Teapot Dribble

Today the ever-inspiring Richard Banks tweeted today about this blog post on Technology Review.

Solving teapot dribble. What an amazing idea. Teapot dribble is one of those things that is really, really annoying and every time it happens you swear a little bit inside before duly getting a cloth to wipe up the mess.

I personally think that it's one of those common, really irritating problems that are often overlooked. They're the sort of problems designers should love to solve. But that got me thinking - they're so small (albeit VERY annoying) so is an improved product going to help?

A car without power steering. Nightmare to drive but probably cheaper than a car with power steering. So, given the choice, would you pay extra to make your life easier? Probably - in fact, more than likely. So surely, a teapot that doesn't dribble falls into the same category. If you look at two teapots on the shelf in your average teapot shop, are you going to pay £10 for a regular teapot, or £15 for one that doesn't dribble? I can't help but feel that more people are going to buy the regular teapot. Maybe I'm wrong, but a non-dribbling teapot just isn't being treated for the innovative design that it is.

I'd probably buy the one that looked nicest.