Type-A Bathroom

Wall Street Journal

For workaholics, it's the new home office. Jon Weinbach and Peggy Edersheim Kalb on showerproof computers, mirrors with stock quotes and the latest water hazard: 'BlackBerry dunk.'

By JON WEINBACH and PEGGY EDERSHEIM KALB
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
February 3, 2006; Page W1

With a BlackBerry, two mobile phones, three office computers and wireless Internet for his car, Greg Shenkman is never far from his work. But recently the CEO of San Francisco-based Exigen Group eked out more productivity by wiring the final frontier: his bathroom.

When Mr. Shenkman answers the speaker-phone in his shower, the water automatically shuts off. He can open the front door for deliveries while shaving. He's also put the finishing touches on a waterproof computer that will let him answer emails from his sauna. "I took Gates a little too literally," he says. "The flow of information never stops."

In the bath, in the loop: Custom bath with LCD display and wall-mounted control of sound, lights and video, by Audio One.

So it's come to this. The humble bathroom, long a place of refuge and solitude, is playing quiet host to more workplace transactions. Bathroom business has gone way beyond tapping out furtive emails on a BlackBerry. Lately, more hard-driving homeowners have converted their loos into virtual satellite workspaces, with retractable desks or waterproof touch-screen monitors. Manufacturer Acquinox of New York says sales of its steam shower/whirlpool units -- a hands-free phone is standard in each -- nearly tripled last year to 14,800 modules. Wisconsin-based Seura, meanwhile, reports rising sales of its vanity mirrors, which feature LCD screens in the glass. The mirrors, starting at $2,400, let users check their tie-knot, then flip a switch to watch the embedded TV.

More: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113893265421064039.html?mod=mktw