Texting in the Bathroom - The Toilet Dunk

Many Users are Multi-Tasking in the Other Office

I read an interesting statistic recently. As many as 59% of mobile users use their device in the bathroom, usually texting. I guess reading magazines is old school now. Although I could not find any hard stats on this, I would guess that the number of mobile users who replace their phones due to dropping them in the toilet is pretty high too as this is a very popular search on Google. I thought I would make some recommendations for victims of the "toilet dunk" - from a mobile phone aspect anyway. Of course, this fix could apply to getting your device wet in any number of ways.

If you drop your BlackBerry or other mobile device in the toilet:

1.) Get it out fast! This is the hardest part as sticking your hand in the toilet is a very hard thing to do.

2.) Power off immediately. Take off any case or skin and remove battery, memory card, and SIM card if your able.

3.) Let the device air dry. The ideal location is outside in the sun but you can also wrap the phone in a towel with aluminum foil around it and put it in the oven on a very low temperature for an hour or so. Another option is to submerge the phone completely in a bowl of uncooked rice overnight to absorb the moisture.

4.) Reinstall battery and try to turn it on. If your phone seems to work OK, then congratulations because you are very lucky. If the phone won't power on or is acting crazy after powering on, it's over. Replace your device.

My advice is to avoid multi-tasking in the bathroom as this can be a very expensive and embarrassing mishap.

Wes