conspicuous consumption alert

[mutepointe]

Gotta watch the video of this water faucet
I work with folks with disabilities. I'm trying to think of a reason someone would need this faucet other than they got tired of wasting money lighting cigars with $100 bills. Any ideas folks?

[Denny]

So ya don't think this is gonna be a big seller in West Virginia?

[emmline]

Sure it's stupid. But it's perfect for someone whose OCD makes it impossible for him/her to touch faucet handles.

What I see it as, personally, is something that can go wonky that you won't be able to fix using normal hardware, and that will be ridiculously expensive to replace.

[Nanohedron]

Might make a good Butoh prop.

[mutepointe]

If a person can't touch faucet handles because of OCD then they can use Kleenex like even Howard Hughes did. I did think of someone who might need this faucet. Someone whose hands are injured that they can't touch anything but if that's their problem then they need more than this faucet to make it through the day.

Someone in West Virginia will buy this faucet when it goes on sale. We have our fair share of wealthy clueless folks who could afford this faucet.

[fearfaoin]

Kohler already is selling a touch faucet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_RuXU_1vg8

This is the next logical step, I think. It's
actually not that hard, and after the copy-
cats put imitations out, it'll be pretty cheap
(as faucets go). And faucets are already so
molded, it's cheaper to replace 'em than fix
'em.

I think it'd be handy not to have to touch
anything after I've been cutting chicken. I
hate salmonella on my faucet handle.

So, yeah, I think this'll be in the hands of
more middle-class types rather than the
Donald Trumps.

[Denny]

and remove the need for the extra plumbing, fer foot pedals, in hospitals

[dwest]

I already have a touch faucet and fridge. Thought about a Chicago pedal faucet but saw the touch and had to have it. I'm not a conspicuous consumer, my hands are just soiled much of the time.

[highland-piper]

I think it'd be handy not to have to touch
anything after I've been cutting chicken. I
hate salmonella on my faucet handle.

That was my exact first thought.

Especially when my wife is likely to be making salad at the same time.

[s1m0n]

It's also good for doctors. They're trained to work faucets with their elbows to avoid recontaminating the hands they've just washed, but a faucet they can wave at works better. It's also a good idea in public bathrooms, or say the staff bathroom in a restaurant. If they have nothing to touch, you can be sure they're not touching it.

[Nanohedron]

If they have nothing to touch, you can be sure they're not touching it.

Sure, except for one thing: there IS something to touch.

No way I'm going to take it as an article of faith that the faucet would never know contact; so long as the possibility exists, someone's gonna touch it sooner or later. Maybe they lose balance, maybe it's a kid, maybe it goes on the blink and someone smacks it, maybe someone just doesn't know HOW it's supposed to work...stuff like that.

On a selfish or medically sanitary level I suppose none of that matters so long as I don't touch it. But yeesh...someone will have to clean it eventually, and I don't predict mere dust. I'm sure that relatively speaking it will be a cleaner appliance, but until it cleans itself, ultimately it's like everything else. For what it's worth.

[SteveShaw]

I take it that you chaps are referring here to taps. Tsk.

[s1m0n]

I take it that you chaps are referring here to taps.

Why? Did someone die?

[dwest]

In NA a water tap is typically called a faucet. For beer kegs and gas it's called a tap. I assume in England a beer and gas tap are one in the same?

[Nanohedron]

In NA a water tap is typically called a faucet.

Yeah, "faucet" is by far the most common usage (certainly where I live, anyway). Yet when specifying water types or sources, we typically call the stuff that comes out of faucets "tap water".

I suppose we could make life a lot simpler for ourselves, but so far it hasn't occurred to anyone to bother.