4 ms·

Coin operated bathrooms have been tried, and mostly abandoned, because it turns out people just do their business on the street instead of pay.

robotmlg 10y ago
The bathrooms in Snow Crash are full bathrooms with showers and such. Plus you can pay more and get the super-deluxe bathroom with plush towels and an attendant.
logfromblammo 10y ago
The freemium model might work for public toilets. Your first five minutes is free. The bidet function is free. Extending the door lock timeout by another five minutes costs $X. TP is $Y/meter. Tampons, pads, condoms, fragrances, etc. are available from the vending machines. Using warmed water for the bidet function costs $Z. Adding medications or fragrances to the bidet function costs extra. The stall itself is robotic and self-cleaning, so one human attendant can service dozens of locations. The human labor factor is what usually torpedoes the economics of privately-owned public-access toilets, so if you can engineer the robotic functions well enough, your per-customer operating costs can drop low enough that you only need 1 in N to pay you anything to stay in business.
- VLM 10y ago
  > The human labor factor is what usually torpedoes the economics of privately-owned public-access toilets In actual practice the problem tends to be prostitutes using it as their workplace, IV drug users needing a private cop free place to shoot up, and homeless people. Embracing those problems instead of ignoring them is likely to successfully generate more money.
  - logfromblammo 10y ago
    Those use cases are why you charge extra to extend the door lock timeout. Prostitution and drug use isn't a particular problem as long as you can economically clean up their mess. Receptacles for unflushable trash and sharps should make them less of a problem. Squatters that refuse to pay only become a problem when they cause denial-of-service to (potentially) paying customers. Back when bathroom attendants were economical, they were the ones that could chase out or discourage the undesirables. I didn't mention this, but one of the robotic bathrooms I have seen encourages people to leave in a timely fashion by filling itself with water as part of the self-cleaning cycle. That program mentioned the difficulty in getting the squatters out while still serving regular customers. [Edit for cousin post:] After the door lock times out, the GTFO timer starts. Don't be surprised if your stall fills with unpleasant odors (mercaptans) and sprays of cold water if you decide to try to squat in there without paying.
- throwanem 10y ago
  > Extending the door lock timeout by another five minutes costs $X. Or a screwdriver in the latch. Don't underestimate smart apes.
- Kluny 10y ago
  The mental overhead of mathing out how much I want to pay to take a piss would prevent me from ever bothering with it, I think.
deleted 10y ago
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robotmlg 10y ago

The bathrooms in Snow Crash are full bathrooms with showers and such. Plus you can pay more and get the super-deluxe bathroom with plush towels and an attendant.

logfromblammo 10y ago

The freemium model might work for public toilets. Your first five minutes is free. The bidet function is free. Extending the door lock timeout by another five minutes costs $X. TP is $Y/meter. Tampons, pads, condoms, fragrances, etc. are available from the vending machines. Using warmed water for the bidet function costs $Z. Adding medications or fragrances to the bidet function costs extra. The stall itself is robotic and self-cleaning, so one human attendant can service dozens of locations. The human labor factor is what usually torpedoes the economics of privately-owned public-access toilets, so if you can engineer the robotic functions well enough, your per-customer operating costs can drop low enough that you only need 1 in N to pay you anything to stay in business.

VLM 10y ago
> The human labor factor is what usually torpedoes the economics of privately-owned public-access toilets In actual practice the problem tends to be prostitutes using it as their workplace, IV drug users needing a private cop free place to shoot up, and homeless people. Embracing those problems instead of ignoring them is likely to successfully generate more money.
- logfromblammo 10y ago
  Those use cases are why you charge extra to extend the door lock timeout. Prostitution and drug use isn't a particular problem as long as you can economically clean up their mess. Receptacles for unflushable trash and sharps should make them less of a problem. Squatters that refuse to pay only become a problem when they cause denial-of-service to (potentially) paying customers. Back when bathroom attendants were economical, they were the ones that could chase out or discourage the undesirables. I didn't mention this, but one of the robotic bathrooms I have seen encourages people to leave in a timely fashion by filling itself with water as part of the self-cleaning cycle. That program mentioned the difficulty in getting the squatters out while still serving regular customers. [Edit for cousin post:] After the door lock times out, the GTFO timer starts. Don't be surprised if your stall fills with unpleasant odors (mercaptans) and sprays of cold water if you decide to try to squat in there without paying.
throwanem 10y ago
> Extending the door lock timeout by another five minutes costs $X. Or a screwdriver in the latch. Don't underestimate smart apes.
Kluny 10y ago
The mental overhead of mathing out how much I want to pay to take a piss would prevent me from ever bothering with it, I think.

deleted 10y ago

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