Maybe a bit off-topic, but still toilet-related: the German IT magazine t3n recently took this snapshot at CES in Las Vegas (Consumer Electronics Show):



src: plus.google.com/101559871572415719072/posts/TXpuqcXccLx

...which is a toddler's toilet/potty seat with an integrated iPad. It may not be what we are looking for when it comes to improved sanitation, but hey: all I see is a bucket toilet with internet access and other entertainment.

(Clotaire Rapaille's reptilian brain aka "train them while they are young", ftw!)

Edit: Gizmodo has more gizmodo.com/5974576/potty-trainings-way-...tracted-with-an-ipad

Thank you for that picture,

I think it is not off-topic. It is the way we have to think about sustainable sanitation.
We have to try how to make it attractive even if it is a little strange at the beginning. We have to think really differently and this picture is a good vector of this idea.
Very interesting

Emmanuel Morin
Ecodomeo

Mashable has another pic:



src: mashable.com/2013/01/10/ipotty/

+ Wired UK: www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/09/ipad-toilet

The Apple iPad certainly only serves as an example and can be replaced by a book or something else, but I like how toilets for toddlers are being upgraded with something that will add value to the toilet visit. An experience for toddlers that will hopefully improve their perception of toilets.

I am still asking myself why people in Japan spend up to 3000 EUR on a washlet toilet while others only use the next available low-budget option. My guess is that it's related to their culture and childhood experiences - and that green plastic cap in the front suggest that the design of this potty seat is from Japan/Taiwan.

@Emmanuel: yes, you are right, we really have to design future toilets differently.