You're right. We have to embrace the technology; allow ourselves to be open to change. Part of what makes LEGO so challenging is how it presents obstacles and forces us to find new routes; new solutions.
The basic square bricks themselves present a tremendous problem in creating anything that doesn't have right a right angle in it. However, for years, LEGO builders have found creative and clever solutions to that problem.
But...
Cockpit windows are unique.
They both suck and blow.
Re:I never really took to Lego
on
Battle Over Blocks
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· Score: 3, Insightful
There's nothing at all wrong with any of those other materials and systems that you mentioned.
But one of the things that gives traditional LEGO bricks their charm is, in fact, their retangular limitations. By adding some restrictions you sometimes force more creative thinking within those boundaries.
Censorship has the same effect on literature.
Sometimes having an unlimited palate and/or supplies and/or range of motion leads to aimless and timid designs.
Re:New Sets != Death of Imagination
on
Battle Over Blocks
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I grew up on LEGO sets that took an hour or two to assemble for the first time. I have fond and lasting memories of the company and their products.
What will your son feel when he grows up and his memories are of a toy that never challenged him for more than a few minutes?
The damage to the company is being done now. The products they offer may be selling well (though many are not) but at great cost to their reputation and their future adult fans. They are in desparate need of getting in touch with their 'core values'. They know it, they are just reluctant to do it.
Saying that the original LEGO bricks are obsolete is akin to saying that in architecture the cantilevered beam is now obsolete because we have new composite materials. It's o.k. to move ahead, and the LEGO company needs to do this. But it's also imperative to know where you've been and what worked in the past. The LEGO company can't seem to come to grips with it's own past successes.
Slashdot Mirror
The basic square bricks themselves present a tremendous problem in creating anything that doesn't have right a right angle in it. However, for years, LEGO builders have found creative and clever solutions to that problem.
But...
Cockpit windows are unique.
They both suck and blow.
But one of the things that gives traditional LEGO bricks their charm is, in fact, their retangular limitations. By adding some restrictions you sometimes force more creative thinking within those boundaries.
Censorship has the same effect on literature.
Sometimes having an unlimited palate and/or supplies and/or range of motion leads to aimless and timid designs.
What will your son feel when he grows up and his memories are of a toy that never challenged him for more than a few minutes?
The damage to the company is being done now. The products they offer may be selling well (though many are not) but at great cost to their reputation and their future adult fans. They are in desparate need of getting in touch with their 'core values'. They know it, they are just reluctant to do it.
Saying that the original LEGO bricks are obsolete is akin to saying that in architecture the cantilevered beam is now obsolete because we have new composite materials. It's o.k. to move ahead, and the LEGO company needs to do this. But it's also imperative to know where you've been and what worked in the past. The LEGO company can't seem to come to grips with it's own past successes.