Inventions solve problems. Normally, those solutions are aimed at making the lives of those who will use the invention easier, reducing the effort needed to accomplish whatever the invention will assist them in doing.

But sometimes not. Believe it or not, there is a special class of inventions that make the lives of those who will use them more difficult. By that, we mean more difficult, on purpose. That's because their inventors are really solving a different problem than one that might benefit their intended users.

That was the challenge British inventor Mahabir Gill took on when he invented the Slanty Toilet. With a patent pending in the United Kingdom but not yet issued, Gill has developed a new toilet design that is meant to make it harder to sit while using the invention. All to benefit bosses concerned with employees taking too much time in the loo while at work, where the invention is envisioned as an aid for enhancing workplace productivity.

Gill's company StandardToilet filed its patent application in 2019, but they haven't waited for it to be issued to begin producing several different lines of toilets based on the invention, as can be seen in the following two minute long promotional video:

The IIE team hasn't yet decided if this invention qualifies as something to be cherished for its innovative spirit, or is the outcome of pure, malicious, evil intent.

Speaking of which, there is big news out of Washington D.C. today, as regulations that drove the design and mass production of ineffective dishwashers have been rolled back. It seems the regulators discovered that forcing dishwasher manufacturers to make the devices more energy efficient was both failing to deliver energy savings and increasing the amount of water consumed to wash dishes. Not to mention making the lives of consumers wanting clean dishes more difficult in the process.