Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Friday 16 May 2003, 5:59 PM
Friday: Flushing away the iLoo
Friday 16/05/2003
Woe is me. It seems that the Microsoft Internet Toilet is no more. They've made a big job of canning it, though: once the Redmondians got wind of the UK iLoo, they kicked up a stink and said 'Sorry, it was just a hoax'. But it wasn't: the paperwork might not have been done, but the UK Microsofties had indeed started work. So statement after statement flooded out, each contradicting the other. But now the (Jimmy) riddle is solved and the .NET WC is history.
But, according to those well-endowed noses on The Register who make something of a speciality of this sort of thing, it did get to prototype stage, with some early electronics plumbed into a converted portable potty. Presumably, the device still exists: in my experience, the cupboards of most big high tech companies bulge with dead ideas that almost made it.
Can you think of anything more collectable? Sometimes, such things make their way onto eBay (although I'm keeping my Sinclair memorabilia), and this would be a prime candidate. I don't know if Gates famous lakeside residence has Net access in the smallest rooms - whiffy wi-fi? -- but Bill's Bog has a certain ring to it. It'd make a change to see a Microsoft product that could be sold as totally crappy...
Click here to see more of Rupert's diaries.
Woe is me. It seems that the Microsoft Internet Toilet is no more. They've made a big job of canning it, though: once the Redmondians got wind of the UK iLoo, they kicked up a stink and said 'Sorry, it was just a hoax'. But it wasn't: the paperwork might not have been done, but the UK Microsofties had indeed started work. So statement after statement flooded out, each contradicting the other. But now the (Jimmy) riddle is solved and the .NET WC is history.
But, according to those well-endowed noses on The Register who make something of a speciality of this sort of thing, it did get to prototype stage, with some early electronics plumbed into a converted portable potty. Presumably, the device still exists: in my experience, the cupboards of most big high tech companies bulge with dead ideas that almost made it.
Can you think of anything more collectable? Sometimes, such things make their way onto eBay (although I'm keeping my Sinclair memorabilia), and this would be a prime candidate. I don't know if Gates famous lakeside residence has Net access in the smallest rooms - whiffy wi-fi? -- but Bill's Bog has a certain ring to it. It'd make a change to see a Microsoft product that could be sold as totally crappy...
Click here to see more of Rupert's diaries.
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