
Lego previews Boost robotic kit – cheaper junior version of Mindstorms - homarp
https://www.cnet.com/products/lego-boost/preview/
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pveierland
LEGO is doing really good by offering free software-, firmware-, and hardware
developer kits for their stuff. Their official firmware is even open source
under a GNU license. You can actually view the electric schematics for the
MINDSTORMS hardware. The resulting community support for various custom
sensors and languages is awesome. They are also being a good internet citizen
by allowing downloading without any account registration.

[https://education.lego.com/en-us/support/mindstorms-
ev3/deve...](https://education.lego.com/en-us/support/mindstorms-
ev3/developer-kits)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms#Programming_la...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms#Programming_languages_2)

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jones1618
What's absurd is that the Mindstorms EV3 is $350 and just the CPU brick is
$190.

Given that since Mindstorms first came out, systems-on-a-chip like Raspberry
PI and Arduino are down to $10 or $20 dollars, why hasn't Lego brought its
Mindstorm prices down?

I loved, loved, loved Lego as a child and my kids love them still (even my
15-year old) but their prices reflect Scandinavian economics and not middle-
class U.S. economics. I've come to dread walking down the Lego aisle at the
toy store knowing that I'll have to drop $120 on a non-trivial set. I can't
stand the thought that we live in a world where Lego bricks are an elitist
toy.

So, does Lego really believe that if I want my kid to play with robotics
outside of school, I want to spend as much as an iPad or Chromebook for a one-
chip microcontroller? That's just price gouging.

~~~
homarp
China is coming on that market too, with Xiaomi Mitu ( cf
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd0tjYW_-1I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd0tjYW_-1I)
). It's only available in China for now.

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ideonexus
Before I became a parent, I didn't understand Lego. Now I love Lego. My kids
love Lego. We'll spend an hour at the Lego store every few months filling up a
bucket of parts and spend hours piecing different inventions together at home
in quiet focused play.

The only complaint I have about Lego is the price. The kits are very
expensive, even the basic kits that don't feature licensed superheroes or star
wars. A little police truck or car is $20. My understanding is that the
expense comes from the precision with which the bricks must me manufactured,
but $160 for a robotics kit is still prohibitively expensive for many people.

That said, this kit does appear awesome.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
You can save a fortune by buying it second hand, basic bricks in particular
are worth almost nothing on the second hand market.

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homarp
Introduction video by TechCrunch at CES:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uueBgpxOGzY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uueBgpxOGzY)

