Over a third of tablets end up in the bathroom

August 23, 2011 By Mike Flacy

In a study surely to make hypochondriacs cringe at the thought of touching any tablet, owners of tablets are admitting to taking the device into the bathroom to play Angry Birds and watch video while on the toilet or in the tub.

Interested in consumer behavior regarding tablet usage, office-supply retailer Staples decided to poll a group of tablet users during June 2011 to find out typical patterns in personal and business related daily use. Thirty-five percent of tablet owners owned up to consistently bringing the mobile device into the bathroom. Thirty percent of tablet owners bring their iPads into restaurants and 78 percent of all respondents take the tablet into bed. Sixty percent of tablet owners take the thin device on vacation to check up with the office and catch up on email while relaxing on the beach.

Seventy-five percent of tablet owners use the mobile computer for email, but just a third of users edit documents with the tablet. However, 60 percent of tablet users claim that productivity increases when using a tablet. Forty percent of tablet users purchased the device for keeping up with communication in and out of the office, but 90 percent of all respondents claim that the convenience of portability is the primary motivator for purchasing the expensive device. Over 80 percent of the survey takers declare that the tablet has improved the balance between work and home life. Regarding data security, over two-thirds of tablet owners don’t bother backing up data from the tablet and only 15 percent utilize anti-virus software on the tablet.

This study corresponds to a recent survey that found nearly 1 in 5 people end up dropping a smartphone into the toilet since 40 percent of smartphone owners take the device into the bathroom to surf the Web, catch up on email as well as use various mobile applications. Fortunately, replacing a tablet that falls in the toilet as of late is likely less traumatic with the recent $99 fire sale on the HP TouchPad. Otherwise, the replacement cost of a tablet typically ranges between $400 to $700.

Showing 10 comments

Mzz Tbaby at 12:00pm 24th August 2011 I barely use mine. The bathroom is a good place. Helps keep youbusy when soaking in the bath.
James D. Dunn at 2:41am 24th August 2011 I will admit I take it INTO the toilet but never the bath and it never stays there. It always come back to my office with me. It's usually in front of my PC keyboard. Multi-tasking. ;)
Dale Chun at 9:31am 24th August 2011 Just don't get the tablet mixed up with the toilet paper when finished! Ewww!
Kurtis Kronk at 5:32am 24th August 2011 Also, don't judge me, you know you do it too.
Kurtis Kronk at 5:31am 24th August 2011 What else are you supposed to do while dropping the kiddos off at the pool? Read a book? Pfft. I like to text people while I'm doing my bidness, and respond to emails and stuff. And if it's a particularly good one, take a picture of it and send it to my brother.
Ahmed Khogali at 5:16am 24th August 2011 Is the that real??
Bernd Currie at 4:59am 24th August 2011 Increase Productivity, work in the stall too. Slave driver.
Robert W. Burnham at 4:51am 24th August 2011 You weren't there. You don't know.
Sjaak Schulteis at 4:49am 24th August 2011 With the long battery life of some devices, long cues in front of that bathroom might appear....
Valerie Gofman at 4:44am 24th August 2011 Makes for great lightweight reading material! Don't hate.