According to a recent poll done by Tesco Mobile of 4,000 UK consumers, the iPhone was voted a better invention than the toilet.It comes as no surprise that the greatest invention of all time is the wheel. With the airplane, light bulb, the internet and personal computers in the top 5. But the iPhone came out at #8, beating the toilet and combustible engine at number 9 and 10 respectively.
I am shocked by this. I know we all say we couldn't live a day without our iPhone or other smart phone; but when faced with the choice of living without a toilet or going without a phone, I think we might reconsider.
I think it is also surprising that while every household in the industrialized world has at least one toilet, not everyone has an iPhone.
The fact is the iPhone is a fun, convenient communication tool but the toilet is a sanitary necessity.
There is rationality in the fact that the poll was done by a mobile provider and that the toilet may have been overlooked or taken for granted as an invention. It's hard to imagine life without the toilet - I would hate to consider the alternative.
What do you think? Is the iPhone a better invention than the toilet?
