Bathroom Observation
on 02.21.06, 03:40pm in embedded • share on facebook • comments (7)
I’ve noticed a somewhat disturbing trend this past week. Not once, but twice I walked into a restroom here in building 18 on campus and have heard the beeps and blips of a Windows Mobile device coming from inside a bathroom stall.
I’m not sure why this bothered me so much, but one thing is for sure – it’s a sign that mobile embedded technologies (such as smartphones and pdas) have taken off when people are reading email in the john instead of the Wall Street Journal.
Brandon (February 21, 2006 @ 3:59 pm)
Let’s hope all they were doing was checking their e-mail… *shifty eyes*
Seriously, I have a Bible program on mine so I can use my “personal time” to keep up with my Read the Bible Through in One Year committment, so using the mobile device on the john isn’t completely wrong.
Neil Cowburn (February 21, 2006 @ 4:18 pm)
I’d be more disturbed if you heard the familiar shutter sounds coming from the stall given that most Windows Mobile devices have an integrated camera…
But seriously, mobile devices in the bathroom?! That’s just taking the “always connected” paradigm too far! It reminds me of a Burt Reynolds line from Smokey and the Bandit: “I take my hat off for one thing, one thing only.”
gdkzen (February 21, 2006 @ 7:47 pm)
I prefer the NY Times Crossword puzzle.
Tommy Williams (February 21, 2006 @ 10:22 pm)
I would rather hear the sounds of a Windows Mobile device than the sounds you would expect to hear from the stall in a men’s bathroom.
J Donnici (February 22, 2006 @ 10:16 am)
Seems like a good time for sudoku or a some blog reading…
gdkzen (February 22, 2006 @ 10:28 am)
Zen meditation is good too, only the flushing toilets disrupt the focus. That, and your legs tend to fall asleep.
Randy (February 22, 2006 @ 2:03 pm)
This is why I always set mine to silent while I’m in there.