RSSBeloved toy takes on inexplicable electronic aspect
By Angela Gunn | Published February 11, 2009, 5:53 PM
For every wonderful gadget that solves a problem you didn't even realize you had, the universe requires that there exist a gadget that solves a problem nobody has. Apparently TechnoSource is in charge of filling that role this week, and they're using a beloved old toy as their funnel.
The Rubik's Cube an absolutely iconic geek toy; if you remember the original and the craze it inspired, how much did you love watching people lying about their ability to solve a problem in 3D geometry? It also separated the world into theorists (those of us who solved the cube by twisting and turning) and the practical-minded (those of us who solved the cube by breaking it apart and reassembling it in the correct configuration) -- possibly in a way not entirely complimentary to the practical-minded. (Fine. The Gordian Knot told me to tell you to bug off.)
So maybe it's just more of the same old disdain when the new Rubik's TouchCube takes away the orthogonal-thinking option. A cube with touchscreens? A cube with no twisting, no turning, no snapping into components? Sounds like a nifty desk toy for a lot of math-minded folk, but in the words of a practical-minded infosecurity pal who just beheld the video below, "If I can cheat I ain't playing." You have your work cut out for you, TechnoSource.
Nice language:
"The Gordian Knot told me to tell you to bug off"
...short for 'bugger off'
...slang for 'go away and practice sodomy' (which US English speakers [and grandmothers] tend to forget)
That's almost as bad as showing a nipple on TV :-P
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|First of all, let me complement you on bringing a good dose of sarcasm to every new gadget that some people on here think is god's give to humans. Your approach is a welcome relief to the drivel that passes for news on Betanews.
Having said that, one slight question and comment:
Sentence-"if you remember the original and the craze it inspired, how much did you love watching people lining about their ability to solve a problem in 3D geometry?"- the word lining.. did you mean lying or were some words left out. I know it is trivial but.. hey.. in the large scheme of life so is Betanews and all of us.
Comment- if you use words or phrases such as "orthogonal-thinking option", this might be too many syllables for the average betanews reader to comprehend.
Otherwise, thanks for your fresh approach.
Have a great day:)
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|*smile* Hi tscar1! Thanks for the kind words, but trust me, I sent that video to one of my Betanews colleagues and he was at least as nonplussed as I was. Sheesh. (As a friend of mine often says when he runs across a particularly goofy object, "This is why they hate us." The "they" varies from day to day, but the concept remains the same.)
Meanwhile, you're quite right of course -- I was going for "lying about" there. Many thanks on that and fixing ASAP...
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|They obviously haven't market tested this as who in their right mind is going to enjoy just moving the lights around to "fix" it. Ok maybe the people testing it weren't in their right mind so that's why its here.
Part of the lure of the toy was moving the pieces physically, take that away and it takes most of the fun I think.
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|Bah. It's no fun unless you can peel off the stickers and rearrange them. :P
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|BWAH! Okay, I never tried that. Maybe there are three categories!
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|After a few times of the stickers get loose ;)
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