I think this blog post perfectly captures the dilemma many of us face before a project deadline and helps us come to terms with the fact that many of the things we create have been created before in one form or another, which is not always a bad thing. Having an idea of something that has been made before allows us to reappropriate it and introduce new features and new perspectives. I’ve found that assembling something that has been done before is a great way of processing the way it works, the way it is made, and how you can make similar things using the same logic, especially with regards to the field of physical computing where you learn more from a hands-on application rather than theory.
As someone who is new to physical computing, I’ve found that regenerating old ideas not only helps me apply what I’m learning from said ideas, but also works as somewhat of a starting point from which I can then go on to explore my own ideas, and create works that align with my own interests using themes that have been explored and experimented with by many others before.