HackerTube / Video
Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch
TED
Designer Thomas Thwaites describes his attempt to build a toaster from scratch, from mining ore and deriving plastic from oil. It is a short TED talk on how much civilization a simple object depends on.
HN uses it as the standard illustration of hidden complexity and supply-chain dependencies behind everyday objects.
9 Hacker News mentions · 2019–2025