Google “Dark porcelain” project offers self-installed plumbing-based Internet access

• Posted by Geoffrey G. Gussis on April 1st, 2007


• Filed in Weird/Wacky/Funny

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 1, 2007 - Google Inc. NASDAQ: GOOG today announced the launch of Google TiSP BETA™, a free in-home wireless broadband service that delivers online connectivity via users plumbing systems. The Toilet Internet Service Provider TiSP project is a self-installed, ad-supported online service that will be offered entirely free to any consumer with a WiFi-capable PC and a toilet connected to a local municipal sewage system.

“Weve got that whole organizing-the-worlds-information thing more or less under control,” said Google Co-founder and President Larry Page, a longtime supporter of so-called “dark porcelain” research and development. “Whats interesting, though, is how many different modalities there are for actually getting that information to you - not to mention from you.”

For years, data carriers have confronted the “last hundred yards” problem for delivering data from local networks into individual homes. Now Google has successfully devised a “last hundred smelly yards” solution that takes advantage of preexisting plumbing and sewage systems and their related hydraulic data-transmission capabilities. “Theres actually a thriving little underground community thats been studying this exact solution for a long time,” says Page. “And today our Toilet ISP team is pleased to be leading the way through the sewers, up out of your toilet and - splat - right onto your PC.”

Google Press Center: Press Release