Research Freewrite

 Research Freewrite

    3D printers hold an alluring promise at first glance – they allow one to take almost any computer model and make a real life object from it. This concept is something that many have strove to achieve, yet 3D printers aren't ground-breakingly new. That isn't to say that they're old, indeed, relatively speaking, they're a fairly new technology. However, in their current state, 3D printers are limited in several ways: in the scale that they can print, the material they can print, and their speed. All of these, however, are setbacks that are being actively researched so that they can be overcome. In the future, 3D printers may cause drastic changes to both ordinary people and businesses. This is my main hypothesis, and I hope to be able to research just what kind of changes they might bring about, along with their current uses.

    To investigate this topic, I hope to use recent scientific papers on the technology and operation of 3D printers, conjectures on changes we might see in the future, and the opinions of organizations and people that use the technology today. Additionally, I am interested in the standpoint of hobbyists that use 3D printers, and how the 'every day man' acquires the technology. To do this, I will need to investigate and look into communities online that focus on 3D printers, and also scout out businesses that sell the equipment. I have already found several articles about the hobbyist use of 3D printers, and one scientific paper on the subject of 3D printing.

    I think the hardest part of this assignment, in terms of research, will be uncovering the professional opinion of businesses that use the technology. I am not very good at cold-calling companies, and I'm unsure of just how interested they will be in my topic. However, I think if I present things well enough, this will be less of an issue.

Blog Post for Friday Sept 22

 Find five sources to support your Research Topic and write about three sentences outlining the content of each article. 

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=874909&show=abstract

This article is a research paper that addresses the fact that 3D printers are primarily used in industry for rapid prototyping. It then goes on toexplore some technologies that may bring this divide to a close, and covers them in detail. Additionally, it covers the economics of mass production through 3D printers.

http://www.economist.com/node/18114221?story_id=18114221

This article covers the basics of what 3D printing is, and some of the many applications it has today. It also compares and contrasts what 3D printing could bring to manufactured products, including the elimination of having to throw away excess waste. Finally, it goes on to speculate on the impact 3D printing will have on industry.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-3d-printing-a-beginners-guide-to-the-desktop-factory/

This particular article is a summary of the appeal of 3D printers as they stand today, and primarily looks at them from a hobbyist standpoint. However, it also acknowledges their use in rapid prototyping. It then goes on to compare several 3D printer models and the process one would use to operate them.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/21152/?nlid=1244&a=f

This article mainly focuses on one company (Shapeway) and the 3D printing service it set up. Customers pay the company to 3D print a design they make, and then have the company ship it out to them – an interesting service. Its primary goal is to make the concept of 3D printing simple and accessible to everyone.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3238

This article is relatively old (about 8 years), and focuses on the concept of using electric-sensitive polymers in 3D printers to create devices with fully integrated electronics. The idea is quite novel, and if it were successfully implemented, would add a new dimension to 3D printing. Unfortunately, given the age of the article, it seems that the implementation has yet to be perfected yet, or the electronic speeds are too slow.

Research Topics

Locating two research topics... it'd seem an easy task. But finding the two I wanted to research was actually trickier than I'd thought it would be. The first topic I settled on involves a relatively new piece of technology, the 3D printer. Specifically, the main question I wish to investigate is what impact 3D printers will have on the world as they become more affordable and precise. 3D printing is a concept I've found interesting, and the possibilities it offers are fascinating. Of course, 3D printing has been in industrial use for a while now, but in the near future we may see home 3D printers coming to the market as they become cheaper. The impact they could have on both industry and the consumer would be wide reaching. People could build things in their homes – toys or parts, almost anything they could think of, instead of having to go out and buy them. This would, naturally, impact business greatly, but I think we would see businesses adapt to its every-day use if it becomes that common.

The other research topic under consideration regards the recent retirement of NASA's space shuttle. How will this impact the US space program – already under heavy budget cuts – and international interests in space? As the US government looks more and more to private companies, will we see space become more open to people? That's a bit of a long shot, at least in the near future, but I definitely feel the impact it will have on other countries will be great. Already, it is impacting the space station, as the US has to rely on Russia's rockets until its replacement is done.

Rhetorical Image for Analysis

Thesis: This image was used at the front of an online debate regarding marriage and family, demonstrating what would appear to be a stereotypical family, with undercurrents of nostalgia as demonstrated by the color choice and rhetorical pathos the image presents. The context of the image is also important - as it showcases what at one time was the "ideal" family, and uses the ethos of the site the debate was staged at. A third rhetorical appeal, through logic, uses the apparent happiness of its occupants to advocate an interpretation of the image that the ideal family has changed over time.

Image Candidates for Rhetorical Analysis

Here are some of the candidates I have selected to possibly use in my rhetorical analysis essay...

From NYTimes. (Associated page: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/30/shotgun-weddings-vs-cohabitating-parents)

From LATimes (Associated Page: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-alabama-tornado-20110831,0,4840434.column )

Blog Post for Monday Sept. 5

Read Envision In Design Pages 383-391

Respond to the essay on pages 386-389 in 300 or more words.

The essay listed above makes a clear case for Dove's campaign for real beauty, and cites numerous facts to detail the issues they tried to tackle. The campaign is a surprising one for a beauty-product company at first glance, but also begs the question of its success. Was it able to eliminate the fact that companies making beauty products, like Dove, were creating a host of issues with the way women looked at themselves through their pushing of an idealized version of beauty?

Part of the campaign relied upon other companies seeing the success it brought, making those companies want to bring about a change in how they showed beauty. The hope was that the change would be a more realistic one, in turn helping the problem of beauty seeming hopelessly out of reach to the average woman.

But, several years later, I don't think the goal the company sought out to accomplish has happened. Indeed, we still see beauty product ads pushing their idealized version of women in ads, whether the ads are for makeup or clothing. I personally can't say whether there's been a shift in these idealizations, but the versions presented nowadays still exhibit the traits the company was trying to get rid of. Namely, that female beauty is based on being ultra-thin, having perfect skin, and perfect hair.

Take this ad by L’Oreal, featuring Indian actress Sonam Kapoor.

Note her hair, skin, and thinness that we can gather.

Of course, the model in this poster is Indian, not Caucasian, which does show a shift towards being more open about race in these types of advertisements. But that alone is not all of what Dove set out for in its campaign. Women are still being bombarded with messages about the way they should look and act, in order to be beautiful.