Marshall Brain's Blog

I have long considered the appearance of bottled water to be a product revolution. Somehow, through marketing and subtle social pressure, companies took a free substance and turned it into a very expensive substance. In many airports and hotels, a bottle of Dasani water costs more than a bottle of orange juice. I was at a convention in Orlando two weeks ago, and bottled water was $2.50 from a vending machine. When you consider that the cost of producing the bottle of water is a penny or two, that is an unbelievable markup.

Since bottled water's arrival, I have been waiting for the "next big thing". And this may be it:

Will's weird WC obsession

Apparently, Will Smith (star of movies like Men in Black and I, Robot) is advocating that we all switch to wet toilet paper rather than the rolls of dry stuff we have been using for the last century. In the words of the article: "Will Smith seems to have become slightly obsessed with personal hygiene and is on a mission to educate the world - about wet-wipes!"

If you have a baby, you know what these are -- diaper wipes. They come in a sealed plastic box to keep them moist. You can even buy diaper wipe warmers lest something too cool touch your baby's skin.

So I am wondering if the toilet paper industry can create the next consumer revolution, eliminating rolls of toilet paper and replacing them with this more expensive product. Time will tell. One potential problem with this revolution: big clogs in the sewer system.