Must watch Ted Talk from Thomas Thwaites (previously interviewed by Shapeways)who as a design student at the Royal College of Art in London has made a toaster, from scratch... Inspired by the quote: "Left to his own devices he couldn’t build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich and that was it."
Mostly Harmless, Douglas Adams, 1992

"... firstly, yes, I realise toasting bread over a fire would’ve been a lot easier. But was a piece of toast (or designing a better toaster) really the point of this project?"