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BUG - "The LEGO of Gadgets"
TheBrutalTruth writes "Bug Labs will soon be launching what Webware calls 'the LEGO of gadgets.' From their site: 'BUG is a collection of easy-to-use electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a keyboard, a video output, etc). You decide which functions to include and BUG takes care of the rest, letting you try out different combinations quickly and easily. With BUG and the integrated programming environment/web community (BUGnet), anyone can build, program, and share innovative devices and applications. We don't define the final products — you do.'" Looks a bit vaporous, but conceptually interesting.
That entirely depends on the strength of your powersupply I'm sure. But your teleporter might still find a good use as a smoke signal generator. So not to worry! The possibilities are endless.
:) Nice and cheap, and if it blows up, well, it costs $2 to get a new Z80.
The concept is a great one, though. And also one that goes back a long way to all the electronics kits I used to have as a kid. What I'm wondering is mainly: How easy would it be to build custom modules that 'click into' all the other modules? And with that I mean not using the already available ones.
That's basically what I ended up doing with those electronics kits. Little wooden blocks with my own R/C circuit on it, and connecting that into the existing block of the kit. I'm a bit doubtful about this being feasable in this sort of setup, though, since the complexity is probably way too high. A shame, really..
Give kids more electronics kits! (Let them build their own computer with a Z80
Coz eternity my friend, is a long *ing time.
I dunno. Looking at the device on the website, I can't help but wonder if this isn't overhyped. It appears to only have 2 generic snap-in ports on top with the rest of the ports defining a more specific interface. What that means is not so much, "You define the final product", but more along the lines of, "You can use these attachements... or not."
:-)
It really doesn't seem all that different than your average embedded dev-kit + a USB hub. Certainly the comparison to LEGO does not hold. LEGOs are based on a key component of classical construction: The brick. Toys of its nature existed long before the LEGO was invented. The key innovation to the LEGO was the "snap-together" interface which gave the bricks a structural stability that their real-world counterpart lacked.
What you have here is not so much a key innovation on top of existing, generic components, but rather a repackaging of components that can be found in a variety of products. Of course, there's always the possibility that I'm underestimating this design. In which case I look forward to BUG proving me wrong.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Its called "Whitebox PC". Seriously... peripherals: camera, keyboard, mouse, trackball, gps, harddrives, infared, etc...
Seems like nothing more than the recreation of a PC with non-standard interconnects.
but with an LCD screen, a motion sensor, a GPS and a camera...how exactly do you come up with thousands of devices?
Neat idea, but definitely overhyped.
"Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
If you have to ask, then you're not the target audience =^)
This thing only has 4 ports? Is there some other add on that splits one of the ports in to 3 or 4 more ports? I also don't think an accelerometer is worthy of taking up one of those precious ports all to itself. I think this is a step in a nice direction, but I don't think it lives up to it's potential, or is valuable to the average non-geek consumer.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
why is this better than a gadget that has all that stuff already in it?
The same reason LEGO is better than a toy that's already made.
(If we have to explain it, you wouldn't get it.)