

A Tiny Speaker Printed on a Single Sheet of Paper - gyosko
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/12/a-tiny-speaker-made-out-of-paper/

======
diydsp
I guess I'm just feeling weary of grad-school tropes, but think about this
statement with me:

"I hope that we will find an effective way of solving the problem of
electronic waste, which is growing quickly."

If the "designer" really feels this way, then why did they do this project???

Speakers actually recycle very well. They're steel, paper, glue and copper.

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.")

AND it appears to recklessly waste a slab of (toxic, difficult-to-recycle)
acrylic for NO REASON. Wood would have been fine there.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

(yes, I am _this_ mad.)

~~~
grey-area
I voted for this story as it's such a lovely idea - this is a prototype, an
educational hack, and not a consumer product. It is clearly not expected to be
compared to mass-produced products or to somehow solve the world's recycling
issues. Printed, lightweight electronics may well help address recycling in
the future, and that was one off-hand comment at the end of the article.

I was really sad to see this nasty, entirely negative and mostly irrelevant
comment at the top in response. From the article pic captions:

 _The goal is to demystify the gadgets people use every day._

I'd say it succeeds admirably, particularly the annotated circuit diagram with
the actual components spread out within it. What a wonderful idea for an
educational tool that could be used in schools for example to demonstrate
simple electronic circuits.

Clearly it's not some high end speaker replacement, a solution for recycling
issues, world hunger, your demand for quality music in your home (!), or
intended to trick you into thinking anything. It's a little demo, a hack, and
I think it's a good one.

~~~
diydsp
> that was one off-hand comment at the end of the article.

Kennedy's assassination was one bad action at the end of an otherwise lovely
day, yet we still have to take it as part of the whole. So, when the designer
says, "I want less electronic waste" and then makes electronic waste, I am
calling them out on it.

I'm blaming the writer for a bad article, too and if you think this is somehow
news, you should have linked to a better source of this info.

For example, here are two other articles on the same design from over a week
ago _without the fake environmental rhetoric_ :

[http://www.designboom.com/technology/conductive-
electronic-p...](http://www.designboom.com/technology/conductive-electronic-
paper-speakers-by-coralie-gourguechon-) 12-12-2013/

[http://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-simplest-speaker-is-
silkscreen...](http://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-simplest-speaker-is-silkscreened-
on-a-piece-1481884888)

Here's the same article again, from last month, _also without any fake
environmental rhetoric_ : [http://www.creativeapplications.net/sound/paper-
electronics-...](http://www.creativeapplications.net/sound/paper-electronics-
by-coralie-gourguechon/)

:)

Now, since you are so excited about home-made speakers, I'm sure you'll lead
us in another round of healthy enthusiasm for another home-made speaker from 5
years ago by a _2nd_grader_?

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CxMm0ksJ8Y](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CxMm0ksJ8Y)

And now another home-made speaker from 5 years ago from household materials by
two high schoolers?

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=995yt8Eb5FU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=995yt8Eb5FU)

Here's another such home-made speaker from five years ago:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i90jJ9bKmRg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i90jJ9bKmRg)

Oh yeah, here's another home-made speaker and audio circuit like OP's with
half a million views that was two years ago. I used to be friends with this
girl and her husband, I should look them up:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1F5Gg4bG3o](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1F5Gg4bG3o)

And if you are not completely exhausted and can't understand why I think
presenting this as news is silly, here's a 4-part video series on how to make
a decent, 20 watt speaker and that teaches you how to calculate and measure
basic electrical terms like impedance:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6rwZvM1Tx4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6rwZvM1Tx4)

I would greatly admire that one for its demystification and educational
qualities as opposed to the tinny, hissing thing in OP.

Here's another nice, minimal home-made speaker re-using a wire spool, from a
year ago:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYywo-
UUkJA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYywo-UUkJA)

Here's the design and construction of an entire subwoofer!

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4IeUElN8oQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4IeUElN8oQ)

Here's ANOTHER little school kid who made something sounding about as good as
OPs article last week. Why isn't this "news"??? It only has 3 views so far. Go
post him a nice comment, too:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHX10ouc-
lw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHX10ouc-lw)

The practice of making and teaching how to make speakers from every day
objects and from scratch is and has been an ongoing practice for decades and
decades. So why is this article suddenly considered news? I'm sorry if you're
really sad, but I disagree with this newsworthiness of this article.

Also, there's been an instructable on how to do make speakers from scratch,
how can OP be news?

[http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Paper-
Speakers-F...](http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Paper-Speakers-
From-Scratch/)

And a "maker" project on using a paper plate to make a home-made speaker:

[http://makezine.com/projects/styrofoam-plate-
speaker/](http://makezine.com/projects/styrofoam-plate-speaker/)

Even ehow has a crappy article ( With no pictures?! Is it really so easy to do
that we don't even have to see it to know? possibly.) on the topic:

[http://www.ehow.com/how_4895246_make-speaker-out-paper-
plate...](http://www.ehow.com/how_4895246_make-speaker-out-paper-plate.html)

Ehow can also do it with a paper plate (and no pictures):

[http://www.ehow.com/how_6630889_make-homemade-speakers-
plast...](http://www.ehow.com/how_6630889_make-homemade-speakers-plastic-
cup.html)

Here's one using Legos from 2007:

[http://www.ehow.com/how_6630889_make-homemade-speakers-
plast...](http://www.ehow.com/how_6630889_make-homemade-speakers-plastic-
cup.html)

Here's another one with really great pictures:

[http://science.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-paper-plate-
speak...](http://science.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-paper-plate-speaker-
actually-works-for-under-1-0141522/)

When you look around, you'll see people have been making educational paper
speakers with and without soldering for years and years. And none of them are
waving the "less electronic waste" flag. Article is a hack, but not news.

~~~
shadowfox
> > that was one off-hand comment at the end of the article.

> Kennedy's assassination was one bad action at the end of an otherwise lovely
> day, yet we still have to take it as part of the whole

Good lord, way to equate things.

------
natch
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.

~~~
jonmrodriguez
Try the Mitsubishi NBSIJ–MU01 conductive ink for inkjet printers. Available
here:
[http://www.k-mpm.com/agnano/agnano_ink.html](http://www.k-mpm.com/agnano/agnano_ink.html)

MSR published a paper where they tried using this ink and wrote about their
results:
[http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/201273/ubi1415-instant%20...](http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/201273/ubi1415-instant%20inkjet.pdf)

------
sown
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.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awef78YtWmc#t=8s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awef78YtWmc#t=8s)

It's just a neat thing to do during a break, or if you need a science project.

------
wrongc0ntinent
A different take on the printed speaker, this was news a couple days ago:
[http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/12/fully-
functional...](http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/12/fully-functional-
loudspeaker-3-d-printed)

------
ctdonath
I up voted it because it promises to greatly simplify hobby circuit
interconnections. Design, print, glue components, use.

The aforementioned green piety at the end I'd overlooked - and appreciate the
screed regarding it.

