Hand dryers – why do they even still exist?

This is a conundrum that has puzzled me all of my public-washroom-using life. As I leave the washroom with soggy hands and a feeling of disappointment in hand dryer designers everywhere, I wonder ‘why do hand dryers even exist…they’re shit.’

After years of inadequacy I have finally adopted the mentality of ‘just wipe your hands on your pants and be done with it’.

For years, millions of people across the world have been using their own clothing to finish off the job of crappy hand dryers. Where else in product development would we happily accept such tardiness? Would you buy a kettle that only boiled your water to 56°C? No, you’d take it back and complain it doesn’t do it’s job. So why do people keep buying hand dryers for washrooms and then offering hand towels as well?

I think the whole debate is being looked at backwards, this is what we need to do: Stop trying to prove that hand dryers are better for the environment and just concentrate on making paper towels more sustainable.

* To see how we can make paper towels more sustainable just skip right to the end of my rationally laid out, scientific rant.

Euthanasia Coaster: would you try it?

PhD candidate Julijonas Urbonas is studying Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art. Sounds harmless enough until you hear about his most sinister ‘hypothetical’ creation. The clue is in the name. The Euthanasia Coaster is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Inspired by a quote from John Allen, former president of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company who said; “The ultimate rollercoaster is built when you send out 24 people and they all come back dead. This could be done, you know”. With this Julijonas set to work like Megamind constructing his eeeeevil (but equally quite genius) rollercoaster – meticulously planning each twist and turn to send riders through euphoria, thrill, tunnel vision, loss of consciousness and, eventually, death.

My brain has been having a constant argument while writing this post with one half saying “But it would be so much fun” and the other half going “Don’t be stupid, you’d be dead”

I couldn’t help thinking ‘would I? But really…would I?’ Read the rest of my post and see if you would.