User:Dms5982
Blog Post 2 1/25/13
The Mother of All Demos[[1]]
In “the Mother of all Demos,” Douglas Engelbart demonstrates the functionality of NLS, a very basic personal computer that his research group hoped would revolutionize office productivity. Nothing about this demo seems particularly impressive by modern standards. In the first segment, Douglas demonstrates his computer’s ability to instantaneously display and edit text files on a screen. This is something that nearly every cell phone was capable of doing since the late 1990’s. However, 44 years ago, this was definitely ground-breaking. If I was in the audience for his demonstration, I would have been probably been struck by both skepticism and bewilderment.
At the time of Engelbart’s demonstration, the NLS was at the forefront of technology. The concept that textual documents could be digitally produced and edited with instantaneous feedback had still not been fully digested by most people. It would be even harder to grasp the notion that harnessing this technology would be feasible for nearly everyone in only a few short decades. At the time, computers were extremely expensive and their applications were very limited.
Engelbart is shown operating the NLS with three input devices that are all easily recognizable by their resemblance to their modern counterparts. He uses a chord keyset, a standard typographic keyboard, and the very first iteration of the computer mouse. Little has changed between the operation of his computer mouse and computer mice that we use today. Both his mouse and current computer mice are designed to glide over a smooth, flat surface and have tactile buttons to be pressed by one’s fingertips.
Professor Doyle discusses the implications of promoting the Open Source philosophy[[2]]
Professor Doyle discusses the importance of providing a collaborative network for scientific development in his presentation. In one of his examples, he mentions the reactions that many people had to Engelbart’s “Mother of All Demos.” He explains that people assumed that Engalbart’s “oN-Line System” was a hoax. They simply refused to accept that anyone could have imagined and created such a device.
It is very important to promote technological development by establishing collective networks of individuals. As professor Doyle explains in his commentary about the arrival of radically networked science, most intellectual property is born in ideas that are acquired from outside sources, but simply absorbing knowledge from nameless sources is not sufficient for new developing new technology. In the case of the NLS, other entities, like the CIA required the guidance of the machine’s creator to operate it, despite having the means to reproduce the product themselves. In an academic context, the notion of intellectual property is usually very destructive because it prevents people from benefiting from discoveries that have become artificially unavailable to them.
Blog Post One 1/18/13
Thingiverse Things
Useful: ATX Computer Rear Panel I/O Plate Construction Set [3]
This is an easily editable CAD file for printing your own I/O panel for the back of a computer case. Anyone who has ever tried to dump a new motherboard into an old Dell case would be glad to have this.
Artistic: Screwless Companion Cube Gears [[4]]
Thingiverse user, Lochemage has edited the SCAD file for producing the Screwless Heart Gears into the shape of a companion cube from the Portal videogame series.
Pointless/Useless: Brain Measuring Cup [5]
This is an oddly shaped container that does not conform to any established measuring unit. No, I wouldn’t put my brain in it.
Funny/Weird: Oreo Protector [6]
Finally! It’s a device that I can use to store my emergency rations while on my disorienting quests through Penn State’s engineering buildings.
Scary: Sheath for a Kitchen Knife [7]
Hmm… Yes… A sheath for my kitchen knives. I have always needed to holster my “kitchen” knives. (Alright, I tried to find something scary.)
Tinkering
I would like to think of myself as a tinkerer, but I often lack the confidence to start a project on my own. I do not think that anyone consciously makes a decision not to develop an understanding for the inner functions for their wrist watches or learn how to troubleshoot the hardware in a broken computer. From my own observations, I have formulated the assumption that most people are simply uncomfortable with taking apart electronics that were manufactured using technology and information that is not easily available to them. However, with nearly infinite sources of information and tutorial videos on the internet, nobody has an excuse not to attempt their own repairs.
Current advertising strategies in the electronics industry help to reinforce the notion that the hardware within their electronic devices is too advanced for commoners to understand or manipulate. When we are presented with seemingly magical devices with limitless capabilities and seamless construction, It is hard to make the realization that the actual assembly of many handheld electronic devices or computers is done by hand, or at least had been done by hand at some point in the product’s development. Similar parallels can be made between electronics repair jobs and automobile garages. Many simple maintenance procedures, like swapping out hard drives in a PC or performing an oil change on in car can usually be performed with basic hand tools, but most people opt to have such tasks performed by professionals.
David Kelly
David Kelly has abandoned the notion of a linear product development cycle and replaced it with a truly collaborative approach that allows improvement to come from multiple sources, simultaneously. He attempts to design products by focusing primarily on user experience and stretches the collective background of his design teams as broadly as possible. It is interesting that David Kelly would be building a 3D printer with his daughter. It is almost as though he recognizes the potential for 3D printing to revolutionize the modes of product design for the next generation of innovators.
Anyone can be a designer or a tinkerer.
