
iLoo - vezzy-fnord
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILoo
======
doque

        The i-Loo featured an internet-enabled monitor on the cubicle wall and a special
        printer that would allow users to print information
        on a standard toilet paper roll.
    

I would have loved to see that product pitch.

~~~
collyw
Take a photo of your boss, and get great satisfaction in going to the toilet.

~~~
agumonkey
Potential for nation wide mental health improvements.

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netcan
Near where I grew up, a petrol station toilet functioned as a de facto public
toilet for passersby. The owner must have been a lilt eccentric.

Anyway, when you turned on the light a little disco ball would light up and
some high energy pop song would play: "I Want to Break Free," "YMCA"..
something like that.

It was the talk of the town.

iLoo seems like a bad idea, but for an unconventional marketing campaign,
doing something with festival toilets is not a bad idea. If you've seen Better
Call Saul's talking toilet, that would be a particularly impactful approach.

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MrBuddyCasino
Combining keyboards and festival toilets, the two dirtiest things known to
mankind, only seems logical. This could have spawned new lifeforms.

~~~
7erb
I read shopping cart handles were filthier than toilet seats or keyboards. A
study in 2011 discovered that fecal bacteria was on 72% of all shopping carts:
[http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2011/03/fecal-
bacteria-...](http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2011/03/fecal-bacteria-
on-72-of-shopping-carts.html)

~~~
kozhevnikov
I recon the percentage for toothbrushes is higher, because proximity. Nothing
wrong with giving your immune system a bit of a workout.

~~~
Shivetya
that is why its great to toss them into the dish washer to keep them clean.

~~~
pluma
The ex-boss of a friend of mine used to clean the toilet brush in the office
dish washer.

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Kliment
At the CCC Camp there is something called the Datenklo (Data toilet) where
they use festival toilets as weatherproofing for network equipment.

~~~
BuildTheRobots
We had them at EMF Camp too.

There's something quite obscene about camping but with a 230v mains feed and
>100mbit internet to your tent :)

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amelius
I think it is just Microsoft's way of making fun of Apple's product naming
convention.

~~~
danieltillett
Someone always has to spoil the party by blurting out the truth :)

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em3rgent0rdr
Way ahead of its time. Nowadays everyone uses the internet while on the
toilet.

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kristopolous
Yet another great innovation crushed by unimaginative soulless beauracrats.

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icanhackit
The flush servo is connected to a Windows ME box via serial. Fuck.

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gadders
Tangentially related, but I remember reading a "Top Tip" in Viz (which is an
adult comic - think Onion but more English and stupid
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz_(comics)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz_\(comics\)))
which was along the lines of:

When at your friends house, subtly announce to them that you need a poo by
asking for their wifi password.

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louithethrid
Im sorry but you need to register a toilett paper license first at
microsoft.com. Do not support unclean behinds! Report people doing the
crapwalk!

~~~
yitchelle
That is after reading the EULA printed on the said toilet paper.

~~~
yellowapple
That's assuming the EULA will fit on said toilet paper.

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tempodox
_... cancelled because it would do little to promote the MSN brand._

It would have promoted the brand to be sure, just not in the direction they
wanted.

I wonder if they were inspired by Apple to use an iName. But then, “internet”
was the best excuse ever for the ridiculous leading vocal.

~~~
Tuna-Fish
Apple didn't invent the iName, they were late on that bandwagon. For some
unfathomable reason i or e whatevers were for a while _the_ way to name your
product if you had no better ideas. In fact, Apple have had to buy or
otherwise acquire most of the iNames they use from previous users. (Including
at least iPhone, iOS, iPad.) However, all the other consumer iWhatevers were
generally completely uninspired products that didn't live long and which no-
one remembers, while people do remember the Apple iProducts, so iNames are now
associated with Apple.

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bunkydoo
Forget Dr. Who's 'Tardis' \- Call this the 'Turdis'

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thedogeye
The lines for the bathroom at our office are so bad, I actually want to block
the wifi in there so people will hurry up and get off the can...

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mung
Was the latest in a long line of shit products.

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personjerry
That's pretty damn innovative for Microsoft. It's a shame they didn't have the
balls to stick to it. That could've been the first step to electronics in all
sorts of places, maybe even would've led to Microsoft spearheading IoT.

~~~
HappyTypist
Novel, yes, but I wouldn't call it innovative. It seems overkill and I can't
think of many practical uses. Hotmail station is icky (dirty kryvoard).
Keyboardless applications.. Hmm, video chat with other iLoo users??

If you want to commercialise the public toilet in 2003, just add a stack of
mildly interesting sponsored magazines, and build an internet station with
Hotmail like a public telephone.

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doozler
How have I never heard of this before?! In a way I think it was brave of
Microsoft to try something like this, something so out of the box for the
company.

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panglott
It needs a Kinect.

~~~
aruggirello
The more advanced edition will come with Oculus Rift VR.

------
circa
and here I am thinking it was the next version of HP's iLO -
[http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/servers/ilo/integrated-
lig...](http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/servers/ilo/integrated-lights-
out.html)

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jstoiko
I wonder if anyone who has worked on the project dared listing it on their
résumé. I would :)

~~~
aruggirello
Only if it's printed on toilet paper :)

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aruggirello
The iLoo would take the meaning of zero-day exploits to a whole new level...

BTW patch your iLoo regularly! Reinstalling _really_ is an unpleasant job :)

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aaron695
Reminds me of the time Nintendo came up with the world's stupidest name for a
console, the Wii.

The jokes that came out then too.

~~~
rawnlq
The name "iPad" was made fun of a lot too when it was first announced (being
compared to tampons and stuff).

That aside, I think iLoo is a genuinely stupid idea and no amount of
rebranding could've saved it.

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kluck
iLoo - there goes my iPoo

