... you-know-what. Pretty damn silly, don't you think?

Speaking with my plumbing engineer's hat on:

The basic concept of a toilet (a.k.a. water closet) is to pass the objectionable contents through to the drainage piping in as efficient a manner as possible, using a minimum amount of extra water to propell the solids while keeping the bowl interior clean (btw, Justin, that's why the parabolic bowl). I'm curious about the details of this item's sampling mechanism for "stool", and suspect that it will clog up, break, or otherwise be the weakest link in this proposed product. Leftover samples caught somewhere in the mechanism may end up creating an unsanitary condition, too.

Once again (of course), as with 'Digital Angel', the key to the relative lack of intrusiveness of this ridiculous and unnecessary technological advance is: it's intended as a commercial product, not a government mandate. I suspect that if it's ever made available, it will enter the field as the highest-priced toilet ever, its market share will never noticeably rise above 0.5%, and it will quickly go the way of the DeLorean (except without the cocaine).

Anybody else here ever supplement their belongings by cruising their suburban/rural neighborhood on bulk trash pickup days? Or, if city dwellers, made certain neighborhoods' trash nights a regularly scheduled event? I have: the latter, in the Society Hill section of Philly, 25+ years ago. What truly amazed me - beyond what rich people throw out, rather than repair - was the reaction of some residents who, if they "caught" you examining their trash for choice articles, became very posessive about stuff they'd already discarded.

Imagine how much more posessive - one might even say "retentive" - people might be about their rather more personal discards. Yet another reason to predict, with some confidence, the early demise of this crappy idea.

E' (laughing all the way to the john)

[One possible application that may actually save it: hospitals and related facilities where monitoring of body functions is customary, expected, and necessary, and where automation thereof might be considered a labor-saving benefit to offset the price of the fixture itself. There may also be, come to think of it, a market niche among hypochondriacs]