Okay, this is brilliant...
Learning about materials and manufacturing has always been a hobby of mine. When I was a kid I had boxes of broken products that had to pass by me before being discarded. Cameras, radios, hair dryers - they all had to become part of my twisted curiosity of how things worked. Tearing these products apart was intoxicating; the thrill was finding out just what was inside that toster over (aside from all those crumbs). It was a joy, even if I couldn't always re-assemble them after my inspection.
And why not? This has got to be one of the best ways to learn about how products are manufactured. If you're going to design products, you have to understand how they're made. I love to inspect products I come across for parting lines, gates, fasteners (often much to my wife's annoyance as we stand in the Target with me holding a blender upside-down). I gain more appreciation for a well-designed product as I learn more about how it was made.
So here's the brillant part: Justin Petro is sharing one of these explorations with you. In the first of what I hope will be many such articles here at Core77, "Dissection: Understanding design decisions through product autopsy", Justin methodically dissassembles a Motorola V.70 for your amusement and education.
To use what my wife considers to be a annoying habit as a powerful teaching tool really makes sense. How else are you going to learn about the practical applications of In-Mold Decorating, plating or button assemblies? In additon to a lot of interesting commentary along the way, there's a big image showing all the bits and pieces of his sacrificed cell phone after the "procedure".
Ah, brings back memories...
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