Gershenfeld and Kahn
The FAB reading by Gershenfeld is definately my favorite reading all year. Not only was the idea of the personal fabricator interesting but what some of the people ended up making was just amazing, especially since some of them had never had any training in engineering and electronics before. If I was able to by an alarm clock that made me use a series of lights and responses to turn it off I would definately buy one. Turning of my alarm clock is way to simple! Overall Gershenfeld talks about how none of the students felt a need to design for others but purely for themselves. No one wanted to make a prototype they wanted to express themselves and show how innovative they could be in creating something they needed or wanted.
The reading by Kahn was much more difficult to read and follow but spoke to a similar message. Kahn talked about how silence is the lack of everything and that design and innovation is the way we fight silence. In the reading Kahn also talks about light. He talks about using light to create space because even a dark room needs a small crack of light to know it is dark.
The common message I got through both of these readings is that humans need to express themselves and create. Whether it be through create something that we want for ourselves, or how use light to fight silence. Both of the readings talked about how people just want to create and I think this is very true. Everyday I find myself wanting to make something or modify something and I defiantely agree with these ideas from Gershenfeld and Kahn.