software to recommend nor any of the limitations there.

Replacing newspapers, duh!

[Anonymous Coward]

When you're gonna be in there for a while, you need to do something! Pads and smartphones are just replacing what newspapers and books used to be for. Cue the clip from Seinfeld where George takes a book at bookstore into the bathroom!

Eh?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

"And in a data point sure to further damage techies' reputation for social skills, Staples Advantage also reported that 30% of tablet users said they used their tablets while at restaurants."

I'm not sure that the techies will be atypically hard hit by this one. Back in the day, when obsessive computer use required an obsessive interest in gaming and/or some techie esoterica, and it was cost-prohibitive to compute on the move(much less get internet access...), the techie social skills reputation was not exactly bolstered by the tendency to stay inside and play with their computers.

Then came the mass adoption of laptops and blackberries by practically every 'road warrior' type suit with a salary high enough that paying for the ability to bug him while he was away from the office made sense. This certainly did include some techies; but the population of management/sales types brandishing their blackberries and monopolizing flat surfaces absolutely exploded.

Now, with cellphones falling well into affordable for all but the most squalid, and Apple having WAFed the hell out of portable computing, it sure isn't techies who I see logging the most socially inappropriate screen time... Not being able to finish a single bloody meal without ignoring the present company to text frantically about nothing is now a mainstream behavior. If anything, the more 'social' people do it more because they have more people to text, and derive greater satisfaction from group-affirming social chatter...

Re:Eh?

[Darinbob]

That's the thing that surprises me. I don't get bugged by my employer when I'm out of the building because they can't send me messages when I'm away. But people are *voluntarily* deciding to enslave themselves to a smart phone so that they can be abused 24/7. People take laptops on planes, for me I leave the laptop closed on a plane because this is my excuse to not work. "Sorry I couldn't answer your email, I was on a plane!" "No I didn't fix your bug, I was on a plane!" "If it's that important to you why are you trying to make me work on it when I'm on a plane in crowded coach with jet lag, do you really want me to do a lousy job?"

But people don't actually bother me with this stuff on my dumb phone. It turns out that you're less likely to be bugged about work on your personal time if it's more convenient to bug someone else. It doesn't even hurt your promotion prospects because the idiot who says "yes sir I'll have that fixed by morning" doesn't get promoted because then they'd have to find someone else dumb enough to answer the phone at 3am.

Here's the thing. If it ever becomes important to send me emails and texts at strange hours, then my employer should pay for the smart phone and all the subscription fees. I'll be damned if I spend my own money to make it easier to be abused by my employer.

Dinner and Tablet?

[wbav]

Sure, I've taken a tablet to dinner with me. If the wife isn't around, I'd like to catch up on TV/News/etc while eating. I go out to eat because I don't want to spend the time/effort cooking, why shouldn't I be able to take my media with me?

Bathroom or in bed? Yeah if I'm watching a movie on my tablet it'll come with me. Why not? I'll let the wife have the TV, remember happy wife, happy life.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[Hatta]

If you're dining alone, hell yes bring a tablet. Or in my case a Neo Geo Pocket Color. Not every meal is a social situation.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[wbav]

I find playing a portable gaming unit far too taxing after the second or third beer. They may be 22 oz, but yes I'm still a light weight.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[Hatta]

I never get drunk at restaurants if I'm dining alone. Why pay restaurant prices if you're not trying to impress anyone?

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[geekoid]

Because taking it in the bathroom is a great way to spread you fecal matter around.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[wbav]

More so than a newspaper? Or book?

At least I can use a disinfecting wipe on a tablet, try doing that with a newspaper.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[Duradin]

Because the food is good?

And just an FYI, if the service was good while dining alone you should still tip, even though no one will be there to be impressed.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[Hatta]

Of course you tip! You tip better than usual (20-25% rather than 15-20%) because the bill is going to be smaller.

Re:Dinner and Tablet?

[wbav]

Of course you tip! You tip better than usual (20-25% rather than 15-20%) because the bill is going to be smaller.

Unless service sucks, I take off dollars sometimes.

That said, for good service, I've paid $20 for a $5 meal.

Too many puns...

[IANAAC]

makes for a boring summary, let alone article.

DIY (Project)

[Anonymous Coward]

I purchased an extra power cord and tie strapped it to the shelf above the potty in case I am running low while I go! Going with farkle is the bomb.

Throne reading material

[DigiShaman]

Generally, throne reading material is often in the form of magazines and old books. Rarely should they ever find a home outside the restroom, and at best, be thrown into the trash bin when done. Hygiene is an important behavior of living. My problem with using phones and other devices while in the restroom have to do with idea of them being used outside as well. Not many people wash their hands properly, and the idea of spreading E. Coli doesn't go over too well with the rest of us.

Returns?

[MrEricSir]

Ah, but can you return them after they've been in the bathroom?

(Jerry and George are at Brentano's. George is trying to return the book)
GEORGE: Yes, I, uh, I need to return this book.
CASHIER: (Puts the book's code into the computer) I'm sorry, we can't take this book back.
GEORGE: Why not?
CASHIER: It's been flagged.
GEORGE: (Confused) Flagged?
CASHIER: It's been in the bathroom.
GEORGE: It says that on the computer?
CASHIER: Please take it home. We don't want it near the other books.
GEORGE: (Outraged. Leaving) Well, you just lost a lot of business! Because I love to read!

Re:Returns?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for saving me the trouble of posting this! I was sure after reading the headline that this Seinfeld reference would be the entire point of the article.

Re:Returns?

[Anonymous Coward]

What's Brentano's?

I tried the iWipe but I'm think about going back

[Anonymous Coward]

to a Red Shat distro. Compatibility issues, but it boots up faster.

Squirt proof,.. er Spill proof keyboards

[cyber_rigger]

That problem is now solved.

Somebody...

[naturaverl]

...give that guy a raise!!

Public health concern???

[Anonymous Coward]

35% of tablet users copped to using their iPad or other tablets while in the bathroom .... 30% of tablet users said they used their tablets while at restaurants

Makes you think twice

[Osgeld]

about wiping the smudges off of the screen without some bleach

Nope.

[JustAnotherIdiot]

The only time I'd be using a tablet in the bathroom would be to flush it down the toilet.

Re:Nope.

[Ksevio]

You have an app to control your toilet flushing? I guess that could be popular with one of those stylish toilet installations where the handle looks out of place.

When you've finished "it" and press flush, does the app send out a tweet as well?

Re:Nope.

[Anonymous Coward]

Or you cold wipe your arse with it.

Why is the Android logo on the submission?

[brim4brim]

Isn't the best selling tablet the iPad? Just an observation.

Re:Why is the Android logo on the submission?

[Opportunist]

*shrug* Tablet is tablet.

Re:Why is the Android logo on the submission?

[arkane1234]

You don't have one, do you?
Admit it.

Re:Why is the Android logo on the submission?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because 100% of pads are used in the bathroom?

Re:Why is the Android logo on the submission?

[Opportunist]

No, and I honestly am a bit tired of that crusade going on between iPad and Android owners. I've seen both pads, both are represented in my circle of friends and for some odd reason they get along pretty well, despite praying to different gods.

Personally, I see the whole bickering as an insecurity of the respective parties. They went and spent a lot of money and now wonder if they followed the wrong trend. Did I buy the "right" pad? Or is the other one gonna 'win'? They have to justify (mostly to themselves) that they have made a correct decision.

How I come to this conclusion? It's the only logical one left. You will not "convert" someone from the other party. And an undecided bystander doesn't even care anymore after the lengthy diatribe from both sides. They just simply don't care anymore about a technology that doesn't interest them. So what else would this "battle" accomplish?

Why

[Anonymous Coward]

I have never understood doing other things in the bathroom besides using the bathroom...

Re:Why

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously, you do not have a wife, kids, annoying coworkers, or any other things from which you need to escape and have some time to yourself. Back in the day, I would play backgammon, cribbage, or spades on my Palm Pilot for up to 20 minutes in the crapper at work just to get away; that was the primary use for the device.

Their intended use

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this surprising? Isn't the point of tablets that they be the ultimate portable computer? They are more functional than a smart phone for media, yet more portable than a laptop.

Nothing new

[93 Escort Wagon]

Supposedly nineteen percent of people have dropped their phone into a toilet. I'm still trying to figure out how, exactly, since it would seem you'd be holding the phone somewhat in front of the bowl - but I'm not sure I really want to know.

Also, anecdotally speaking, in my experience it's not uncommon to hear people talking on the phone from bathroom stalls. BTW if that's you... yeah, I'm the guy who walks around flushing all the toilets during your phone call. I feel it's important the person at the other end of the call know where you are.

Going back further... my dad used to take a newspaper in with him occasionally. He always liked to refer to those visits as "trips to the library".

Re:Nothing new

[KillaBeave]

My wife dropped 2 phones in the toilet over a span of 2 weeks. How? She was putting it in the big front pocket of a hooded sweatshirt because she didn't like packing it in her jeans pocket. After phone number 2 I bought a bluetooth enabled house phone (pretty clever actually, syncs 2 phones and they then ring throughout the house). Now she just leaves her phone in her purse in the kitchen. Problem solved!

Re:Nothing new

[93 Escort Wagon]

My wife dropped 2 phones in the toilet over a span of 2 weeks. How? She was putting it in the big front pocket of a hooded sweatshirt because she didn't like packing it in her jeans pocket. After phone number 2 I bought a bluetooth enabled house phone (pretty clever actually, syncs 2 phones and they then ring throughout the house). Now she just leaves her phone in her purse in the kitchen. Problem solved!

That makes perfect sense. I've never dropped anything into a toilet from a hoodie's pocket, fortunately; but those big "hand-warmer" pockets on hooded pullovers don't contain things very well.

Re:Nothing new

[painandgreed]

I'm still trying to figure out how, exactly, since it would seem you'd be holding the phone somewhat in front of the bowl - but I'm not sure I really want to know.

I guess a lot of people turn around and face the toilet to flush. They could fumble it then, when they pull up their pants and it falls out of a pocket or off the belt, or if they bend over to flush after putting it in a front shirt pocket

Re:Nothing new

[GameboyRMH]

Also, anecdotally speaking, in my experience it's not uncommon to hear people talking on the phone from bathroom stalls. BTW if that's you... yeah, I'm the guy who walks around flushing all the toilets during your phone call. I feel it's important the person at the other end of the call know where you are.

Wazzup bathroom-caller-bustin' buddy! (^_^)/\(^_^)

When I hear someone doing that I pee right into the middle of the bowl and rip a loud fart if possible.

Re:Nothing new

[geminidomino]

I'm still trying to figure out how, exactly, since it would seem you'd be holding the phone somewhat in front of the bowl

I've dropped my phone in a fashion that could have easily, I think, ended up with it in the toilet had I done it in the wrong place.

Shirt pocket + bending over to tie ones shoes (or in the bathroom case, to pull up your pants).

"You win again, Gravity!" -- Zapp Brannigan

Re:Nothing new

[Anonymous Coward]

As someone who almost lost their cell phone in a toilet - it goes like this:

Have phone in fancy belt carrier.
Stand up and turn around while lifting pants up.
Watch in horror as phone flys of/out of belt straight into the bowl.

Since I got lucky I never use a belt clip anymore.

Now you know (or not if this AC never sees the light of day).

Re:Nothing new

[nschubach]

Had a friend drop her pager (when those were still used...) in when she pulled down her pants and it came un-clipped.

Re:Nothing new

[Anonymous Coward]

Roughly 50% of people don't have to sit on the toilet to use it most of the time...

Chlorine safe?

[Culture20]

Is the iPad screen Chlorine safe? OCD minds would like to know.

Re:Chlorine safe?

[Anonymous Coward]

You do know that, inside your body, you have about 10 bacterial cells for each eukaryotic ("human") cell, right?

I just like to point that out to everyone with OCD: it's pointless to try to remove bacteria from every single surface, because they're fucking everywhere. Especially inside you.

Just saying... you probably don't want to spend decades selectively killing all chlorine-sensitive bacteria around you. One day, you might actually need chlorine to kill pathogenic bacteria: let's just hope they haven't developed defense systems by then.

haha what?

[Desler]

And in a data point sure to further damage techies' reputation for social skills, Staples Advantage also reported that 30% of tablet users said they used their tablets while at restaurants."

Why would it damage the reputation of techies? It was the techies on Slashdot that were proclaiming that the iPad was going to be a complete flop and no one was going to want to buy tablet computers over netbooks and notebooks. But, hey, nice try at spin. It's almost as laughable as the Slashdot review of the iPod just before it took off and become the most well-known mp3 player of all time.

Paper media replacement but NOT ....

[drpimp]

Waste paper replacement! Now that would just be absurd.

Re:Paper media replacement but NOT ....

[drpimp]

iWipes anyone?

Re:Paper media replacement but NOT ....

[Anonymous Coward]

or an iPad...oh, damn.

No wonder that...

[Anonymous Coward]

Swype typing is so popular, especially in the bathroom. It brings new meaning to the term "hands free" typing (gee, what other appendage is available to swipe along my tablet?).

To quote Jimmy Fallon

[ThatsNotPudding]

"Ew."

But I am surprised he hasn't yet added an iPad to his desktop Apple store.

no longer an art

[djfake]

What's become of the art of dumping?

sit different

[Lead Butthead]

You mean like iNax - Sit Different ?

you might be interested in this:

[geekoid]

http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=458

Tablets are for finger flicking. Anything else is missing the point.

Flushed opportunity

[Anonymous Coward]

This was the original reason for my purchasing the domain name http://www.sentfrommytoilet.com. Unfortunately, I never really took the plunge to get it going.

ay ay ay

[roman_mir]

don't nobody ever ask me to touch your iPads or any other pads ever again. Crap!

Texting

[RingDev]

I was fine with it till the guy at the urinal next to me was texting as he was pissing.

Really man, I know some of us have more than others, but keep a hand on that thing, I don't want to catch your erant spray while you're too busy tweeting to bother keeping your junk pointed in the right direction.

-Rick

Re:Texting

[X0563511]

I don't know about you, but my junk doesn't whip around like a firehose when I'm doing my business...

Re:Texting

[Anonymous Coward]

You're doing it wrong.

Re:Texting

[X0563511]

More likely I don't try to breakdance while urinating.

Re:Texting

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about you, but my junk doesn't whip around like a firehose when I'm doing my business...

Yeah, the little ones usually don't, do they Button? Sounds like it's too small to be called "junk" though.

Re:Texting

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's benchmark our pee speed...

Tablets Used to Access the Internet

[ZipK]

This just in: popular computing tablets from Apple, Motorola and other leading companies are being used to access the so-called "Internet." The Internet, which is comprised of a series of tubes, provides access to many goods and services, including weather reports and "rooms" in which "users" can "chat."

We did this with laptops too

[Anonymous Coward]

This finding isn't really surprising to me; in fact I expected this.

Anyone who has ever owned a mobile computer (Laptop, Smartphone, Regular phone, Gameboy, etc), has taken it with them into the bathroom when they wanted to take a dump.

Hell, I even caught my mom on a few occasions taking her laptop with her into the bathroom.

The Cholera epidemic of 2012

[Blackbrain]

I'm just waiting for a massive Cholera epidemic to break-out, spread by the fecal coliform carried on iPads and iPhones. Please wash your hands and iDevice before leaving the lavatory.

Fast food

[The_mad_linguist]

Fast food restaurants and coffeeshops offer free wifi as a reason.

I'm honestly surprised that the intersection of 'starbucks goers' and 'tablet users' isn't larger.

sleeping wins

[dutchwhizzman]

As it's the activity done for most of the time in bed. I think there's a good chance that masturbating is actually even more popular than intercourse, given "time spent" as the factor to determine popularity. Reading may most likely still beat sex, so I think you're wrong in the factual department. Maybe people wish they'd spend more time in their bed having intercourse, but in reality, they're not doing it.

Excellent for doctors' waiting rooms

[WebManWalking]

As soon as I get interested in a doctor's waiting room magazine, the nurse calls my name. I think I'm going to actually be seen , so I leave the magazine in the waiting room. That's when I find out that it was only to cruel trick to get me to suffer waiting in a second room without anything to read.

The iPad has solved this problem once and for all. (Not that I go to the doctor's office all that often, but at least now I carry my entertainment with me.) And I'm solving all of the Expert level sudoku puzzles. So there's that.

But my tablet has a stylus!

[Provocateur]

I will not, will not point and click
I will not, will not use my ...

Other names

[Anonymous Coward]

A friend of mine refers to a netbook, tablet, or other similar device used during excretory functions as a "craptop".

when I was a parents basement dweller

[JonySuede]

When I was a parents basement dweller, I had a serial green screen terminal in near the toilet in my personal bathroom. I was using lynx, mutt and bitchX, on the toilet. If I was using a net connected terminal in the bathroom in 1994, the 2011 tablet usage pattern is totally unsurprising, however, back then lynx was surprisingly usable on the web .... now it is a nightmare almost everywhere except maybe http://www.gutenberg.org/ .

Re:when I was a parents basement dweller

[JonySuede]

correcting myself:
  in 1994 it was ircII, I upgraded to bitchX in 1996.
damn it my memory is getting less precise as I get older

Re:when I was a parents basement dweller

[Anonymous Coward]

In college in my dorm room there was a sink next to my desk. nudge nudge wink wink

I sense a hemmeroids epidemic in the US coming

[Anonymous Coward]

So what stock would be a good one to invest in? Who makes preperation H?

Put it together and...

[BadPirate]

I wonder what share of the 30% of people who use their pads in a restaurant are a part of the 35% of people using their pads on the John... And I wonder how many of them bother to disinfect.

Happy dining!

Using Tablets Becoming Popular Bathroom Activity

[Anonymous Coward]

That is so fun, just hopefully the tablet sizes bigger then the hole!

The new post-coital cigarette

[SirBitBucket]

Tablet and cell phones are becoming the new post-coital cigarette. How many of you have reach for your phone right after getting laid? Oh, wait... this is Slashdot... Of the twenty of you who actually get laid regularly how many of you have reached for your phone/tablet right afterwards?

Bathroom

[Andrewkov]

This, my friends, is why we don't buy used iPhones.

Wrong channel.

[bill_mcgonigle]

If you are watching ESPN and having sex at the same time you are having LOUSY sex..so lousy in fact, why bother?

Wrong channel, dude.

astronomical pursuits

[epine]

Next they will be calling people who own digital TVs "techies". McCoy had all those fancy salt shakers, yet he was far from being a techie. The more Trekkie, the less techie.

How many characters who carried The Guide around would qualify as techies? Zaphod? Once or twice? Or were some of those characters carrying around the print edition, and Douglas never bothered to mention this inconvenient detail?

Some day I'd like to ask, "Zaphod, what's your median opinion on the great book?" And he would answer, "A fine coaster to protect my beach towel from PGGB sumpage, but I always stow a Wet One at third pocket, just in case."

This makes me wonder, is there a Touch Pad beer coaster applet, where the touch screen extrapolates libation intercept? I always thought the touch interface was a bit dorky, but maybe I didn't give it a chance. Plotting libations is about as close as a Touch Pad will ever get to astronomical pursuits.

I've got irritable bowel syndrome

[Anonymous Coward]

Meaning i spend a LOT of time in the bathroom, even at work. I've got all my tech manuals on my iPad, meaning I can sit and work while I'm working (so to speak).

I prefer the Times

[countertrolling]

Tablets make lousy toilet paper.

I wipe my butt with HP TouchPads!

[Anonymous Coward]

HP TouchPads are so cheap now I wipe my butt with them!

In other news...

[rnturn]

"35% of tablet users copped to using their iPad or other tablets while in the bathroom"

The percentage of people who ask to try out or otherwise use other peoples' iPads and other tablets has decreased sharply.

I don't entirely understand

[okmijnuhb]

I don't need to sit on the bowl forever, pooping takes me little time; squat, drop it, wipe, done. Unless something decides that it doesn't want to fully come out, and it involves waiting for gravity to do it's thing.
The other thing I don't get is; besides a bigger screen, what can a tablet do that my iphone can't, besides not fit into my pocket, and be awkward to travel with, without a bag of some sort?

Obligatory xkcd

[14erCleaner]

http://xkcd.com/646/ fwiw, xkcd author Randall Munroe uses a tablet.

$99 Touchpad

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought my $99 touchpad to live in the bathroom.

Uhh...

[trunicated]

No shit.

Becoming Popular?

[crabboy.com]

They weren't designed for use in the bathroom? Why else was the term "craptop" coined?

Re:Becoming Popular?

[sumdumgai]

Why else was the term "craptop" coined?

You've never had a Packard Bell, have you?

Great for Reading in the Toilet

[Jorl17]

Confirming.

Yup, I concur ...

[gstoddart]

while a whopping 78% of tablet users said they used their tablets while lying in bed. And in a data point sure to further damage techies' reputation for social skills, Staples Advantage also reported that 30% of tablet users said they used their tablets while at restaurants.

I use my iPad every night before I got to bed for some of the time-sink games I play. And, in fairness, on business travel while I'm having dinner alone, I have definitely used it in a restaurant. And in the hotel bar.

Best place was on the bar in an airport at midnight as I replied to an email from my wife while having a drink and waiting for a connecting flight to get me home after a business trip.

Never used it in the bathroom, though. At least, not yet. :-P

I have a twitter page devoted tracking my bowels

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously.

i have been a bit poor lately but have a gander at kubsbowels.

New people

[DrYak]

If I am a thousand miles from home, how many friends am I going to find to go have dinner with me? In that case, what exactly is the problem with using a tablet or a smartphone to occupy the time while waiting for my food to arrive?

Well there are people for which this represents a wonderful occasion to meet new and interesting people.

It is not the iPad that they use in the bathroom t

[master_p]

You see, the iPad does not play Flash Video ;-).

Txting at the Urinal ...

[Kittenman]

I've seen someone doing that. Two hands on the device (the electronic one.. ok, I'll clarify that again - I mean the phone)

Tablets not good enough for this yet

[cstacy]

I'll wait until there is E-paper that I can roll up.

Counterpoint

[Chicken_Kickers]

My wife and I went to a restaurant. While waiting for our food, we did a little National Geographic-esque look at the other patrons. At the table next to us sat a young couple, about 18 of age. They were sitting opposite each other, but both holding iPhones in front of their faces. Both were talking and texting, but it appears not to each other. Sometimes, one of them will suddenly laugh with no response from the other. They kept at this even while eating their food. After the guy paid the bill, they both left, still engrossed with their iPhones.

Re:Counterpoint

[Romberg]

They were both on a date, just not with each other.

Pooputing

[ViViDboarder]

A term I saw Cyanogen use around the time he got a tablet. So uncomfortably accurate.

What's worse...

[Anonymous Coward]

... is that sometimes I take my mobile phone in the bathroom with me after I masturbate. Sometimes I even watch porn on it while I masturbate. Sometimes I even set it to vibrate and, well, you get the picture. Sometimes I even take a picture.

bidets & tp

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but one does need to wipe after that!

Re:bidets & tp

[hjf]

Wipe dry, which beats wiping clean.

Anyway, as I have my own bathroom, I have my own towel to dry ;) TMI?

Slashdot...

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot has really gone down the toilet these days...

toilet humor

[Anonymous Coward]

"With the market flush with hot-selling tablet computers, it shouldn't bowl anyone over to learn that many users are taking the plunge and bringing their devices to the bathroom"

-----------

I see what you did there...

Tablets vs pills

[Anonymous Coward]

Tablets? We call them pills.