Week 9 Blog

   For this week's blog i decided to talk about the design of a razor blade.  In particular i will talk about the Gillette Mach3 razor.  The design of the razor is very similar to other razors.  It has a simple straight handle that the user can hold onto while using the razor.  The handle has some rubbery grips on the side which makes it easier to hold when wet which is very useful for razors since they're always used in wet conditions.  The next key part of the handle's design is at the top where different blades can snap onto.  This allows different types of razors to be used on top of the handle which can allow different types of users to use the same handle.  Razor heads can be easier popped off by pressing the button on the handle which makes replacing blades very easy.
   The actual razor head is very important for the process and has a nice design to it as well.  The razor head first has a blue strip of rubber that hits your face before the blade does.  This helps raise hairs and remove excess dirt before the blades get there.  Then there are 3 blades that actually cut the hair.  These blades are sharp at the time that you purchase them.  Overtime these blades dull down fairly quickly which gets to be annoying.  this is where the third strip on the razor head comes into play.  There is a green aloe strip(depending on razor head model) above the blades which releases aloes ans skin soothers onto your skin after the razors have passed.  This strip also deteriorates in color as the blade gets used and serves as a nice indicator of when razor heads should be replaced.  This was a nice way of combating the problem of short lasting razors.

Week 8 Bog

   For this week's blog i decided to blog about the design of my laptop's keyboard.  I have a Lenovo T400 laptop.  The general design of the keyboard is good but there are many buttons on the keyboard that are unlabeled which i am still unsure of what they do after owning the computer for over a year.  There is one button on my key board that is labeled "ThinkVantage" but when i press it the button does nothing.  The button is very confusing to me because it is a different color from the other buttons so it stands out which makes me think it is important.  There are also a bunch of lights that light up on the keyboard which i have no idea what they stand for.  I don't think i will ever figure out what they really mean other than a low grade feedback device of me turning on the computer.  Another problem with the design of my keyboard is the keys were not well made.  My "L" key has recently fallen off of the keyboard and i am still unable to put the "L" button back on.  If it was made with better design the key may have not have fallen off in the first place or it would e easier to put back on after falling off.