The Dyson Airblade

Incredible invention from that great British inventor who moved his manufacturing operation to the Far East.

Probably as a result of the full repairing and insuring (FRI) contract which I assume we probably have on our office building, and with a view to reducing carbon footprints, a job-lot of these things have been installed in the toilets.

They are quite incredible machines, and pretty powerful. But allow me, if you will, to conduct a very short assessment of the goods and bads, pros and cons, pluses and minuses.

On the minus side

There's only one 'blade' in the toilet, which has six traps, and on a floor with 95% males, often there is a queue to use the blade, forcing people to take less than the recommended 10 seconds thus leaving with damp hands

It is so loud that it has put a pretty definitive stop to the sometimes-welcome yet awkward chat with the guy who is washing his hands at the sink next to you

It did make it highly embarrassing for the chap I saw in the toilet a few weeks ago who was washing his face, turned to get paper towels to dry his face, realised they had been taken away, and then noticed that the blade has no function to dry your face - and had to leave the toilet looking like he was dripping with sweat (this was highly amusing)


On the plus side

It actually gets your hands dry, unlike normal devices

It does this in only ten seconds

It is good for the environment

It is so loud that it blocks out unwelcome sounds coming from cubicles, namely:

-Audible defecation
-Very audible breaking of wind (with and without breeks for muffling)
-People sitting on the toilet typing emails on their Blackberry
-Other sounds from cubicles which we won't go into

It is so loud that it has put a pretty definitive stop to unwelcome and awkward chat with the guy who is washing his hands at the sink next to you



All in however, a pretty good device.