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Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

loodio.com

61–70 of 96 posts

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#61
It's not a device that I personally am interested in having, but I am both interested in, and very impressed with, your having made it - well done!

I'd love to read a full write up of how you designed it, what parts you used / how you designed, prototyped, and built any custom parts, etc.

I know that's a big ask, so wouldn't expect you to do it just for me, but in case writing that were something you've been considering... please know that I for one would be a very keen reader, and I'm confident many others would too. (Or to put a spin on it to help encourage you to do so... it would give you an excuse to post about this here again in a month or two, an extra round of marketing for the low price of your time doing the write-up :P)

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#62

>> Does it run on batteries? >> Yes! >> Every Loodio sold after 2025 runs on batteries. Interesting but rather than wait for 2026, what about the ones sold now? ; - ) Might want to reword it to be something like "Every Loodio sold from 2025 onwards runs on batteries." And on a more substantial point: isn't Loo primarily a British term? I'd be surprised if it's well understood in most other countries whereas toilet (v…

> And on a more substantial point: isn't Loo primarily a British term? I'd be surprised if it's well understood in most other countries whereas toilet (vulgar as it sounds to certain Brits) is fairly widely understood Well... it's crucial for the portmanteau to work ;)

Shitterdio doesn't have the same ring :)

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#64

Feels like a really really weird device. Even when I live with others, we aren't worried about bathroom noise. I guess if you have a habit of talking to yourself while using the bathroom or showering and need to drown it out this is cool. However, I'd love this as a general device. I get home and it auto plays music , etc

> However, I'd love this as a general device. I get home and it auto plays music , etc

You can do this with most home automation systems today.

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#65
Pro-tip: when I am somewhere and I'm gonna drop a massive #2, and/or I got 2-3 litres of liquid in me, I run the faucet on the bathroom sink at 10-15% of its max flow to cover the noise. This also helps if the house has two floors/levels, and the pipes run in the open. So I 'mask' when the 'output' starts and ends.

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#66
post #13

I think the tenacity to deliver a product is great and hope that you get good feedback here. Congratulations on shipping a second version. I had thought that noise machines were primarily for people who would be listening. For example, therapists put white noise machines in the waiting area, not where the session is occuring. So, this sound provides the sense of privacy but would be better set up outside the bathroom…

Yeah, there's an interesting effect of people in the shower being unable to hear those outside but those outside can hear those in the shower very well. It's fairly obvious when thought about that the relative amplitude of the noise source is much higher for the person stood next to it than further away.

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#67
post #13

I think the tenacity to deliver a product is great and hope that you get good feedback here. Congratulations on shipping a second version. I had thought that noise machines were primarily for people who would be listening. For example, therapists put white noise machines in the waiting area, not where the session is occuring. So, this sound provides the sense of privacy but would be better set up outside the bathroom…

You and other commenters make it sound obvious, but I'd say the ideal location of the cover-up noise is actually a tricky question. Our brains are exceedingly good at separating different sound sources, but a bathroom is a textbook example of a space that gives a shared acoustic profile to all the sounds within, causing them to be grouped together in our minds, and possibly identified as a single source.

As a thought experiment, imagine that the Loodio is actually playing loud farting/plopping noises. In that case, placing it outside the bathroom would make it easy to distinguish between the "real" and the "fake" noises: the real ones have the bathroom acoustics. Placing it inside would make it impossible to discern.

Now imagine that the Loodio is playing dubstep, which is barely a step removed from "loud farting/plopping noises". What is the ideal location now?

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#68

Feels like a really really weird device. Even when I live with others, we aren't worried about bathroom noise. I guess if you have a habit of talking to yourself while using the bathroom or showering and need to drown it out this is cool. However, I'd love this as a general device. I get home and it auto plays music , etc

You know darn well you aren't the target market for this device, and you know darn well that there is a target market for it as well as why it exists, so you're being disingenuous when you propose talking to oneself as the only possible reason for it.

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#69
post #53

There used to be an ad on Dutch television back in the 80's from a loo paper manufacturer with the punchline Koning, Keizer, Admiraal - ${brand_of_loo_paper} kennen ze allemaal which translates to King, Emperor, Admiral - they all know this brand of loo paper . We (i.e. my father whom we naturally followed in this respect) turned this into Koning Keizer Admiraal, schijten moeten ze allemaal or ...they all have to shi…

> I´d say those who feel the need for a device like this are guilty by association of farting and burping even louder than average, why otherwise get something to mask their clearly obnoxious and dare I say noxious emanations in the privy? This seems like a jump. Social etiquette is important. A desire for visitors (or others) not to be subjected to the various sounds emanating from the bathroom is a form of politene…

How about you just don't listen to those sounds? Even in small apartments the bathroom tends to be separated from the living room/kitchen/bedroom/etc_room so it tends to be quite easy to ignore those sounds by just not hanging around the bathroom door.

Nope, this is taking social sensitivity far too far. By all means keep those farts out of polite company but once you're in the loo feel free to let it fly without feeling ashamed. Everyone farts, everyone pees, everyone does it.

Re: Show HN: Loodio 2 – A Simple Rechargable Bathroom Privacy Device

#70

>> Does it run on batteries? >> Yes! >> Every Loodio sold after 2025 runs on batteries. Interesting but rather than wait for 2026, what about the ones sold now? ; - ) Might want to reword it to be something like "Every Loodio sold from 2025 onwards runs on batteries." And on a more substantial point: isn't Loo primarily a British term? I'd be surprised if it's well understood in most other countries whereas toilet (v…

> And on a more substantial point: isn't Loo primarily a British term? I'd be surprised if it's well understood in most other countries whereas toilet (vulgar as it sounds to certain Brits) is fairly widely understood Well... it's crucial for the portmanteau to work ;)

Oh wow I (American) didn't even remember until seeing this thread that loo meant that.
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