Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years

https://www.theverge.com/tech/854556/lego-announces-smart-brick-the-most-significant-evolution-in-50-years

44 Comments

  1. They discontinued the LEGO robotics stuff, so I’m wondering if this will lead eventually to programmable / motorized bricks again , or if the pull of branded lego sets that make noises and shit is too profitable to bother with STEM related toys anymore.

  2. DacStreetsDacAlright on

    So its just like those old Comchip things Star Wars episode 1 figures had, just shrunk down to fit in 2×4 bricks.

  3. fulthrottlejazzhands on

    “The next step in maximizing prices and profits after making our products advertizing vehicles for Star wars IP.”

       – Lego execs to shareholders.

  4. They abandoned the Boost rendering those kits useless. Discontinued the PC app. Never again.

  5. whatsbobgonnado on

    like if you don’t pay a subscription they remotely prevent your Lego from connecting?

  6. I read the title and just knew I was going to click on this article to see how Lego is incorporating Co Pilot into bricks. Glad to be wrong.

  7. I love Lego but it sounds like this is just gonna make my kid look at me funny when I make bad ass laser sounds with my mouth.

  8. Sorry Lego but you peaked when you created the shooting cannon for Lego Pirates. Prove me wrong.

  9. It’s unfortunate that we keep robbing today’s children of the simple pleasure of play without constant sensory input, the space a quiet bedroom gives their imagination to grow. Everything must be a gadget that “smartly” connects to some other gadget, ever increasing the cost of toys.

  10. Seems like a natural next progression for Lego to branch out as it currently faces a lot more copy cat competitors nowadays. Lego and robotics always seemed like a logical match too, they just needed to develop a more modular and future proof solution than what mindstorms was.

  11. This seems awful. It’s just a speaker NFC thing. So now we’ll have Lego pieces that tell you how to play with them. That doesn’t feel like Lego to me.

  12. ArgumentFew4432 on

    I‘m 37, my daughter(3) is playing with my childhood lego sets.

    Can lego guarantee this stuff works for 50 years?
    Is it „open“?

  13. I remember a huge lego brick that I could attach lights onto and they would light up. That was amazing to me as a kid. This one would absolutely blow my mind.

  14. Why are we linking to a sloppy and paywalled theverge.com article instead of going straight to the source on lego.com?

  15. I don’t think they can afford to ride their legacy any longer. Competition without giving names if frankly already well ahead. There are some thematic buildings that are simply breathtaking, with modular design, tremendous detail, lighting and so in, that simply put legos to shame.

  16. For over $100 bucks a pop, my kids will need to use their own sound effects and hum the imperial march on their own…

  17. Great! Kids don’t (or surely less) have to fantasize anymore while playing. That will give them more brainspace for things like…. nothing actually.
    This technic is cool, but we forgot why kids play. To train there brain. Sinds smartphones and social media we lost it.