LittleBits: Easy way to get started with electronics | Hacker News Reader

LittleBits: Easy way to get started with electronics

littlebits.cc

52 pointsnreece16 comments

Very clever! Joining the ranks of snap circuits [1] and others. I like the magnet trick [2]. The challenge I've found with them though is that some inexpensive test equipment to explore would be helpful too. I keep hoping something like the 'nanoscope' or some other inexpensive oscilloscope product can be 'built in' to one of these things so that students and see what is going on with their eyes.

[1] http://www.elenco.com/product/productlist/snap_circuits

[2] I wonder if Apple will sue them if they do that for a power connector? (not snark, seriously, Apple is all about keeping MagSafe for themselves ...)

Folks complaining about price - I think about Legos. Given what they are, they are really expensive. And yet, growing up, I wanted every present I got to be Legos.

Even if Littlebits has a smaller market because of price, if it's a passionate market they'll grow and so better be able to offer a range of different sized products with variable pricing. As a hardware startup, that's a far better route than to expect scale that may take a while to arrive.

Yep, i loved having LEGO but now that i am all grown up, i realize what a privilege it was to own that many LEGOs!! Hell they're expensive! (though part of me still wants to spend a huge chunk of my salary on them) :P

Growing up in the 70's, I learned electronics from Denshi blocks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denshi_block

Still one of the most amazing toys I've ever seen - nothing can prepare you for the pleasures of assembling, lego-style, a circuit - and then it works!

I loved it so much I've now sort of become a bit of an EBay junky, trying to find Denshi blocks for my kids to play with .. all I've found so far is the cheap clone ripoff, but I hope to one day have a full collection of the real thing soon enough. I'd love to have the Denshi block system that came with a small synthesizer chip, for example .. this would be a fabulous toy for my 6 year old and 3 year old to play with together.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we've sort of lost something that toys like this didn't persist in the marketplace and are just now being "re-invented" by new generations. It'd be great if Denshi blocks came back on the market .. maybe an open source version makes more sense now, though.

Just checked em out, they look pretty cool! Are you sure they aren't still in the market? I mean didn't you check the manufacturer's site? (i cant cuz it's in japanese and google services don't work in my office) but i did manage to find a blog post[1] about them from 2 years ago.

[1]http://threestepsoverjapan.blogspot.com/2011/12/gakken-kit-3...

Yeah, they re-released the EX150 series .. I have one of the new ones, but I really prefer the older kits that were released in the 70's and 80's - the synth component, for example was pretty badass. (Sorry I didn't make it clear that I was an Ebay junky looking for the older kits..)

I suppose its irrelevant these days; I could just wire up my own new Denshi blocks with ease, and it'd be a good reason to polish up my Japanese .. there is a thriving Denshi culture, but it seems to have withdrawn into Japan.

For some reason Denshi blocks never caught on out in the West; but I think - as we see with this new-school effort - there are still tinkerers out there who yearn for such modularity. In the case of Denshi in the 70's, I think it was more that kids just lost the blocks too easily. Magnets help, I guess!

EDIT: Exploring the subject a little more, I realize that in fact Denshi blocks are thriving in Japan .. in fact look at this great picture:

http://otonanokagaku.net/feature/vol27/0ku8jv00000006xr-img/...

I now have a reason for a 3d printer. :) (Another one, anyway)

Not up on their site yet but coming next month are a set of analog synth components from Korg, including 2 oscillators, an MS-20 style LPF, a step sequencer and multiples/combinators for $150ish.

Now that sounds very interesting!

In a similar vein, take a look at the Molecule Synth [http://www.moleculesynth.com/] and Patchblocks [http://patchblocks.com/] (currently being Kickstarted).

I really like the online catalogue of ideas that people could try building. Trumps the way 25ish years ago I would follow text instructions and use wires to play with my Electronic Project Kit: http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/image_cache/httpimg3.etsys...

I had that 160 in 1 kit. Blew out one of the transistors early on. Ended up most of the interesting circuits would not work at all after that.

I saw these demoed at an event last week. They're very cool, and my kids (age 11 & 7) went right to work snapping stuff together and were able to make working circuits in a few minutes. The downside is that the price point was rather higher than I'd like. In the end, it's a cooler (and somewhat more sophisticated & flexible) version of SnapCircuits.

Talk about expensive.

My thoughts exactly.... $100 for only 10 modules? i believe i can get a LOT more for 1/10 of the price... But i may be wrong. They did mention it is open source. So will look into exactly what those modules are and how expensive they are to build. Might build em myself as a gift for my kid sister

DAMN that's overpriced. And isn't that the exact opposite of "hacking"? I mean - buying some expensive easy-to-use stuff designed to work together? But that's just my opinion. Maybe I got it wrong.

I talked to someone who helped with some manufacturing / design support for LittleBits. He said a significant portion of the cost of goods goes to the magnet and custom machined pin connections...

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