week 5 (4?) things and proj2

Mostly this week, all of us were preparing/reviewing/taking the midterm. I really wish I didn't just take 3 midterms on Thursday though, I'm sure I did poorly on one of them. At the moment, I'm in a state of denial so I'm trying not to to think too hard about whatever trivial question I messed up on. Because really, that's what tests are all about... *sigh* how I missed the Montessori system.

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Project 2

Had a bit of difficulty thinking about what object to center our project on. While backpack wasn't a terrible idea. It wasn't a very interesting one either. We jumped around ideas from chairs to toothbrushes to laptops and finally we settled on the bicycle. If you think about it, the structure of a bicycle hasn't changed too much over the past few decades. Sure the materials for it have gotten better, made it sturdier. So, whatever issues people had with it's structure, it certainly still exists today. In addition, it is still a complex and specialized enough machine that it is fairly difficult for the common person to repair.

Here are some observations I've had from just watching people on bicycles:

Difficulty getting on - I've noticed that the old fashioned way bicycles were made, they were easier to get on because there was no middle bar and you could swing your leg over the front-center of the bicycle. While the middle bar does contribute to making the bicycle sturdier, is it necessary for the amateur cyclist?

Hard to store - as we have all seen, there will always be problems with storing the bicycle, it's always too large, you have to tie it up outside. Even if you had a central collapsible frame, you still have two big wheels to deal with.

Theft - theft of bicycles is prevalent on campus, which is why the school makes a lot of people register their bikes (for a fee). A lot of people don't want to pay to register their bikes with the school, so the school takes the bikes away? (sounds kind of like a mafia protection system to me -register your bike or else we take it away anyways?).

Maintenance - I have friends who have a tendency to treat their bicycles pretty harshly, like: hopping several flights of stairs. They're constantly changing the spokes on their tires, is there a better way to design the tire?

Storage - from water bottles to attachments on the back, people like tying things to their bicycles, but as many have discovered, this tends to impede movement if the object is too bulky, in the wrong place, or off balance, is there a better place to put your things so that you don't knock them around so often?

These are some of the ideas, our group (Vivien, Kim, Brian, Diana) will meet again next week to discuss this further and interview 4-6 people for our report.