Auto Flush Toilets: The Crappiest Invention of All Time?

TCS editor Nick Schulz has a piece in Slate called “The Crappiest Invention of All Time – Why the auto-flushing toilet must die.” It has far, far more about the intricicies of solid waste disposal than I need early in the morning. And there’s an accompanying audio file!

Update: Adding to the excretory coverage, Slate has William Saletan’s “Driving While Urinating.”

So far, no articles on the subject of snot or boogers. Perhaps aspiring Slatesters should pitch one, stat: I can spot a trend.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
Security Studies Professor. Former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. @DrJJoyner on X and @joyner.bsky.social.

Comments

  1. It is a bit much, shall we say.

    And I skipped the audio file, shockingly enough…

  2. McGehee's avatar McGehee says:

    I have to admit, I didn’t read very far, but what I did read certainly was … educational.

    FWIW, I haven’t encountered very many auto-flushers of the sitdown variety, and I never bothered to wonder why.

  3. fizzix's avatar fizzix says:

    I guess he doesn’t know about the black button on the side of the control box that allows for manual flushing. His ranting just demonstrates his ignorance.

  4. NJ voter's avatar NJ voter says:

    I totally agree. This obviously is a bad interface design…an observation normally confined to software.

    The article is well written and completely accurate. If there is a button on the side for manual flushing, then it needs to be more obvious to the user. Bad interface design is NEVER the user’s fault.