Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch

Fed recommended this talk by an RCA student who set about making his own a toaster from scratch....
'It takes an entire civilization to build a toaster. Designer Thomas Thwaites found out the hard way, by attempting to build one from scratch: mining ore for steel, deriving plastic from oil ... it's frankly amazing he got as far as he got. A parable of our interconnected society, for designers and consumers alike.' TED site
TED web site.