Fan-Designed Mindstorms Release Next Tuesday 73
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."
Employment Costs (Score:5, Insightful)
Star Chamber? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:great news but... (Score:3, Insightful)
$75? Yeah there are sets you can buy for that little. Check out Lego shop-at-home [lego.com] and you will see that lego sets can run up to $249 for the Mindstorms NXT. There are probably pricier sets I am not thinking of.
Inasmuch as I can get 5 new release video games or 12 older games for that money, no wonder Lego is having a hard time competing.
Unrelated, but it's worth noting that the Seattle Nordic Heritage Museum [nordicmuseum.org] has some fabulous Lego displays, all made before Lego came out with the Viking series.
Re:great news but... (Score:5, Insightful)
1) The period of being "child" has become shorter. Previously children would happily play with LEGO till age 15, but now kids loose interest around age 10-12 if not before.
2) Computers take a lot of the attention, which was the reason to launch Mindstorms, make the kid creative with the computer. And when computers don't take the attention then cellphones do. Kids communicate much more (quantity, no word about if this is good or bad) than previously, chat rooms, blogs, sms, social networks etc. None of which involve any bricks.
3) Media take a lot of attention, and there's not much to do about it. Today it is common to find tv sets in childrens room and programs directed towards children get more exposure.
And 3) is part the explanation that childhod has become shorter: Just think about all the boys and girls bands that become the big hit, and kids want to be like them. Say, Britney Spears? (there are certainly others, I'm just not young enough any longer to catch interest).
So, it's no surprise that LEGO looses ground. And they are investigating hugely other ways to get through and catch interests. Which explains the losses.
PS: Don't know if the loss mentioned is actually danish kroner, in which case it's only a 6th.
Re:great news but... (Score:2, Insightful)
PS: This is my first
30 minute kit? (Score:1, Insightful)
What piece? (Score:3, Insightful)
Also... have specs on the NXT hardware been published (either by lego or somebody else) so that people can build their own sensors like they did with the RCX? Lego has been very hacker-friendly in the past, I hope this new Mindstorms set doesn't change that.
Re:30 minute kit? (Score:2, Insightful)
One of my favorite LEGO books as a kid was one that had page after page of different elaborate scenes but the instructions only showed you how to make a few (typically minor) items in each scene. If you wanted to replicate some of the more cool stuff in a scene, you were pretty much on your own as how to build it.
Re:Employment Costs (Score:3, Insightful)
Back in the day lego blocks were general and non-specific. Sets came with instructions for at least two different models you could make with the same bricks, and bricks could easily be mixed-and-matched between sets.
In the last few years (partly as a response to your points) Lego started producing more and more licensed tie-in (cash-in) sets, which had all sorts of weird and wonderful single-use bricks and were, frankly, crap for general creative building.
Granted, the factors you raise may have started the problems with the company, but IMO they had a hefty hand in their own undoing by producing sets that went against the entire point of lego - creative, inventive play.