The Evolution and Acceptance of Stall Surfing

Stall Surfing, or using your mobile gadget while in the privy/loo/water closet/powder room/outhouse/whatever euphemism you use for the bathroom, is one of those things that no one likes to talk about. That’s evidenced by all of the fancy euphemisms we come up with to describe the bathroom. On the one hand, that’s just polite. On the other hand, it’s kind of silly, given we all visit whatever we call that room several times a day. But set aside the polite company part of the discussion for a second and focus on the mobile tech angle here.

It’s been my contention for quite some time that Stall Surfing is one of the many joys of mobile tech computing. As our devices have gotten smaller I’m sure that Stall Surfing has increased, even though I doubt you’ll find statistics to back that up. Anyone who has ever read anything while sitting on a porcelain throne will know that those precious moments may be among the few that you get during a busy day. I blame my Mom for my particular bent towards Stall Surfing as she always had good reading material on display in the bathroom. In fact, if I visited someone’s house who didn’t, well, I always felt a bit frustrated. Once I got past using books (yep that’s me at a younger age reading the Complete Works of William Shakespeare) and mobile devices began to appear, I’ve moved from books to convertible Tablet and Slate PCs, to Smartphones, then 10-inch Tablets, and now the iPad mini. Actually I alternate between the iPad Mini and the Nexus 7.

I have to say that the 7-inch Tablet form factor is not just a great size for a Tablet, but it is the perfect size for a Stall Surfing Device.

Apparently I’m not alone in this, as a recent survey (don’t ask me how they did this survey) discovered that 16% of mobile device owners do some Christmas shopping while Stall Surfing. Again, not sure how Harris Interactive conducted the survey among the 2000 targets, but they did. So, given our penchant for not discussing the business we do in what is often “the smallest room in the house,” (yes, that’s another well known euphemism) I guess it’s not exactly polite to inquire where someone was when they purchased our gift.