Fan-Designed Mindstorms Release Next Tuesday

EaglesNest writes "The Washington Post has a story describing Lego's new Mindstorms. Two years ago, Lego formed their own 'star chamber' to decide what the next iteration of Mindstorms would look like. Eventually reaching 14 people, the Mindstorm users panel had a huge impact on what will be released commercially next week." From the article: "One member was even able to pressure the company into building a part that makes its debut in the new Mindstorms set -- a rare event at Lego, which treats every individual piece with reverence. The new part is a connector that allows two long pieces to be joined at a 90-degree angle. The resulting toy has much more up-to-date technology than the original set, including a USB 2.0 port for fast downloads and Bluetooth for wireless connections. With the right parts and programming, a Mindstorms robot can dance in response to sounds or follow the beam of a flashlight."

great news but...

[grapeape]

The new mindstorms set sounds great, but the article contained rather disturbing news about the financial state of LEGO. How does a company that makes plastic bricks loose over 200 million in one year? Im sure that the new mindstorms will help boost the bottom line but I cant help but think LEGO's biggest problem was when they went away from generic build kits to licensed sets with highly proprietary (i.e. unusable for much else) pieces. Is it that kids arent as creative today or does LEGO just keep them from being able to be creative? Part of what made LEGO's col in my day was that you could create just about anything you could think up. When I was a kid UI was able to build an entire rebel base for my star wars figures with a blanket and lego bricks but today I have to buy a $75 kit. Todays sets appear to be more of a model kit than a creative toy.

The Wired Article

[Phat_Tony]

Covered more thoroughly in Wired [wired.com] last February.

Re:great news but...

[IDreamInCode]

I have this set and I have to say it's one of the coolest Lego sets EVER. I even had to go back and reclaim some of my old Legos from my little brother after 10 years or so.

Yes, I'm 25 and still play with Legos.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2Mu7hadI8&search=nxt- a-sketch [youtube.com]My NXT-A-Sketch

Re:Star Chamber?

[jimhill]

You're exactly right. My guess is the author was grasping for "skunk works" in a desperate attempt to look "cool" and "with it" to the new "online generation."

Huh.

[SheeEttin]

Huh. [slashdot.org]

Next Tuesday? More like last month

[Anonymous Coward]

I ordered and received my NXT last month, directly from Lego. I was surprised - the release date is set for August, yes, but sure enough I've had mine at least a month now.

It's very nice - I've also got an RCX 1.0 and there are companies creating two way interfaces between the two. There are also pre-built compass sensors, tilt sensors, etc.

Gumstix!

[mabhatter654]

One of the first things lego needs to do is allow Gumstix to make a lego casing for their little computers to control a NTX robot. There's already a great hacker community around the Gumstix platform just like the Lego platform.. It's a match made in OSS heaven. Short synopsis of Gumstix is a stripped out sharp Zaraus motherboard (like a slightly large stick of gum) with various attachments and running Linux.

Rare event?

[wiredlogic]

a rare event at Lego, which treats every individual piece with reverence

Bullshit. Just look at all the special pieces in the Star Wars kits. Lego has been on a binge of making special pieces for the past 10+ years.

Re:great news but...

[vux984]

but there's still a lack of basic parts on the shelves.

That really depends where you shop I guess. Around here it doesn't seem to be a problem.
The ToysRus, Walmart, and Zellers all have a stack of these on the shelves:

Start with a couple of these:
http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=4496 [lego.com] - 805 basic pieces in a variety of colors

Add in one of these for doors and windows:
http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=5482&cn=44&t=5& d=11 [lego.com]

And maybe this to get you some wheels and propellers, and other funky parts
http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=10159 [lego.com]

Sub in a few star wars space craft to for my classic space stuff.

And I can pretty much recreate my childhood.

All the linked sets are readily available in stores around here, at least.

----------------

the other issue is almost the other extreme with mindstorms. They need better pieces in order to make more useful models. Once you get past a certian size.. about 12" in any direction they "techinic" models become fragile and unweildly to PLAY with. /shrug

This one is a non-issue to me. Lego has a scale limitation for most projects. All you can do is get over it. A lego car can only be so big (and be playable) - the available choices for wheels alone are a limiting factor. For motorized creations, yeah the scale limitations are more insurmountable because now you are limited by batteries, motor torque, and so on, not just lego's structural limitations... but so what?

Suppose you *could* make a working lawnmower out of lego... it would be too dangerous to sell to kids. ;)

Re:What's wrong with lego kits?

[Aladrin]

I've always felt the same way. It seems to me that people are complaining about 'specific' pieces that came with certain sets and complaining that there's no imagination room. Eh, I call BS on that. There were always plenty of uses for anything I found to be 'specific' as a kid. Even flower stems could be used for antennas and such. You just need to use imagination again, and forget what you've been told.