Subject:
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Re: Technic's Dead (was: I need Technic)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.technic
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Date:
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Tue, 6 Aug 2002 23:26:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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2201 times
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In lugnet.technic, Allan Portillo writes:
> OK, this is the point. When technic sets went crappy (but still good), sales
> went down, not the other way round. When technic sets become as good as they
> was, sales will rise. So what exactly do I mean by good?
>
> Function over form. Complexity over juniorisation. So why is this good?
>
> 1)because it is !-)
As blunt and unsubstantiated as this statement is, I must agree with it.
There is something intangible about what makes Technic (and LEGO bricks as a
whole) so good.
> 2)When you look at a technic set you can see what it can and can't do.
> People and kids alike look at the air tech claw rig and saw it could move,
> was motorised, was powered by pneumatics, ect. People and kids saw the
> silver cahmpion and saw you could roll it along the floor. If kids attention
> spans are getting shorter, then makes sets more fun to build by making them
> more complex, not less complex. A model that takes longer to build and is
> less chalenging (ie silver champion again) then of course kids with shorter
> attention spans would prefer a 8880 type set to a silver champion type set.
I wonder sometimes if it isn't the educators, researchers and especially the
marketers who have the short attention spans. Kids today are no less
willing to learn and to be taught than a mere 20 or 30 years ago. Please
don't propose that we humans are evolving that fast. :)
If this discussion was about kids in the 18th century vs kids today, well I
might say, "yes, the modern kids may not have the same attention span due to
the immense environmental changes that have occured." But as a 7 or 8 year
old kid (less than a quarter century ago) I was exposed to many many hours
of TV, home video games, a home computer, another construction toy (Meccano)
and any number of other influences. And I always came back to and found
time for..... LEGO.
Maybe it's the impatient parents who think their kids don't want to build a
model that takes longer to assemble than it does to watch an episode of
'Friends'. Maybe teaching kids some patience and problem solving skills
would help them build somewhat complex sets on their own. Maybe looking at
the positive effects of LEGO, rather than variable sales figures, might help
the company realize that there is more than one way in which to market these
products. Just because 'Technic' sets aren't selling, doesn't mean that the
same parts, principles and practices can't be incorporated into other lines.
Claiming over and again that kids just don't have the attention span is a
cop-out. I think it shows lack of creativity and an eagerness to search out
the easy buck. I'm not saying that selling Technic in this day and age is
easy..... but it's far from impossible.
Given what is often said about kids today, it's a wonder that Technic (much
less any LEGO) ever sold at all. Didn't kids have hoola hoops, and roller
skates, and G.I. Joe, and Twister, and skateboards, and all kinds of other
distractions in the 60's, 70's and 80's? And yet LEGO sold.... and sold
well. Why? Why didn't it flop? Why were kids ever interested in it if
it's so darned complicated and now requires dumbing down? In the late 70's
Expert Builder sets proved that kids could and would build more complicated
models from LEGO bricks. Mindstorms in the 90's took it to an entirely new
level. If anything, LEGO sets should be getting *more* complicated, not
less. Not every set, but some to be sure. There needs to be a balance...
as with all things.
Whew........ I think that's all I have to say for now. :)
All the best,
Allan B.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Technic's Dead (was: I need Technic)
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| (...) Yes, exactly. Hey do you think we've broken new ground in child pcychology 8^) Maybe not but the fact that kids cound demand more complex sets might be somthing lego has not looked into. And more complicated sets do not mean higher prices, (...) (22 years ago, 7-Aug-02, to lugnet.technic)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Technic's Dead (was: I need Technic)
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| OK, this is the point. When technic sets went crappy (but still good), sales went down, not the other way round. When technic sets become as good as they was, sales will rise. So what exactly do I mean by good? Function over form. Complexity over (...) (22 years ago, 6-Aug-02, to lugnet.technic)
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