Apropos of the increasingly infrequent effluent that is posted here, let me share this fascinating question:
What Do
Think about that a bit. What do we have against awesome toilets? Then again, what qualifies as an 'awesome' toilet? Maybe a built-in book rack, a wine bar, cold cathode running lights, Internet access?
As we do with cellphones and robots, we must look to the Japanese for answers. From the article:
A typical Japanese loo, for instance, would do some or all of these things for the user:
* Cleanse “front and back” with three separate streams of water
* Dry “front and back” with air blowers
* Warm the seat
* Automatically put down the seat (a feature cleverly dubbed the “marriage saver”)
* Illuminate itself with a programmable nightlight
* Monitor medical conditions by preforming urine tests
* De-ionize the air to remove odors
* Play a soothing waterfall or birdsong soundtrack “to drown out embarrassing noises.”
Be honest, you and I would give our eye-teeth for any of those features. Instead, we just get cheap novelty gadgets to fill the void.
And if I know the Japanese mind (and I don't), I'm betting those features are customizable. Imagine the thrill of fully-choregraphed fountains, lights, and music - all serving to amuse, inspire, and sanitize. Couple this with some self-cleaning technology, and why would you ever leave the environs of your commode?
Then I Googled and discovered that I did not want to spend $5000 on a toilet. But, dammit, I have a dream.