A recent survey by Nielsen asked 12,000 mobile device owners about the situations where they used tablets, e-book readers, and smartphones. While smartphones and tablets were most commonly used while watching TV, and e-book readers in bed, the most interesting statistic to me was that for smartphones, 28% of owners admitted to using it in the washroom versus only 23% that used it while in a meeting or classroom. For tablets, that gap shrinks to 25% and 24%, still in favour of the crapper. It’s no secret that people use their phones in the washroom, but it’s interesting to see how popular that usage is among other activities.
The study drilled deeper down into how much time was eaten up among each of the use cases (which included shopping, commuting, and among friends), and the time split for toilet usage was even for smartphones, and only 1% higher for tablets in the boardroom. I think these stats go a long way to illustrate how these devices are a lot more for leisure than productivity.
Aside from that, the predominance of mobile tech among TV watchers is great news for social networks like GetGlue, Philo, and Miso, which are all about sharing which program you’re watching. TV service providers that offer DVR recording mobile apps and individual stations offering full streaming apps are also in a good spot in light of this research. Where do you find you use your tablet and smartphone the most?