Bill Gates Wants To Reinvent the Toilet

redletterdave writes "Bill Gates, the man responsible for bringing software to the masses with Microsoft and Windows, has plans to reinvent and popularize another industry: Sanitation. Gates, whose philanthropic efforts have helped bring clean water and resources to developing countries via the foundation created by he and his wife Melinda, said at the 'Reinvent The Toilet Fair' in Seattle on Wednesday that he plans to build a toilet that's better suited to developing countries in an effort to cut down on disease and death in those regions. 'Inventing new toilets is one of the most important things we can do to reduce child deaths and disease and improve people's lives,' Gates said. 'It is also something that can help wealthier countries conserve fresh water for other important purposes besides flushing.'" Science Insider has some information on the winning designs from this year.

Comments

Reason:

[Niris]

So we have something new for Windows 8 to go down.

Re:Reason:

[Anonymous Coward]

I think they're taking the "do epic shit" motto to new levels.

Well why not

[Anonymous Coward]

he's spent all these years making crap.

Re:Well why not

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not? BFOD.

(Brown Flush of Death).

Great...

[juanfgs]

plans to build a toilet that's better suited to developing countries

toilet starter edition...

Re:Great...

[GameboyRMH]

You can only drop 3 logs at a time.

iPoop

[InvisibleClergy]

I'm just going to wait for Apple's competing product. The toilet is a perfect example of an Apple product. It has one button, one function, and it needs to be clean and durable.

Re:iPoop

[wild_quinine]

I'm just going to wait for Apple's competing product. The toilet is a perfect example of an Apple product. It has one button, one function, and it needs to be clean and durable.

And incredibly it will be the first toilet ever to have a seat with smooth, rounded edges. Not like all those barbed wire versions the rest of us have been using for 20 years.

Pass

[zill]

I'm sick and tired of all these Windows 8 ads on slashdot.

Better design for Europe

[Sepodati]

Can you please design one that doesn't leave shit streaked all the way down the back when you take a dump? I thought a toilet was a toilet, until I saw all the kinds they have in Europe. You have to scrub every one of them down after a dump. The worst was one that had a flat shelf to dump on and the water would wash it off. Yeah, good luck getting that loaf to wash away. What the hell? Sorry for the shitty post, but this is the topic we were presented with.

Re:Better design for Europe

[crazyjj]

I think the toilet superiority scale goes something like this:

Japan > U.S. (pre low-flow) > U.S. (post low-flow) > Europe > Third world

Re:Better design for Europe

[Anonymous Coward]

Japanese toilets send it straight to a vending machine :)

Re:Better design for Europe

[fiannaFailMan]

Maybe so, but if I was confronted with this, I would be quite baffled. I mean, 38 buttons on a toilet control panel?

I'm betting a lot of Western visitors find themselves with a big "what the heck do I do now" moment. :-P

Whatever you do, don't press the button marked "ATR". It's the Automatic Tampon Remover.

Re:Better design for Europe

[Archangel Michael]

Hahaha, He doesn't know how to use the three seashells!

Re:"Green" toilets sometimes have problems...

[crazyjj]

They can always have another go.

So, go number 2?