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Wednesday May 28, 2008 9:49 am
Benders Redesign Old Electronics
The Bent Festival in New York City recently celebrated its fifth annual event and was attended by both newbies and experienced benders. For those who have never heard of them, benders take items such as 80’s Casio Keyboards and TI Speak & Spells and turn them into musical instruments.
“Circuit bending is a really great entry point for people into electronics,” says Mike Rosenthal, a graduate student in NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. We think it is a dandy way of recycling, although we must admit we played with our Speak & Spell as much as our kids did, and don’t know if we could watch the transformation.
Read More 
| Scientific American
- Related Tags:
- benders, bent festival, circuit bending, design, electronics, new york city, toys
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Comments:
I have never heard of stuff like this before, it seems like a good use of old electronics.
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very very interesting indeed.
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Example of circuit bending (though not a very musical one):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_g2Fv2sWCo
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I don’t know much about electronics. If I messed with this stuff, I might hurt someone, probably me.
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Ah I had not heard of bending before in electronics—sounds like a fun hobby for those who know some things about circuits! (Unfortunately I am not one of those people) But we have become a society that throws away so much, that it is nice to see us putting what would normally be trash to good use!
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i remember the speak and spell it was alot of fun to play. i think this is great way to get people interested in electronics. Electronics have come a long way, and kids will enjoy this to, something for the whole family to enjoy.
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Circuit bending sounds like fun! Although it will take a lot of practice, I think it would be fun to learn it. It would be really useful. At least the benders are making use of old electronics instead of wasting them.
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