

If the Rubik's Cube were invented today, would anyone care? - amichail

Now that computers are commonplace, physical novelties such as this are perhaps not that interesting.  Moreover, today's games involve complex and accurate depiction of the real world, not simple abstract games.<p>Would the Rubik's Cube succeed if it were invented today?
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Bjoern
Most certainly. That thing is still "reinvented" these days. Different shapes,
difficulties, lights, all kind of variations. If the Computer-age would have
made it uninteresting why are still so many of Rubik cubes produced these
days?

e.g. see here

<http://www.toytalk.co.uk/2006/03/eye_on_the_past.html>

\- Huge sales in Books and other related materials

\- IPhone cheating application e.g. downloaded 30k+
<http://efaller.com/blog/2009/02/13/15-minutes-of-fame/>

aso.

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ajdecon
Probably it would still be popular, tho maybe not as much of a hit. Physical
toys and puzzles are still pretty popular among non-gamers. And some pretty
technical people still enjoy playing with this kind of puzzle: during
undergrad I noticed that Rubik's cube was always popular with the mechanical
engineers, physicists, etc. This kind of tactile problem-solving can also be a
lot more instinctively satisfying than achieving the goal of a video game.

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ganley
Puzzles such as those produced by ThinkFun seem to be doing just fine. Those
are a little easier than Rubik's Cube, but IMO this is a good thing - I've
known very few people who were actually able to noodle out the cube from
scratch. Speaking for myself, who admittedly isn't the target demographic of
your question, I still love physical puzzles, and don't play any other solo
games (neither computer nor complex realistic physical games).

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dandrews
I don't think I ever once had the patience to solve a cube that someone handed
me. The puzzle just never interested me, much like a 15-puzzle fails to
interest me. But I certainly spent lots of time playing with the mechanism
itself, trying to divine how it was built.

So to answer your question I'd have still bought one today if I'd never seen
it before, computer games notwithstanding. It remains a clever hack.

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csbartus
no way.

i'm selling gadgets & gizmos and another smart stuff (thinkgeek like), people
is not interested anymore in something which is not digital (except laser
sabers)

