Company Invents Toilet You Won't Want to Sit on for Long

Your office bathroom break might get a little shorter if the boss buys one of these, Wired reports. Designed by the UK startup StandardToilet, the eponymous product tilts down at 13 degrees—just enough to get uncomfortable after about 5 minutes on the throne. Company founder Mahabir Gill claims it will reduce lineups and save employers money by keeping employee bathroom breaks to a minimum. "It is estimated that in the United Kingdom alone, extended employee breaks costs industry and commerce an estimated £4 billion [$5.2 billion] per annum," says the company, which adds that "the workplace toilet has become [a] private texting and social media usage space."

It isn't totally out of left field. A July survey found that British workers are spending more time than "needed" in the john, with Londoners topping the list at 28 minutes, 35 seconds per visit. That said, critics are pouncing: One Twitter user quoted by Newsweek says his "stomach issues mean I HAVE to take my time and I don't get to CHOOSE," while a Purdue University professor says the toilet is "one space where you can find privacy" and shouldn't become "another place where people impose the very capitalist idea that people should always be working." But look out: Gill is already talking to service stations and local UK councils about selling the product, which retails for $195 to $650. (More toilets stories.)