Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster — from scratch
Posted on 22. Jul, 2011 by Office Refurbishment Kent in Office Refurbishment
© 2011 Office Refurbishment Kent. All Rights Reserved.
Internet Marketing by ireally
Posted on 22. Jul, 2011 by Office Refurbishment Kent in Office Refurbishment
© 2011 Office Refurbishment Kent. All Rights Reserved.
Internet Marketing by ireally
YoLninYo
22. Jul, 2011
if you need to make a toaster, all you need is some pottery clay, dexterous hands, and heating element (assuming you live in a world where there is electricity).
If you you are talking a post apocolyptic scenario, then I’d just go with a solar something or other. This talk exposes the biases of our “experts” today. These people are IDIOTS and they’re leading us down a fucking dead end.
I mean, if you’re making it from scratch, WHY IN THE FUCK would you make it like GE does? WTF!
billyo2009
22. Jul, 2011
He should have tried to make a Toastmaster – that only takes a few years – but you have to keep still.
baronmorris
22. Jul, 2011
@BlitzWing00
non-zero-sumness is so often overlooked, especially by the people who celebrate capitalism and demonize leftists as socialists. Collaboration is the key to all the wonders of civilization. Even language is a product of collectivized effort. Duh, right?
BlitzWing00
22. Jul, 2011
@Chronosaur I think this video also demonstrates that we got to where we are today by working together. No one person can do it alone from scratch. That as a species, the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.
SEThatered
22. Jul, 2011
@raydredX
Soon to be everywhere…
raydredX
22. Jul, 2011
5:34 WHERE IS THAT AWESOME RIVER!?
Oh it’s where I live….
exploreformore
22. Jul, 2011
It’s true that if it’s not farmed it’s mined!
Check out careers in Canadian mining by searching explore for more mining.
Chronosaur
22. Jul, 2011
@Picodroid I’m surprised how many haters you get with this talk. Yes it may be an obvious point, yes it may be an old idea, but if you put it in context by actually DOING something – like making a toaster – you can step back and get some perspective on just how far we’ve come as a species. I think that’s amazing.
Picodroid
22. Jul, 2011
So… if I’m an eccentric weirdo who achieves nothing other than bother people and waves my arms around on stage for 11 minutes while appearing to be under the influence of some kind of drug I can get a video on TED? This did nothing but prove the already obvious point that human technology as we have today is highly advanced, even for simple everyday object.
instereovideos
22. Jul, 2011
@christo930 I guess you shouldn’t have posted a comment that suggested otherwise then. Then I never would’ve corrected you.
christo930
23. Jul, 2011
@instereovideos that was my point, you haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know. I was being sarcastic.
instereovideos
23. Jul, 2011
@christo930 Yeah, but whether or not it’s a new idea has… nothing to do with what I explained to you.
christo930
23. Jul, 2011
@instereovideos That it isn’t a new idea.
instereovideos
23. Jul, 2011
@christo930 OK… but how what does that have to do with what I just told you?
christo930
23. Jul, 2011
@instereovideos Read the short story I, pencil. It was written in the 50’s. This not a new topic.
instereovideos
23. Jul, 2011
@christo930 But that’s the point of the talk. He’s showing us how dependent we are on the rest of society… if he would have made a perfect toaster, his point would have been ruined. It also strengthens his point even more that he had to use the leaf blower and the microwave etc. The toaster was a colossal failure, but the talk was an amazing success.
Mornys
23. Jul, 2011
“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” — Carl Sagan
Surely applies to toasters too.
Chethan256
23. Jul, 2011
And how much does your toaster cost if you sold it? $1 million
lyons7486
23. Jul, 2011
His point wasn’t to make a toaster it was to show how many people [smart people] it takes to make a simple toaster…
thelozenges
23. Jul, 2011
if got existed I would thank him for smart people
Brewmaisterwolfy
23. Jul, 2011
that is amazing
GeekProdigyGuy
23. Jul, 2011
He didn’t cheat, he set out to build this as if he were every single one of the laborers who contributed to a <4 pound (currency) toaster. This project shows better how many man-hours go into each toaster, not how many man-hours went into the uncounted inventions required.
As for his methods and why he’s at TED — simple, he actually *did* it. Even if you know the theories and processes, you still haven’t went out and tried it. I’m sure if you did, you’d encounter more problems than planned for
creamypouf8
23. Jul, 2011
@mangoswiss He only set out to build a toaster from raw elements. He never said he couldn’t use any technology to build it, a method which might be impossible. Toasters are a recent invention does demand at least SOME technology to build. It defeats the story that he mentioned at the beginning, but you get the idea.
cmd2tuts
23. Jul, 2011
@gwapigs Man! You beat me to it.
bbbbof
23. Jul, 2011
@gwapigs
Doesn’t really apply here