LELO HEX: The Condom, Re-Engineered | Hacker News Reader

LELO HEX: The Condom, Re-Engineered

indiegogo.com

35 pointswslh35 comments

Gizmodo have done a hands on (ahem) review of it. They weren't impressed:

http://gizmodo.com/this-honeycomb-pattern-condom-feels-like-...

Ok, Bill Gates is giving free money for who develops a better condom: http://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/develop-next-gener...

Why does someone need crowdsourcing money? Is it a fraud?

Maybe the project criteria for "better" is different than Gate's.

Looks like this project predates the Gates foundation initiative: http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/articles/lelo-hex-...

Lelo is already an established player in sex toys.

Ok, but why crowdsourcing? Isn't free money better? Maybe they just want the marketing.

Bingo - both sources are free money, but indiegogo is marketing, plus you get the product in the hands of users.

They're not gloves ;)

It's funny the guy who named his company micro-soft is interested in condoms.

I looked into the contest and it previously ran for a short time and is not really set up for people who want to make money of the product.

I am sure there are people who experience breakage or really hate the feeling of a condom while on, but IMO the thing to solve is the putting it on part.

1. (the good part of condoms) = When encountering a new person the condom serves as an easy way to ask for permission without saying: "Can I have sex with you now". Instead, it's just "Should I get a condom?" Easy enough for her to say yes or no without the pressure.

2 (the bad part) When already familiar with the other person, condoms stop the entire mood and then both people have to wait. IMO, this is the worst part of using them in a relationship.

I think if I were working on a replacement for a condom, I would try to tackle that second issue.

Re: 1 - does No mean "Yes to sex, but No to condom" or "No to sex and no to condom".

Agreed - definitely doesn't help makes the situation any clearer

I think thats the idea. You can say no to the sex w/o rejecting the person. Its perfectly reasonable to not be ready for sex in a relationship.

You're missing the real question in the comment. The response doesn't necessarily say whether the other party wants sex or not if they answer no, it leaves the two options listed above as the possible interpretations.

if the potential partner answers an open ended question alluding to sex with a short and vague "No" i think its pretty obvious that no sex is happening, and possibly whatever relationship was building is no longer.

saying nothing other than "No" to that question would be quite rude.

For me, for sex with a new partner the first time, those are equivalent: nope :)

> does No mean

"No", by itself, isn't really an answer here, as funny as the thought is. Realistically, "Should I grab a condom?" is proposed in a time of physical intimacy. That question would be followed with one of three responses meaning, "Yes," "We don't need one," or "We are not having sex."

Of course, "No," is a possible answer, I'm just trying to imagine a situation in which one person is ready to have sex but is unsure if the other person is or not and they actually lack physical or intimate context...

Completely direct consent is something some partners expect and require, plus it's possible they find it a really, really, big turn on.

IMO the thing to solve is the putting it on part.

There are actually a bunch of things to solve, which L.V. Anderson details in "We Should Have a Better Condom by Now. Here’s Why We Don’t" (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...). The article is quite long but I found it fascinating, especially because of the FDA's role.

The female condom is both underused and underrated.

I tried some on a whim and a) the sensation is definitely better b) they seem less likely to break (thicker material) and c) much less likely to fall off.

The only downsides are a) they're more expensive and b) not generally available at drugstores (I had to buy them online).

Honest question - was the sensation 'definitely better' for both parties, or just one?

I tried it with two woman and they both reported that they didn't notice a difference in sensation.

There are already lots of specialty condoms on the market, the problem is their availability. Only a few brands and types are carried in stores, so you're left to order condoms in bulk on the internet and just hope that you have a lot of sex soon after. And that's if you just happen to be at home with your giant stash of custom condoms; if you're out and about somewhere, you have to run to whatever corner store is nearby.

I'm all for condom innovation, but until it's in all the stores, very few people will be using them.

Also - they said that the barrier to condoms was not access, but appeal. This isn't the case. Many (most?) teen pregnancies are the result of a lack of access to condoms. Condoms cost money, and a lot of people don't have the extra cash to spend just to keep some handy. You can get them for free from a clinic, but is there a clinic near you, and do you have the time or access to go there - as a teenager?

This is part of why the State of Maryland has recently passed a bill to cover 100% of the vasectomy, birth control, and the morning after pill for state residents. Hopefully more states will at least start dropping their draconian requirements for a doctor to prescribe you birth control as well.

That's fantastic! Good for Maryland! Hopefully it catches on. I'm not normally one for government spending and programs like this, but this is a cause I can get behind. I think reducing unintended pregnancies is a significant step toward a better society.

It's hilarious they put charlie sheen backing front and center as the marketing pitch.

Why? He is a man known for his sexual relationships throughout his career and has now contracted HIV.

Indeed, he's the perfect spokesperson to sell the idea of why you should use condoms.

He's known for being a drug addict, a misogynistic parasite and an asshole. Don't take it from me. He even says so himself. Arguably he's lost his talent, and has ended up as a true manifestation of the worst Hollywood has to offer. I find it unbelievable that a company would choose Sheen to front their product.

He was star of the highest rated (grossing?) show on television for quite a number of years up until very recently. Talent is quite subjective.

It's not hilarious, it's offensive. Sheen has a history of abusing women. http://jezebel.com/5774374/charlie-sheens-history-of-violenc...

Hilarious in the sense of an epic marketing pitch fail because he's the anti role model for practicing safe sex etc let alone other dark sides of him. That's my point.

The video is bad. 20 full seconds of Sheen not being able to figure out what he wants to say. Spit it out, man!

LELO has quite the reputation for selling overpriced stuff (they had a sex toy that they marketed to wealthy bankers, claiming it was “the first pleasure object ever created to satisfy the hedonistic sexual cravings and excesses exhibited by members of the financial world.” It shipped with a pair of cufflinks and a money clip.)

Chances that this is a gimmick to sell overpriced latex to people? Very high.

Meh...

I've always wondered about a condom that is super easy to put on and that you can't get the wrong way around. Imagine the packaging unrolls the condom onto you as you push through it so to speak. Seems like it should be infinitely doable and much easier to use?

This exists. I'm at work, but you can google pronto condom. It's been around for years and likely has a new name now.

I'd rather have a ripped one, than one with a hidden hole in it...

real graphene strengthened condoms funded by bill gates: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0008622316...

Ah. I kind of assumed that Kickstarter et al videos were still at the three people talking into an iPhone. I mean these guys apparently wanted to raise 12 k and probably spent half that on the video.

I always assumed I could grab my great idea and dash off a quick video and go viral - reality is such a bath of cold water

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