Ask HN: Lego case for iPhone - kickstart • Hacker News Board

Ask HN: Lego case for iPhone - kickstart

#1

Post by tinkerbrick » Tue, Jun 21, 2011, 8:38 PM UTC

Can anyone offer any advice on getting the word out on a kickstart project without seeming spammy? I've submitted to reddit a couple of times, and tweeted a little bit, but am walking on eggshells in fear of seeming spammy.

the project was created by my brother who is a teacher, and I'm doing my best to help as I'm a "prgrammer" so I must know how to do these things. Little do they know I program via search?&q= and thus need to do the same here.

Any help/advice/criticism would be appreciated.

There's more info on the project at his website: http://tinkerbrick.com/

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Lego case for iPhone - kickstart

#2

Post by veyron » Tue, Jun 21, 2011, 8:42 PM UTC

Is there a way to control lego motors and sensors using an ipod instead of the mindstorms control bricks?

Also, have you tried posting on lego forums (lego.com has a message board)?

Re: Ask HN: Lego case for iPhone - kickstart

#3

Post by tinkerbrick » Tue, Jun 21, 2011, 8:47 PM UTC

veyron wrote: post #2

Is there a way to control lego motors and sensors using an ipod instead of the mindstorms control bricks? Also, have you tried posting on lego forums (lego.com has a message board)?

I'm not aware of any other way outside of mindstorm. But there is a cool integrator for mindstorm that allows you to connect MS to wi-fi thus allowing integration with iOS (and other platforms I'm sure). So with this and a couple of iPhone/iTouch devices you could definitely do what you're asking.

Yes, I think there has been some effort on the Lego forum front by my brother, but I think he's a bit hesitant to scream in Lego's face that he's created something base on their product. Even though it's all perfectly legal, it's still touchy. Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Lego case for iPhone - kickstart

#4

Post by luke_s » Tue, Jun 28, 2011, 11:39 PM UTC

Hmmm, I'm having the same problems with one of my sites. I have no proven solutions for you, but I would suggest:

* Try and engage with the lego community - post to forms, blogs, etc. The lego community is very large online, with many active forums. Even if you just have a link to http://tinkerbrick.com/ in your forum signature, people will click it.

* Offer up free review samples for prominent blogs in the lego community . * Run competitions in the lego community, offering up your iphone cases as a prize.

* Purchase google ad words.

* Write articles on your site, and try to get them linked to from other lego related sites.