I guess I'm just feeling weary of grad-school tropes, but think about this statement with me:<p>"I hope that we will find an effective way of solving the problem of electronic waste, which is growing quickly."<p>If the "designer" really feels this way, then why did they do this project???<p>Speakers actually recycle very well. They're steel, paper, glue and copper.<p>This project doesn't take steps toward the problem of electronic waste. It doesn't matter that the speaker was made on their own workbench instead of in a factory. (except that "factories are bad.")<p>AND it appears to recklessly waste a slab of (toxic, difficult-to-recycle) acrylic for NO REASON. Wood would have been fine there.<p>I'll identify what is really going on here: Grad schools are filllled with people alienated from the products they consume. That's a serious phenomenon that we can do something about. This project is an attempt to understand the electromagnetic phenomenon and thereby reduce alienation.<p>But _please_, don't construe this as anything environmental, or a statement on the future. It's a personal project the designer needed to do to understand a natural phenomenon, not anything that's going to help the rest of us.<p>If you want to be taken seriously, practice what you preach. Don't mumble platitudes about toxic waste while parading your own contributions to it.<p>I'll only mention the fact that paper-processing is one of the more well-known toxic activities (although some steps have been to reduce it) out there... contrasted with organic stains and varnishes used in the wood of "bad" speaker design.<p>Plus, by building inferior versions of mass-produced items, you're sending the message that "homemade stuff is shitty." I mean, listen to that speaker! Is that really something you want playing at your house?<p>How are we supposed to take seriously someone's ideas about the future when their perception is so clearly compromised they somehow feel that this an acceptable substitute for anything I would actually use to listen to music in my home?<p>Or are you going to tell me that this is just a hint, a suggestion, of how things _could_ be? If that's the case, then you haven't done anything, and you're trying to trick me into imagining how it could be better. If the designer has any idea how to make a GOOD speaker that's environmentally friendly, then stop being a jerk and keeping it a secret. Fucking demo it, not some weak-sauce illustration of the principles of electromagnetism.<p>DIY doesn't have to mean shitty quality and we shouldn't let anyone control the future who tells us we have to accept shitty quality and toxic materials where they're not needed.<p>(yes, I am _this_ mad.)
The one question I would like to know is: where can I get my hands on this kind of ink and what kind of printer does it require? Unfortunately, journalists don't think to delve into this kind of information.
As an aside, this isn't as 'hi-tech' but with a paper plate, styrofoam bowl, sheet of paper and a magnet you can make a speaker, too.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awef78YtWmc#t=8s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awef78YtWmc#t=8s</a><p>It's just a neat thing to do during a break, or if you need a science project.
A different take on the printed speaker, this was news a couple days ago: <a href="http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/12/fully-functional-loudspeaker-3-d-printed" rel="nofollow">http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/12/fully-functional...</a>
I up voted it because it promises to greatly simplify hobby circuit interconnections. Design, print, glue components, use.<p>The aforementioned green piety at the end I'd overlooked - and appreciate the screed regarding it.