Rants and ravings: The Lightbulb Conspiracy

It's pretty amazing to see how the printer failed and how it could be fixed. Something so small causing so many problems. It just seems so stupid for stuff like that to still happen now when we know so much.

We see how planned obsolescence started with the lightbulb, and how these international cartels were deliberately making products last shorter than they could to make more money. To me it just seems illogical to hinder progress like that when you know you can do better.

However it makes sense to why people back then could act like that. They had lots of resources and had set up large factories. They needed to create jobs and get the money flowing. The concept of sustainability wasnt important, at least not in places like the USA. They believed they had abundant resources. Fair enough. They probably had good intentions, like create wealth, jobs, allow people to have easier lives.

Now it just seems dumb, and yet it still happens. We know all the problems yet we let it continue. Why has change not been forced already? Is it greed? Is it because change means a lot of unhappy people? Will people lose positions of power? 

Three things help fuel this crazy over consumption of products, advertising, planned obsolescence and credit. Consumers have to take some blame. They are influenced by advertising and credit makes purchases easy. But this is stuff that consumers can easily ignore if they used some bloody willpower or thought. The bit that you cant really do much about is planned obsolescence...or can you? The video showed the iPod case, with the battery not lasting very long and not being replaceable. Maybe more companies can get taken to court for creating this waste. Or maybe governments should be harsher, but they wont do much if the people dont say anything.

Now back to the topic of planned obsolesence. The video talked about Nylon stockings and the film 'The man with the white suit'. It talked about how progress is halted due to economic reasons. Companies are afraid theyll lose money, and workers are afraid of losing their jobs. People get comfortable and get scared of change even if it is for the good of the world. Pathetic and selfish. I could go on to what if scenarios and what not, but then Id just be dragging on.

I guess planned obsolescence would work if they could figure out how to make the process 100% renewable. The video talked about cradle to cradle, so if designers could work that into products then it should be fine. 

Peer review for project 1

Nicholas Baroni
Gabriel Ly
Ella Setiamiharja
Henry Treloar
Harry Xie

Get some

Yumoo, all the nutrition of sugar and purple, and triple the funsies of ordinary powdered milk flavouring. Plus moo cow!

Project 1 - Cormack Packaging

The idea behind my design was inspired by sugar dispensers which portion control. They are quite common at cafés and restaurants, but have also become more popular in households.

This idea was applied to powdered milk flavouring. With current milk flavouring, it is all pretty much the same. It comes in a container, usually a metal cylindrical tin, and you spoon the contents out into a cup then mix.

With my concept, you don’t need a spoon to get the contents out. You merely tip the container over like you are pouring, and the equivalent of one teaspoon will come out. One teaspoon is a good amount since that is what most people use when getting powdered flavouring out of a can.

Children tend to make a real mess when it comes to using these current tins. They open it messily, they get powder everywhere, they mix a wet spoon with the dry contents and they put way too much powder into their milk, or whatever fluid they are using.

The square shape was done because first of all, it made the alignment of the cup and funnel easier. The reason the funnel is on the side, rather than the middle, is that it allows more efficient use of the content inside, as it must be poured from that one side, and so it will gather around the cup effectively. Next it made it easier to hold on to, which is important for this package.  The square shape also means better use of materials, and more content in the package, which is good for the sustainability side, as well costs. It also helps with storage and transport, which is also very important to the previous mentioned things. The shape also helps with labelling, making it easier to read due to the flat surfaces. And finally it differentiates from the rest of the market. When kids see the different shape, they’ll be drawn to it, and parents will probably get it.

The package is made entirely of polypropylene. This means less sorting when the time comes for recycling; it also has good properties for the intended uses, it is good for food, it is tough, it can come in many colours saving on labelling, and it is recyclable. The product can also be re-used if it need be.

The disadvantages with this package are that it is a bit more complicated than current packages, and will probably cost more to manufacture. It is also restricted to how much it can hold, since a very large version will lose its effectiveness in pouring.

Issues with posters and how to fix em.

• Show the usage of the product. Be more clear. Use user instructions, more images, diagrams.
• Use more colour and graphics. Show its a kids product. Both with the product and the layout of the boards.
• More information: research, how it works, go in-depth on points, show images
• Put names on posters (ID number whatever)
• Manufacturing: Show steps, more information.
• Show proof it works. How it works effectively.
• Make sure the posters show all the info they need to without a mock up or me to back up.

ifixit

I like this site. They teardown a bunch of products. People can send in their own tear downs. Its set out nicely, and can satiate your curiousity about how the insides of your thingy come together in a neat little package.
The gave the new MacBook Pro a 1/10 for repairability. You cant upgrade the memory or the HD. The monitor is a clusternut of assembleness. The battery is glued to the computer (lol what?) And you need special screwdrivers to remove screws. Have fun!
Even though Apple seem to have gone backwards in the repairability side of things, its still impressive how they fit everything together so nicely. Too bad they make it impossible for noobs like me to fix em.

Class exercise: product disassembly

In class we took apart some products. Our group did a toaster. It took like 50 minutes to take apart, although we had to break a bunch of stuff to do so, so trying to assemble it from the original parts would be pretty damn hard.

Using a drill to make a hole bigger to remove a screw. What? You never had to that? Well really you should only need the one screwdriver. All the holes and screws should be the same. Get on to that Breville!

ACTION SHOT!!! also the removal of the outer Al shell from the insides

Removing the heating element sub assy and the PCB's.

Welp, that was fun!

After taking it apart we looked at the different materials used in the product.

Two bad screws. Note they require different tools to remove, one is a Phillips the other is just lame.

Aluminium

PP

Nylon

Real Steel

I dunno

ABS

Mica, for the heat protections man!

PCB's having a good time

After that we looked at ways we could improves its disassembly, repair and durability. We said that the electronic components could be put together, then they could be easily accessed for repair, upgrade, disassembly. The steel parts on the Al shell could be made from the Al shell so less parts. Using the same screws for the whole thing. Make the heating elements easy to remove for cleaning and repair.