My inlaws got this for me for Christmas. it's actually for a lightweight P&S camera (which is what I think they thought I'd use it for), but with a 1/4"-20 > 3/8"-16 adaptor I can put my shockmount on it. It's definitely for specialty uses only, but I can see where I'd use it over something else. For example, it would work well in some of those environments where the venue says no clamping because it can damage the railing or you have a chair in a restaurant (as illustrated below). Fair enough, but this doesn't press nearly as much as it creates friction via the rubber on each little ball. I definitely wouldn't extend it out over a ledge or anything without a safety cable, but to get something to stay put as all of the joints are rather stiff and it does seem to work rather well. Each leg is approximately 5" when extended all the way. An alternative might be as a table tripod. Came from LLBean I gather.
Free standing:
Attached to a chair back: