I'm starting to think LEGO is evil • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#21

Post by tomkinstinch » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:21 PM UTC

shin_lao wrote: post #11

I think he forgot you can now order whatever LEGO piece you are looking for online. So basically LEGO tries to sell to people who will not hack on the LEGO with very cool models but provides formidable tools if you want to hack your own LEGO. You can even submit your own models if I'm correct.

Yeah, LEGO's CAD software lets you design models and then order all of the requisite parts[1]. I haven't used it yet, it's a really cool idea.

So there are unfortunate movie-themed prefab kits for the masses, and powerful design software for creative folks. LEGO still sells bulk quantities of classic bricks, you just have to look a bit.

1. http://ldd.lego.com/

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#22

Post by dmm » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:21 PM UTC

adriand wrote: post #9

dmm wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We need more women scientists Are you a scientist?

Are you capable of realizing that your comment is unhelpful and does nothing to advance the conversation?

No, I don't understand why my comment does nothing to advance the conversation.

The poster ericabiz says the US needs more women scientists and I asked her if she was a scientist. If not, I was going to ask her why she wasn't.

EDIT: I don't give a damn what ericabiz does. I wanted to know whether she really believed toys or suggestive advertising or whatever was really to blame for the lack of women in science. Because I think there are some other reasonable possibilities, for example, that science is a shitty career with huge uncertainty. A person with the skills and inclination to be a scientist can easily be a doctor/surgeon, vet, engineer, etc and have much better career potential.

BURGERBRAIN: LOL guess I wasn't thinking. Good thing you are here to spread sarcastic bullshit around.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#23

Post by mhartl » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:22 PM UTC

A bit OT, but a fun exercise: every time you see the word "millennium", count how many "n"s there are. The answer is "one" an astonishing amount of the time, even in professionally edited copy. In fact, as of this writing the Google search for "Millennium Falcon" brings up an Amazon ad for—you guessed it—a "Lego Millenium [sic] Falcon". (Full confession: Around 2000, I was mortified to discover that I, a card-carrying spelling Nazi, had been misspelling it for years.)

N.B. You can remember the right spelling by recalling that a millennium is a thousand (mille) years (anni).

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#24

Post by tlrobinson » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:22 PM UTC

pkamb wrote: post #5

That cops-and-robbers LEGO advent calendar is pretty weird. I still have this guy hanging on my tree: http://www.1000steine.com/brickset/images/1627-1.jpg

I remember that guy! But I think he got assimilated into the large box of LEGO in my parents' basement.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#25

Post by tlrobinson » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:25 PM UTC

I was also dismayed by their focus on movie tie-ins and set-specific pieces, but I really like the LEGO landmark/architecture series:

http://architecture.lego.com/en-us/products/

They're built with pretty much all standard pieces (though not necessarily standard colors).

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#26

Post by cstross » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:25 PM UTC

s/LEGO/toy manufacturers/

(There, I fixed it for you!)

The trend towards highly gendered media-tie in toys that are designed to generate follow-on sales opportunities for accessories rather than to encourage kids to develop their imagination through semi-structured but open-ended play nauseates me. I am doubtless betraying my personal bias here, but the corporate discovery that the quickest way to a parent's wallet is through their offspring is a bleakly exploitative example of market amorality; it may be legal, but is it decent?

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#27

Post by mbateman » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:26 PM UTC

dmm wrote: post #22

adriand wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you capable of realizing that your comment is unhelpful and does nothing to advance the conversation?

No, I don't understand why my comment does nothing to advance the conversation. The poster ericabiz says the US needs more women scientists and I asked her if she was a scientist. If not, I was going to ask her why she wasn't. EDIT: I don't give a damn what ericabiz does. I wanted to know whether she really believed toys or suggestive advertising or whatever was really to blame for the lack of women in science. Becau…

"we need" does not imply "I personally have an obligation to provide with my own career decisions"

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#28

Post by bryanlarsen » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:26 PM UTC

ericabiz wrote: post #3

As a girl geek who grew up on Legos, this makes me really, really sad. From the NPR article linked to from the article above: "Lego also consciously aimed for boy customers when it embarked on its stunning turnaround. Boys were easier to sell to than girls." headsmash "The new Lego girl minifigures have names like Stephanie, Olivia, and Emma, and the building sets include a veterinary clinic, a hairdressing salon, a…

The building sets also include an "inventor's workshop", which looks pretty cool, and seems to be exactly the right thing to encourage women scientists & girl geeks.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#29

Post by joezydeco » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:27 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #20

Whomever decided to kill Space Legos needs to be shot into orbit. The model kits all suck. I went and bought $15 tubs of the wall of bricks recently and my kids get far more use from those random pieces than they do kits.

I hear ya. Space Legos were the first sets I really came to love. Although, I got pissed back then because of those odd specially-formed pieces like the engines. NOW, it seems 80% of a lego kit is special pieces.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#30

Post by dgabriel » Thu, Dec 15, 2011, 8:28 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #18

I'm having trouble understanding the backlash against the new Lego for girls initiative. As the father of a couple of pre-school girls, I'm loving the new initiative. It appears to consist of 3 things: - realistic looking minifigs. Not square and not oversexed. - additional brick colors, and not just pink. - sets not based on movie tie-ins, but in real-world locations like an inventor's workshop, a café, an animal ho…

It's the hard gender division. Why are there "girl legos," and "boy legos"? And it also seems like they're offering the same "girl themed" play sets that all the other toys offer, except you have to put it together first. Who plays with lego that way?