Imagine a condom the size of Steve Ballmer.That way, we could prevent catching the Microsoft disease.
Bill Gates offers big bucks for better condoms
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has rolled out a new project: a quest to find better condoms, with up to $1.1m for those who can come up with ideas that are a snug fit for some pressing problems. The quest for a better condom has become one of the Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health, a in order to address the …
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 19:56 GMT Bob Vistakin
Wait a minute ... this Microsoft disease - does it affect all senior management in ways too filthy for mere mortals to comprehend? I mean, here we are reading about how Bill Gates is into condoms now, whereas the last we heard he was into toilets. Is Windows 8 the logical product of this unhealthy obsession?
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 05:56 GMT Ragequit
Hmmm..
I know graphene is flexible but I don't believe it's that flexible. Even if you could get it into that configuration it might chafe a bit. It is an excellent conductor of heat which could be helpful. Supposedly a sheet of graphene of moderate thickness can take the weight of a elephant balanced on a pencil so being hung like one shouldn't pose any issues.
The DVD bake method can even double as a handy applicator.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 06:31 GMT LinkOfHyrule
Tech company condoms
iSheath - it's shiny, the packet has rounded corners, very well made, but too expensive for the third world.
Linux French Letters - it's free and open so you can never be sure who has used it before hand!
Windows For Love Makers 3.11 - Industry standard but very unreliable - best to use it with a third party spermicide.
Raspberry Pi-dom - Very affordable and extremely flexible but in order to cut costs there's no foil wrapper!
Java Johnnies - These have been recalled due to their poor viral resilience!
Adobe Ultra Sensitive - Thin and unreliable - used to be popular about a decade ago but rapidly declining in usage.
El Reg Rubber Ticklers - Strong premium quality latex with strategically placed pleasure notches. 8 out of 10 sex workers recommend them! or for the more demanding customer...
El Reg Paris Extra Safe - An Industrial grade prophylactic that's been clinically proven to provide the highest level of protection for the more adventurous consumer with a riskier lifestyle. You can rely on the El Reg Paris range of condoms for piece of mind no matter how debauched things get!
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 06:47 GMT LinkOfHyrule
Re: Tech company condoms
Oh yes, I can just imagine they would! The branding would look quite cool too I reckon with the vulture logo on the packet and a striking red design that's bound to stand out on any chemist's shelves!
I'm pleased to hear I win the internet too, I did start wondering that obviously I have too much time on my hands to have written that, it's good to know I'm making a difference! lol
-
-
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 07:11 GMT stanimir
also make an effective family planning tool
Unless someone considers one night stands family planning, the condoms are very far from effective w/ their fail rate:
With proper knowledge and application technique—and use at every act of intercourse—women whose partners use male condoms experience a 2% per-year pregnancy rate with perfect use and a 15% per-year pregnancy rate with typical use
I understand Bill Gates may not take security seriously but that's beyond laughable - 2% w/ perfect usage and 15% w/ typical :). Here, pals we have 15% fail rate as "effective"
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 10:09 GMT stanimir
I am suggesting that citing current condoms as efficient birth-control is overstatement.
For instance: Fertility "Awareness based methods e.g. standard days method, symptothermal method." are reported as 75-99% (compared to the 85% of the condom). So no exactly true "more effective than not using them".
I cannot support more condoms for STD/I prevention, yet I do not see them as effective birth-control method.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 17:57 GMT Triggerfish
Standard days method
My ex shared a house with a girl who used standard days method, (didn't want condoms or using the pill, etc)
It was either 3 or 4 abortions she had by the end of uni. (sorry cant remember exactly long time ago and lack of sympathy from me about the trauma of their abortions), anyway that as a mehod for birth control compared to condoms is a fail.
-
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 09:21 GMT James Micallef
@stanimir - bollocks
Do you mind to share where that quote came from? Because to me it sounds like bollocks promoted by conservative christan abstinence-only family planning propaganda. AFAIK condoms are over 99% effective in real clinical trials.
15% fail rate with 'typical' usage implies more than 1 pregnancy for every 7 encounters, 2% fail rate implies 1 in 50. I'm pretty sure I don't have THAT many kids.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 10:02 GMT stanimir
Re: @stanimir - bollocks
Ohh, I seriously thought I had provided the source (I do not quote w/o sources). Firstly I looked up wikipedia which has adopted it from http://www.fpq.com.au/pdf/Contraception_Efficacy.pdf
Looks pretty fine source and the 98.x % I have seen written on the leaflet w/ the condoms.
The main problem w/ condoms is the friction and then then not-proper placement or size. Wrong sizes can result into a burst/tear and men are often unlikely to pull out to check if the condom is still whole.
Church propaganda would be the last thing I'd do as the Church is significantly unrepresented where I live and has close to zero influence.
Having yourself as anecdotal evidence doesn't work either. The reported rates are from females using the method.
Also 2% fail rate based on attempts would be 0.98^50 ~ .36 chance to get pregnant after 50 attempts w/ 2% chance - I mean your math is incorrect.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 10:34 GMT James Micallef
Re: @stanimir
Thanks for the link and the maths correction... I'll have to give myself a downvote :)
> 30% chance of pregnancy after 50 'perfect uses' still seems a bit on the high side to me but I guess they know what they're talking about - the site seems kosher.
"The main problem w/ condoms is the friction and then then not-proper placement or size. Wrong sizes can result into a burst/tear and men are often unlikely to pull out to check if the condom is still whole."
Yes that's right, having a combination of strength + sensistivity is th 'holy grail' that I guess Mr Gates is looking for. Of course compared to all the other contraceptive methods, condoms have 1 more 'killer' functionality, which is prophylactic, which none of the other methods provide, so still required.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 13:12 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: @stanimir
30% chance of pregnancy after 50 'perfect uses'
That would be better phrased as a 30% chance that you might get pregnant after 50 "perfect uses". Not that you will, as it appears to say, also without protection, those trying to get pregnant will find it takes 50odd tries, sometimes more.
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 17:17 GMT Grikath
Re: Re:30% chance of pregnancy after 50 'perfect uses'
And you're still getting your Maths wrong... Each and every time you use a condom the chance of failure due to [list of circumstances] is simply 2%. It's a die-toss, not compound chance.
Even so, the main reason to use condoms, especially when you sleep around a bit ( or if you're lucky, a lot) , is not contraception, but the prevention of attracting/transmitting an STD. There's a reason Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are on the rise again.... And the former can be carried by males, the latter by females without any serious symptoms, if at all in the early stages, even when they are infectuous right from the start..
But hey...the things are "inconvenient".
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 18:42 GMT John 48
Re: Re:30% chance of pregnancy after 50 'perfect uses'
I seem to recall reading that the effectiveness stats were actually based on couples using them correctly for a year rather than the failure rate per shag. So a 2% failure rate would suggest 2 unwanted pregnancies in a year of correct usage by 100 couples. Still not perfect but far better odds.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 13:06 GMT Anonymous Coward
I think you've missed the point - Bill is trying to get a more effective condom developed. That means more user friendly in terms of those whining males who refuse to wear them "because it doesn't feel the same" despite the risk of transmission of fatal diseases and less prone to failure.
I realise that people here love to demonise Bill, but really your attempt is piss poor. A recent study found that ~60% of girls in the upper years of South African schools were HIV+, comparing to ~4% of boys (IIRC). If the men that are having sex with these girls could be persuaded to wear condoms those girls would have a life to look forward to. What Bill is doing is a very good thing.
-
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 08:17 GMT tkioz
Re: Just give us a male pill already
The male pill has been in the pipeline since forever. Even if it was only, say, 90% effective, combine it with the female pill, and you've got a damn near perfect contraception.
Unfortunately, the male pill wont really solve the major problems better condoms help with, STD transmission in Africa, and it wont make it out into the developing world due to patents and prices.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 09:31 GMT James Micallef
Re: Just give us a male pill already
Was reading about this last year, some guy in India invented a way to do a 'reversible vasectomy' basically inserting some sort of gel to block the tubes*. No health company wanted to touch it because it would destroy their research efforts for male pill + their nice little cash cows for the female pill. I think he's been getting some grant from Indian gov to develop the idea.
But even so, that (and a 'male pill') will only 'solve' the contraception problem, not the prophylactic one, so, great for committed partners who want to experience more pleasure and less inconvenience... but still I would think that a huge proportion of human sexual activity is carried out with a casual partner, and it would take crazy reckless or completely ignorant** to trust a random guy/girl at their word that they're 'clean'. So better condoms is a great initiative from Mr. Gates
*oversimplification warning!
**in the true sense of the word of 'not knowing', this does NOT mean stupid
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 01:40 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Just give us a male pill already
Back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, I served in the Army with a bloke who CLAIMED to have what amounted to an on-off switch in his plumbing. According to him, his doctor had inserted very small, gold-plated, valves in his vas deferens and he could turn them off until he was ready to start popping out rug rats... Of course, he had to visit his doctor to make the change. No one in the company believed him, and he had no way to prove it... at least not without an x-ray.
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 10:28 GMT Corinne
Re: Just give us a male pill already
I think of all the guys I've know (in both the biblical and platonic sense!) there's about 3 I would trust with sole control of contraception - and one of them I'm not 100% sure about! This is simply down to the fact that the potential downside of contraceptive failure is nowhere near as life changing for a man as it is for a woman, and therefore not as high a priority for them.
I'm afraid I'd have to know a guy really well to trust them if they told me they'd taken their pill every day on time with no misses!
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 07:44 GMT Cliff
Jokes aside, credit to the man.
The foundation he set up with his wife isn't constrained by appeasing donors sensitivities, so can back some grander plans. Malaria research is one of their big areas as it isn't 'sexy' so doesn't attract big pharmaceutical company investment as there is no 'return'.
Similarly, I can't see swathes of Catholics for instance wanting to donate to a condom competition, but the foundation has clearly thought the problem through, bit of cost benefit analysis, and thought this worth a punt as the benefit is globally staggering.
Full credit where due.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 08:13 GMT tkioz
Odd that they didn't have a category for reusable condoms. Wait before you throw something at me, they use to exist before the latex condoms came into vogue, but they were terrible things.
A condom that is reusable, reliable, and enhances pleasure could go a long way to help with the STD epidemics in Africa. Of course so could religious leaders getting off their moral high horse and endorsing them...
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 08:19 GMT JDX
In countries where hygiene is a problem, you want them to try washing condoms? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Another con is that it would have to be much more durable and therefore it's harder to make it as comfortable as current disposables.
A pro, you can make it more expensive so different materials are in reach.
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 18:45 GMT Anonymous Coward
Reusable....
A Scottsman went into the chemists, and laid the remains of a tattered prophylactic on the counter. "How much tae fix this?"
The chemist, biting back his nausea, said "Look, I have a full box here, 20p. Why don'"
The Scottsman interrupts "Thots tae much! Just how much tae repair?"
"Look, I'm not supposed to do this, but: there's 10 in a pack, I'll sell you one for 2p"
And again, the Scottsman interrupts "I'm nae made o money, am I lad?"
The chemist finally says "OK, look, maybe with a bit of rubber cement I can fix this for 1p, but really? 2p for a new one?"
The Scottsman holds up a finger, and steps out of the shop. A few moments later, he steps back in.
"Your offer is good, but the regiment votes to repair!"
-
-
-
-
-
Wednesday 27th March 2013 09:25 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Fair enough
"Oh yeah, the guy who has been dedicating most of his life and profit to charity. What a dick."
Yep. Stealing money off people by corrupt and crooked means is being a dick.
Using that money to buy himself a reputation is still being a dick.
If he wants to give that money back, I'll be happy to decide for myself which charity to support with it, and I won't even insist that they put my name over the door or buy my company's products in return. That would be something only a dick would insist on.
-
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 09:53 GMT Skrrp
He doesn't need to go on a search for a better condom
They exist; Pasante Unique:
http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=3456 *
Non latex, silicon lube safe, thin and strong. Amazing things. G/f and I love them.
* Other shops are available, couldn't find the actual manufacturer on the first page of Google. Yes, I am lazy.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 12:29 GMT Kevin Johnston
Re: He doesn't need to go on a search for a better condom
Good mob Pasante...had a mousemat from them (courtesy of my wife who was a Sexual Health Nurse at the time) which showed a range of their condoms with sizes. You wouldn't believe how many people at work tried to steal it from me, had to take it back home in the end or risk losing it.
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 13:27 GMT IronSteve
I don't even think it's the sensation that's the problem..Durex Featherlites are pretty decent.
...Now if they can invent something that takes away that awkward moment when you have to interrupt foreplay to hunch over (bare arsed) at the side of the bed and fumble around in the dark (or even worse..turn the light on) to fiddle with a fuckin' sachet while an increasingly impatient woman getting more and more out of the mood is peering over your shoulder....
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 13:27 GMT John Smith 19
what is the HIV growth rate in the thrid world these days?
High IIRC.
I think this is an excellent idea. Making it work is going to be tricky but the payoff is huge.
HIV/AIDS and other STDs are a huge burden and barrier methods are the only real way that this is going to be stopped. It's sad someone gets these diseases and they cannot be cured but why should their wives/mistreses/prostitutes pay for their stupidity.
It'll be interesting if the get static from the
swivel eyed loonsreligious right in America for this.Thumbs up for working on a big issue that the US govt probably won't touch.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 21:36 GMT sisk
Re: what is the HIV growth rate in the thrid world these days?
Actually recent (VERY recent, like yesterday) reports show that they may now be able to 'functionally cure' HIV if they catch it early enough. My medical knowledge is above average*, but I'm still not quite sure what they mean by 'functionally cure' and the article I read was in a medical periodical so it didn't go into details for the uninitiated.
*Mostly due to being around medical professionals (both my parents, several aunts, an uncle, my sister, and numerous friends of the family) a lot. Sort of like how my wife knows more about computers than the average person just from having had to puzzle out what I'm talking about so often even though she's not a geek by any definition.
-
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 13:34 GMT Rol
Psst, fancy a shag?
Place a small "hood" over the end and liberally spray on an aerosol of rubber solution.
This will stay put through the ups and downs and obviously one can fits all.
It can also be applied before the blood rushes out of your brain, so avoiding the fumbling moments pre coital.
Might want to shave first, or scream later. Yeah, I'm still working on that oversight, anyone got any solvent that releases rubber from an intimate fit.
-
Tuesday 26th March 2013 14:03 GMT stu 4
japseye bag
I was thinking - as long as your primary purpose was family planning and not disease control - what you want to a wee inflatable bag you stick in yer japs-eye - sort of plugs in with an expanding plastic plug.
has a wee rubber teat on the end that hold the man juice.
pros: no loss of feeling
cons: might be a bit of a difficult sell to get folk to plop into their bell end.
-
-
Wednesday 27th March 2013 08:34 GMT Allen Versfeld
Re: Free cpndoms make safer sex??
In South Africa they are free, wrapped in 10-packs in dispensers all over the place: I've seen them in Corporate, university and government toilets. The dispensers are usually empty, though - demand exceeds supply. Which is weird because they're supplied by the state, meaning lowest cost bidder: Inconsistent lubrication (Often only enough to cover the first 5 cm's or so...), and nice thick latex. Given the choice between sex with one of those babies and no sex at all... well it's not an easy choice.
They do make EXCELLENT water balloons, though - easily take 5 litres without bursting!
-
-
Wednesday 27th March 2013 21:39 GMT Anonymous Coward
Large and flavoured please.
I can buy large* condoms. I can buy flavoured condoms. But there aren't any which are both large and flavoured. The large ones all have the standard spermicide which smells and tastes disgusting, it is very off-putting. So please, let me buy a large one which isn't covered in that unpalatable stuff!
*Yes I have a large penis. Some guys do, deal with it.