Subject:
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RE: Intimidated by LEGO Minstorms -- was: Service pack 5111 - Wires - no longer available
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Tue, 3 Sep 2002 11:51:36 GMT
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Original-From:
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Liz B <l_bilbro@cox.(spamless)net>
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Reply-To:
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<l_bilbro@coxSPAMLESS.net>
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Viewed:
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742 times
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Maybe our family is different... but I don't think children are intimidated by
Mindstorms. I think a lot of parents are. However, I don't even think that's
the whole problem. I think if LEGO would market this with an option to buy it
sorted down into a storage container, it would sell much better and be much more
usable. I'd pay extra for that option and have queried others who felt
likewise. I'd probably be willing to pay $25-$50 more to save myself the hours
it takes to sort these sets down (although I'm a bit faster at it now).
We gave our daughter her first Mindstorms for her 7th Christmas and she dove
right in. We sorted it out into the Flambeau tackle box I mentioned in a
previous post. My daughter was given a K'Nex Ultra this year, at age 9, that we
really haven't managed to use. I think the main reason is that I haven't gotten
it sorted out into a container where the parts are readily accessible. (Having
several Mindstorms RIS sets and their accessory sets sorted down by parts means
I can just sit there and throw robots together without much effort. Sorry...
but I HATE looking for parts.)
I have bought several RIS sets on eBay and Half.com; most were purchased from
adults who never used them - I mean, they said they had - but if most of the
parts are still taped down and/or sealed in their factory sacks, I'm thinking it
was pretty hard to use without even opening the parts bags.... I think it is
impossible to utilize a Mindstorms effectively from a pile of parts in a box. I
can't imagine anything more frustrating than starting to build and having to
search for every bushing or 8-tooth gear.
I wish we had been more aggressive about building robots more often with my
daughter, but I was trying to leave it as a daughter/dad activity - they don't
have many activities they call their own. We had heard Mindstorms would be too
hard and I even bought extra books and was ready to buy her RoboLab. Her dad
built robots with her at first - she didn't need much help, except some
programming assist with the 1.5 RIS software. She even intuited how to turn her
Roverbot with no adult input or reading anything that said how.... she just
"knew" you turned by having one motor on and one off. Needless to say, the
extra books just sat on the shelf. I use them now for reference for teaching.
Through my class I am meeting children that do have to be taught the basics (but
they're SO open and ready to learn), but out of these 25 or so kids we have
worked with this year, there are several that are jumping ahead on projects and
just intuiting how things work. We have one 10-year-old who on his 2nd class or
so was majorly modifying the project we were working on, adding motors, touch
sensors, etc. Plus he added a lot of other embellishments to use friction to
his advantage, etc. It is a joy watching these kids brains leap around and
encompass the concepts and leap further forward....
Now teaching their parents to retrieve their email has been a different
story.... I meet some who are so totally intimidated by computers or anything
that looks like one.... One had had her computer and email access for a full
year, and had never managed to send or receive a single email.
Back to the Mindstorms, I have to say I also think if they would provide the
Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms book (Ferrari, Ferrari, and Hempel), or a
subset thereof, with each set, I think the usage would increase dramatically.
Of all the books I have, I think this Sygress edition covers the widest range of
the basics. We started out with Baum, which was more advanced than we needed
(although still a wonderful book and we're working our way toward that and Jin
Sato's LEGO Mindstorms: The Master's Technique).
Okay, I'm rambling and I guess it's time to get off my soapbox!
Liz Bilbro
Teacher/Coach
CyberStorm Robotics Class and FIRST LEGO League Teams
Sports for the Mind for Lubbock Homeschoolers
www.cyberstorm.us
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Limbaugh [mailto:RLimbaugh@greenfieldgroup.com]
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2002 9:46 PM
To: lego-robotics@crynwr.com
Subject: RE: Service pack 5111 - Wires - no longer available
The Mindstorms product line is very complicated, as far as toys are concerned.
Things that intimidate children will be put to the wayside. Eventually, parents
will hear from others about how they should spend the $200 on something other
than an RIS because their "little Tommy" got one for XMas, used it for 2 days,
and never touched it again.
It makes perfect sense for LEGO to abandon Mindstorms as a consumer product line
and gear it more towards educational institutions. Kids will be more apt to
learn and use the product in an environment where teaching is a constant--not
always the case within the home.
Based on that premise, LEGO will already know that legacy product support will
need to continue for years--five, maybe even 10 years down the road. Because of
that, the fundamental parts will be available. Students will lose or ruin
wires, sensors, RCX's, and other parts that will always need to be replaced.
Schools will spend more money maintaining something over time than they will
replacing it. From a money standpoint, you can see where LEGO might want to
cash in on this.
But, for those who don't want to order from Pitsco just yet or pay $3 a wire,
there's always this alternative: Cut a 2x4 electric plate in half and solder
wires between it.
'y n y
) W
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