Fun Friday: little Bits
I came home on thursday evening to find some leave behinds from a board meeting the Gotham Gal had been at earlier that day. She's an angel investor in little Bits. I ripped the box open, sat down at the dining room table, and started having fun building simple electronic circuits. The Gotham Gal grabbed my android and filmed it.
If you want to get one of these little Bits sets, you can find out how to do that here.
Comments (Archived):
Neat. Like a real-world equivalent of Scratch. http://scratch.mit.edu/
Yup
exactly! I was around when Scratch was being developed at the Media Lab, and it became one of the inspirations behind littleBits. Mitchel Resnick (who founded scratch and heads the Lifelong kindergarden group at the MIT Media Lab) is one of our advisors (and fans actually!)ok, so much to do, so little time… back to work 🙂
Scratch is awesome and littleBits seems to extrapolate those concepts tactually so nicely. In Philly, there’s groups like TechGirlz (http://techgirlz.org/) that teach girls coding and tech skills through game development, and the Philadelphia Game Lab (http://philadelphiagamelab…. that’s planning game creation competitions and workshops for kids using Scratch. Two great organizations. Would be great to also include hardware projects and events using littleBits.
Cool concept. It’s a great, uniquely powerful way to let people understand electronics and all the stuff behind our everyday gadgets. Only issue: the video is heavily distorted for me.
Fred’s long arms are long.
That’s Fred’s Mr. Fantastic powers caught live.
The video is messed up. I didnt try to fix it because it gets the point across.
MINIMUM VIABLE VIDEO.
Yup
GG filmed with an Android.I can’t watch with my Android.Sad disconnect. Boo hoo, as my browser says.
Thats messed up. Must be a vimeo thing
It’s a Flash thing. I never got around to installing it on my Nexus One. The fact that I have to install plug-ins etc to watch video seems arcane, esp on handheld.BTW, “Geek heaven” = best part of the video! 😀
Yeah. I just had to do that
Long arms! Your startups are never out of reach 🙂
Nice job on all the visual branding — love the quirkiness of it and of course the packaging (but should have a big honking not for children under 3 on it — can’t imagine what my son would do that with that 🙂
ME, GRIMLOCK, NO LIKE DESIGN OF MODULES.FOR KIDS, NEED MORE GRAPHICAL. SHOW FUNCTION OF MODULE WITH BIG SYMBOL, LIKE ICON ON IPAD. EXPOSE CIRCUITS NOT SELL KIDS THAT NOT ALREADY LIKE CICUITS.RETHINK BUILD LIKE SNAP TOGETHER ICONS ON IPAD, THEN HAVE WINNER.
Great point.
Mr. Fantastic watch out…Too the point, cool thing – (seems like for 7yrs old and up -not sure if it is true).Some product/tech review:1. Add music bit – where you can download a song to the bit2. Add mix bits -can generate auto mixing of music3. music / light bit connector – on each sound create a different color4. Add play virtual where you can plug stuff and see them online 5. Add UGC videos6. Create weekly bits contest7. Create contest for Xmas (or other event)8. Future: create bits to connect to iphone/android (with special app)
More product ideas neal! You are full of them. Sent to the little bits team
LOOK AT LEGO MINDSTORMS. COPY.ESPECIALLY COMMUNITY OUTREACH, ROBOT CONTESTS, ETC.
“Future: create bits to connect to iphone/android (with special app)”before you know it we’ll be building our own module smart phones.Fantastic idea.
YES.
@neal7799 – love these comments! Some of them we’re already working on, some totally new! Please consider submitting them to littleBits.cc/dreamBits
“Mr. Fantastic” was the first thing that came to mind when seeing the way the video oddly elongated Fred’s arms.
You’re like a little kid in this vid. Love it. Stay curious!
always stay curious, at the part in the Job’s bio where he emphases it immensely
No curiosity = dead
LIFE IS CHANGE. MIND IS ALIVE. WHEN MIND STOP CHANGE, IT DEAD, EVEN IF BODY NOT.
You cant take the boy out of the man
IT POSSIBLE. BUT REQUIRE RIGHT TOOLS, IS VERY MESSY.
I like to think of ‘Be child like, never childish’ as a maxim. 🙂 Your comment reminded me of that..
Great line. I’m stealing it. Thanks!
Can’t steal what was already yours Kirk. :DHappy Friday!!
Are these companies part of a specific group or theme. Like one gets the Social Networking companies, cloud companies etc.Companies like this and http://www.makerbot.com/http://www.arduino.cc/and possibly even http://www.gosphero.com/https://www.sifteo.com/This grouping for me is something so wonderful and tangible and I hope to see it grow immensely in the future.I am seeing a huge potential hear that can span education, toys, products and just so much more
Understanding electrons and bits is fundamental
thanks
Yup, all these are our close friends and companies we love. This maker ecosystem is nascent but it has a lot of steam. We’re trying to build a world where making is cool, sustainable and financially viable. There is so much to do, but it’s all very promising..#makersnotbankers!!
The meme is on!
ME, GRIMLOCK, SAY NEW FREDPOST!
MAKE THINGS. NOT MONEY. #MAKERSNOTBANKERS
Come on… Fess up.How many times did you practice putting it together before getting the camera out?
Considering his blog post on tumblr came out 2 days – ATLEAST 2 days.. 😉 He even knew the colors by heart by the time he had it on show. 😀
This video was taken at the same time i took the tumblr photo
Haha. Cool. 🙂 JKF…
(Just kidding.. Fred)
Fun friday!!!
Here’s a song for ‘Fun Friday’ :DFriday.. by Goldspot..http://www.youtube.com/watc…
I love that song. One of gotham gals favorite records of the past decade
Aah! Awesome song it is.Talented guy. I actually love the Hindi version of the song better – brilliantly translated! 😀 (http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Zero. I promise you this was spur of the moment
Its fascinating that we all share this primal urge to figure stuff out and build things.From our youngest days playing with lego and plastic blocks, all the way through life. The challenges and tools we use change, but our innate desire stays the same.Money doesn’t make the world go round. The need to understand and build does.
Word
#makersnotbankers
My daughters’ favorite activity is throwing off the couch pillows and making forts with their dad.Come to think of it, that was mine, too.Yes, it’s primal.Although interestingly I observe the boys love to immediately knock it down. The girls instead love to nest in it.Speaking of primal, my 11th anniversary is coming up. So I short listed a bunch of lovely handcrafted steel items and sent to my husband.But, alas, he wants a chainsaw.
sometimes the only reason to build something is to smash it straight down!
Yeah and when Richard asked for the chainsaw, I thought, “OK, so — when you look at it, you’ll think of me?” But what I said was, “Oh, Honey, you’re being so selfless. If I get you the chainsaw, I have to get you something fun, too.” His response: “You are SO not a guy! What’s more fun than inflicting mayhem on a bunch of trees?” So a chainsaw it is. Wrapped in a big fluffy bow with hearts on it.
Chainsaw = outdoorsman’s geeky fun.It’s the most dangerous fun I have. It’s also a hard workout.But I have 2 words of advice:Safety first!
Nothing wrong with a chainsaw if you got trees around you. I have one. Get him a Poulan or Husqvarna.
Hmmm. Says he wants Stihl. But you’re Canadian so you’d know. 🙂
A man MUST own three things — a great pistol, a chain saw and a power washer.Amongst chain saws there are Husqvarnas and then those that are not. Stihl is a damn good brand but the name is too damn easy to pronounce. Trust me Husqvarna is the way to go just for cocktail party chatter alone.There is nothing like the pull and roar of a chain saw in the hands of a deserving owner. It is, in fact, quite primal.The knowledge that you hold in your hands the magic of ……………………………………… firewood.I cannot recall a day that was not satisfactory if it contained some chainsawing and the production of some perfect 14 inch firewood. Preferably a mix that includes some “fat boys” that just scream out for splitting with a hand sharpened ax.Fierce blows delivered with a deadly stroke resulting in the crisp split of the log baring its wooden entrails.There is nothing as ego nourishing as lighting a fire made from firewood — again preferably containing a decent mix of hand split fat boys — that you have made.The other steel thing — a damn good knife preferably a vintage K-bar. But that’s another story.
Tereza- there you go. JLM said it eloquently without saying it that Stihl sucks (maybe they’ve got social media on listen mode and they’ll chime in). It’s too commercial basically. Husq & Poulan are for the more serious guy. I’ve got a Poulan.JLM- Since it’s Friday, I agree with and own 2 of your 3 suggestions. My pistol is my brain.
I own none of them. Im not sure what good any of them would be in NYC which has become one of the safest places to live
My husband voted for the Poulan.
Cool.
IN Reply to JLM:There are but a few things that will make a man feel more alive and content than an honest day of hard labour on a crisp fall morning chopping and stacking wood. I own all three, but the pistol is replaced with an 870 super express. Nothing like following mans best friend on the point and taking a fine cock pheasant for the evening table, then retiring to the fly bench and tying up some nymphs for the next morning. Nothing to goes to waste.
I’m with you husband, go chainsaw
LACK OF ADULT HUMAN SIZED PILLOW FORT PRODUCT IS CLEAR SIGN CAPITALISM NOT REALLY WORK.
n’est-ce pas?
Happy anniversary! Glad you resolved the gift dilemma. (I guess you won’t be visiting Etsy, after all.)I am married to this artistic, sensitive guy…for whom one of life’s greatest pleasures is operating a chainsaw and splitting wood with an ax. Go figure. His woodpiles (yes, plural) are his pride and joy. And, for me, a fire in the fireplace is one of life’s simple pleasures. So we are a good match.Trust me, the chainsaw is a good investment in giving him hours of inexplicable joy. And watch for the swagger. That alone is worth it.(You might want to include the goggles and gloves as part of the package.)
Be sure to get him some kevlar chaps or pants too.
Oooooo hot tip!
Cam, Shouldn’t you be promoting Drover Oilskin Coats?I bought one two years ago and boy is it awesome!
@tao69:disqus Yeah, they’re brilliant aren’t they? Not quite as effective as kevlar when it comes to arresting a chainsaw though!
MONEY IS SYMPTOM OF BUILD. NOT CAUSE. #MAKERSNOTBANKERS
As you can by the fact that the switch and pulse setup didnt work on the second try
@rohan: I promise you, the kit works instantly, no training needed, (no soldering, no wiring, no programming!)… albeit some stability issues still are being tweaked..
Aww. Sweet of you to reply Ayah. Was just pulling Fred’s leg there. I’ve already sent the link across to a colleague with kids. I think it’s a fab idea and I said somewhere below that I wish I had something like to play with! :)Do you do deliveries to the UK though?
absolutely! right now, we sell through our distributors: http://www.makershed.com and http://www.sparkfun.com and both ship internationally.
awesome!
Loving this so much I have bought for my 8 yr old to play with for Christmas. I hear they are going to make lots more little bits so perhaps Neal7799 some of your wishes will be on the list.There is lots of stuff out there like this but for me the deal sealer was the colour coding. For a wannabe engineer with parents who are not that way inclined this was a no-brainer!
Exactly
That’s a great lightweight Friday post after a busy week. It feels like the week-end already.What are your thoughts on the DIY market?
Etsy, Kickstarter, Bug Labs, Shapeways, Skillshare, Soundcloud….Do i need to keep going?#waylongdiy
I got the memo. thanks
BugLabs….that’s what this reminded me of. Seems like they’re in the same space, perhaps competitors?
Bug is mostly focused on enterprise prototyping applications now. The consumer product never took off.
To that topic, saw wattpad do a panel of their authors yesterday. Very impressed.
What they have going is extremely organic and authentic. I love it.
Value quotient for this one is crystal clear. Great investment.
IS FUTURE, THAT WHAT.
2 memos in a row. OK.
hahahaGetting it from all sides, you are..
Word
Nice! We have a weekly Fun Friday series as well, introducing new team members to the community.
My boys would love this. My older son has Cerbral Palsy and his mind works with circuits and lights and brings lot’s of joy. Going to have to look in to this.
I bekieve technology has great potential with special needs children
Some of the first software programs were built by parents for their special needs children.Very early in my pre-career at University of Washington, I gathered groups of parents around the country who wrote these programs and helped distribute them.Great memory. Great program.
Have you seen the 60 minutes piece on the ipad and autism? http://m.youtube.com/index?…
Checking it out.
Although my son is not Autistic, you would be amazed at what he is able to do with technology. Whether it is an iphone, ipad or computer he works very well with in the atmosphere.Cause and effect means a lot to his brain (light switch up, light on, down – light off). Technology opens that world up to him. The tidbits is a way to expand this, I am surprised how expensive it is. Are they selling retail yet? Would love to have them as part of our launch at retailpitch.com.
They need to get the cost down and distribution up. Happy to make an intro
Totally, please feel free to email me ayah AT littlebits.cc
You went to U Dab too? Wow I graduated from there in 1980. Go Huskies.
Actually no, not as a student. I worked for the U as a ghostwriter for a behavior psychologist and built the org that published early edu software programs.Seattle is cool. Lived in Wallingford and taught my son to fly kites at Gasworks Park of course.
Gasworks…omg Blast of the past. I was in Seattle 77-80.
I have a friend who’s killing it w iPad apps for kids on the autism spectrum.Therapies in that area have been ripe for disruption.Impassioned parents who’ll pay anything, and unfortunately, the market is growing.
Very true about parents who’ll pay anything.My mom coordinates a school for kids with learning disabilities and there’s definitely a lot that can be done in this regard.
Yup. The part where the kid “talks” to his mom for the first time is so emotional
Wow. SO awesome.
I’ve been getting this feedback actually, and i have to admit I had never thought of it before. I’d love to test these out and see if they do engage special needs kids in a significant way, that would be incredible.
There is a school dedicated to kids with Autism where I live and it is funded by some friends of ours. http://www.spectrumcharter.org It was designed for kids all the way through high school.
One Word iPad
I’d love littleBits to add a monthly subscription option, providing parts to build a discrete project (or centered around a theme, say ‘September spinning parts’) and ultimately be aggregated with parts from all prior months for free-form projects.
Just forwarded this comment to the company with the comment “killer idea”
I’d be sold. I’d love to give subscriptions as gifts (to children and adults).Buy a year’s subscription and get a free Fred ‘How To’ video.
The subscription idea is seriously excellent.Groundbreaking, actually.My daughter runs to the mailbox everyday to see if her American Girl magazine has arrived.Don’t laugh, folks. It’s intelligent age-appropriate content but most of all is essentially a craft-kit-in-a-magazine that keeps her occupied for a couple of days.This would be a more sustainable version of that.And in fact Lego, Tinker Toys should do it too. Subscription.
Growing up I loved Legos and begged my parents incessantly for a new _______ (car, train, Millenium Falcon) set.They were subjected to ‘subscription-based nagging’.
What better gift from a long-distance grandparent or godparent than a monthly/bi-monthly or quarterly subscription like that. I mean, even the Fruit-of-the-Month Club is fun, and it’s fruit.Birchbox for kids.
YES.
They may not want to hear this, but as a home party/MLM type of system this could do very well. Make it part of an overall education system. You can typically charge a bit more and have a very strong and loyal distribution program.
I am open to all good ideas!
Make sure there are ample ‘girl’ examples and parts, videos, etc.Since the founder is a woman, I’m guessing/hoping that’s in the works!Happy to donate my daughters for product testing!
@awaldstein, @tereza. Getting girls interested in electronics is extremely important to us (and even more to me personally). re: “make sure there are ample girl examples”: I actually disagree with that approach. Typically the problem with electronic kits is they are targeted towards boys. We are adopting a gender-neutral stance as opposed to making them “for girls”. It’s working so far, almost in all our demos and exhibits, we have a higher ratio of girls than boys playing with the kits!
A small note, Ayah. Your @ mentions don’t seem to be working yet. 🙂 Might help waiting for a second and then pressing enter 🙂
pffff. that’s annoying.. I’ll try again, thanks!
I hear you, Ayah.I’m a mom of two girls and was always EXTREMELY gender-neutral with them. So it’s shocking when they push it back at you. For example I literally had a moratorium on the color pink in my home for a long while. #FAIL. Guess what became their favorite color (age 2-5). Until it wasn’t (age 6+). I don’t suggest painting LittleBits with rainbows + unicorns but for broader distribution when it gets in the hands of people whose parents/moms aren’t necessarily science/math-motivated, it can be helpful when you have, say photos of kids playing, have the photos include girls. And have some of the things they build be aligned w what girls like, because they do conjure up different ideas. So if they can’t “see it” they may not imagine themselves doing it. I couldn’t get my 5-yr-old on red/blue skis but when, as a last resort, I whipped out pink rental skis, she jumped on. Crazy but it happens. i also say that knowing her age is not your target. BTW if you need any kids to product-test, keep me in mind! 😉
sounds awesome! Can you send an email to INFO AT LITTLEBITS.CC so we can add you to our list?
I am going to email you as well to have my daughter join the list.
Gender neutral is the way to go. The market will sort itself out as you have more customers.Would be cool, and market directing, to let the customers display and/or talk about the things they build. The lego fort/city example.So, rather than having Fred have a video, let some of your customers create and share them themselves.
NOT NEED MAKE “GIRL PARTS”.NEED MAKE MARKETING TO PARENTS OF GIRLS.THEM ONES TELL GIRLS ENGINEERING NOT FOR THEM.
On the money (and better future)!
yes – would be cool to also have sets created by users ala Lego
This seems like a great intro to hardware technology for kids and a great opportunity for schools.
I remember while doing my Electrical Engineering undergrad, we had to build a 12V power supply by soldering parts,- capacitors, resistors, switches, etc. 30 yrs later that power supply still works & is powering an old car stereo unit just for the fun of seeing it work.That, with a natural bench made of cutting an old tree & a wood wine rack are the only things I built with my own hands. The rest was built by my mind. But I can see a re-emergence of all kinds of cool DIY enablers.
Looks a great hardware starter kit for kids, but at 129.99 USD for the starter kit – a little expensive?
Yup. Gotham Gal is pushing them to get the cost down asap
Nice. I might have turned out to be a better engineer if I’d had something like this as a kid..Looks fun!
Looks cool – thinking about getting for my 7 yr old son. Only issue is at $129 price point – I am not sure if it will make the xmas list this year. Too bad they did not have a lower price point starter kit.Quick search at Amazon did not find them for sale ( At least my quick search)Have Joanne point them to Hobby Town
Two key issues: price and dustribution
The other reason I bought it is bc it’s a female-founded biz. I’m playing a game w myself to see how much of my holiday budget I can spend on cool items by women-founded businesses.I put out a quick, casual call for suggestions to my networks and have been overwhelmed with submissions.
Hi TerezaI’m listening to you hard on the gender issue. Am a supporter in every way but never use this as a search or sort filter.I search and sort under the category of small biz, the start-up, local and the artisanal. But never think about the gender factor at that level.Did an informal poll amongst my networks of natural wine makers and bloggers. Many women in that category but most all wanted to put the product first, them second.Sure it’s intermixed but at a high level of commerce sorting, we look at this from different angles.I wonder what the general market thinks about this. If you are the growing norm, then someone like Etsy should definitely consider this a grouping to search under (if they don’t already). If the market is speaking, businesses and marketplaces should listen.
I was curious to see if, applying the filter, what would come up.I think you and I would agree — and smart cause-based marketers know — that a bad product is a bad product. So greenwashing or any other kind of washing is disingenuous and short-lived. But if it’s a great product and I furthermore love the backstory, then it can be effective. Whether it’s women or local or poverty or the planet or something else that matters to me, it feels good to support it when it makes sense. In fact any great product probably has a good story behind it, no?
We agree completely on this Tereza. It’s a wonderful balance when it works.I think of a great women, natural winemaker like Ariana Occhipinti from Etna in Sicily. Remarkable story of a young women making remarkable wines (BTW) from a generational winemaking family. She doesn’t speak about being a women wine maker. She is a personal spokesperson for the region, her wine, natural wines in general so it all ties together. And works.
That crossed my mind as well, Arnold. Reminded me a bit about this post from Arrington where he was made to look like a racist by CNN .http://uncrunched.com/2011/10/28/o…F line that made sense to me – See, my brain database doesn’t categorize people in terms of skin color. Or hair color. Or sexual orientation. When I queried that database, under stressful circumstances, I got zero results.Now, I don’t know Arrington personally. But, his point did make sense to me.It made me wonder if I have any such filters when I look at new ventures..
That’s the interesting take away this discussion.Tereza and I (and everyone) have personal filters for every part of life.If these filters find community, then they become components of flash connections and become layers in the stack of broader market usage. As market makers, seeing this and surfacing these is what we do.
Sounds like gotham gal’s approach to angel investing
Care to share some of your list? My wife and I would be way into that.
We’ll be publishing it in 7-10 days. Follow @xx4xmas for details and also HonestlyNow.com bc we’ll release it on the blog. It’s turned into quite a to-do!
Don’t forget flower bling!
Have you added it?If not please submit it here: http://www.skinnyscoop.com/…
price is a big issue.I think this would be an awesome replacement for lego mindstorm if you can get them to work with legos
Price: Not sure where these are made – seems like two target price points might be $49 for basis (power, switch and light) and $99 for expanded selection.Company should look at Global Sources if they have not already http://www.globalsources.com/ – All off the parts seems like they s/b cheap – They had an * commenting about price of magnets – hummmDistribution – My sense is that it would be simple to get these added for sale by Amazon. Logistics should be a snap
Is there a software interface, like an arduino?…maybe a USB bit?
Genius. Idea forwarded
And on BAH Fridays (Books, apps, hacks) in the comments, I thought we’d do some app sharing. Any apps on your iPhones and Androids that you can’t live without?? 🙂
Ha, that’s awesome!Magnetic lego circuit design.”Geek heaven”, totally.
Fridays are always fun…..that’s the law
Convo with my 15 yr old son this morningMe – have a great day JoshJosh – its a friday, cant be bad
glad to hear he’s got his priorities right!
We used to have high-school classes on saturdays. Was a half-day til 1pm. Damn french system. I didn’t know what TGIF meant til I came to the US/Canada in ’76.
Same in India. I know what you mean..
Hahaha! – my turn now, it’s friday 🙂
HahahahaI burst out laughing seeing your comment, William. 😀 More laughs in this world, we need!
You got it Rohahahahahahan !
Made me think…My dad was a physics teacher. He made us gather pieces from old radios and toasters and whatever and build stuff together.Even as the English major of the family, it worked because it always was something we could use in real life in some wacky way.
We need more teachers like your dad
We need more dads like his dad.
He was a great one. Thanks.
Yes. That too.
My dad’s a physicist too. In unrelated news, I’m still looking up as I walk NYC. 😉
So funny. Common thread?My dad was an engineer and mathematician. Also pro-grade DIYer. School ‘vacations’ were spent on house projects, and we were required labor. I’ve helped replace boilers, replace windows and hundreds of other things.I can’t say I loved it (I was kinda resentful, to be honest). But I do still laugh at the memory of my 80-lb little sister hanging off a scaffold from a pulley system — her vs an Andersen window and the window was winning. Oops!But it did give me the confidence to try to build dollhouses from scraps, and interact with engineers in general.
Great story…Similar ones for me. Part of it for my dad was the sense of family doing everything together, part of it his scientific DNA that he wanted to share (brothers are scientists) and part of it was just pure economic class status.Regardless…it worked to everyone’s benefit.
That explains a lot
Tereza — uncanny. Sounds a lot like my dad and my childhood. (I am quite familiar with the contents of a tool box.) He wasn’t an engineer by profession but in retrospect, he certainly could have been given his thought processes and aptitudes.
My dad was a farmer….I’d put him up against a top engineer any day of the week. His resourcefulness and enginuity developed in the old country where resources were scarce. He could build engine parts and farm implements from some of the darndest things.
No doubt your dad could teach us all a thing or two about problem solving.
That’s nice of you to say. I’m sure what he learned was passed down thru generations…but he had an uncanny ability for natural balance and preservation and his solutions were enduring. When he moved to the new world…he brought that sensibility with him and he was amazed at the lack of durability in nearly all things mechanical….he would always tell me… “dey make it…to brreak it…so u buy more” 😉
I have tremendous respect for farmers. Farming is a noble profession… it’s also a hard one. My earliest years were spent in the rural Midwest so I was exposed to farming at a young age. Always fascinated me. As well as having “real” farms nearby, my dad did a little bit of farming in addition to his day job! Even after he became an executive, he still raised most of his own vegetables. I understand something about the ingenuity and resourcefulness that you refer to. I believe tech and entrepreneurs can learn valuable lessons from farmers.By the way, I always laugh at your tag line. Played it out in my mind once and it holds up. 🙂
my dad’s the md of a company that does data analysis for biotech. used to be a cardiologist.he got me doing crazy maths when i was young. and bought home a computer when i was 4. looking back that computer was probably the biggest inflection point in my life. i was going to end up in technology one way or another. as much as you try to dodge destiny it has a way of catching up — and i have tried to dodge it, a few times.
Funny how so many of us commenters are kids of engineers and teachers.What do the kids of bankers become?I’m truly curious.
Haha. Yeah.My dad was an engineer. And mom’s a teacher. 🙂
Don’t bankers eat their young?
ha!
I think they wear suspenders and belts to school and rarely survive sixth grade.
My dad was a banker for about ten years. I’m a programmer; he is too, now – he got into it by analyzing data in banking. He’s on his third career, so he says.My better half’s (mech. eng.) grandfather was a banker–but he wanted to be an engineer–had to drop out of school after his father died.
Would love to talk with your dad and possibly engage him in our project to develop curriculum?
Sadly, not possible. Thanks for asking. I will share this with my mom. She will love to hear that someone asked.
You can taking the boy out of engineering… Looks like fun. I may grab some of these for my son for Christmas.
What’s with the .cc domain on little Bits and Arduino- is it a DIY thing?
Not sure. Had the same questionI prefer the .io extension 😉
Me too. cc reminds of something to do with credit cards.
.cc means creative commons, because the project is open source. It’s all about creating a community of inventors.
Of course! Silly me. Ahlan & Mabrouk. Let’s connect.
I have nothing intelligent to say about this post, but I just want to give Fred props for his hustle and his fashion sense. It seems like only a few hours ago those of us in NY saw him strutting his stuff and DJ’ing for Raise Cache, and yet he still managed to have to time to come home on “Thursday evening,” play with some toys, get up, and make his daily post. The whole tech community should appreciate his commitment to startups not only as an investor and thought leader but also as a stunning fashion model, DJ, and rabble-rouser: http://www.flickr.com/photo….
All in a days work. I am a big believer in being an engaged member of communities (to speak the obvious)
So could we get you to wear a tie again…(actually the magenta pink tie looks good with your coloring)
100k for a good cause will do it every time
It was a dashing suit Fred. You clean up real nice like 😉
videos, or it didn’t happen? here ya go!:https://picasaweb.google.co…
The dude inspires me….what more can anyone do for someone else? Fred will always be on my virtual advisory board despite not needing any of his cake. ;)Edit: and should add some of the most brilliant and thoughtful insight from the community that he has fostered.
Was this before or after your OWS catwalk strut at #RaiseCache??LittleBits = very cool. My only objection is that now that you’re writing about it, it’ll get sold out. And I’d totally planned to buy a kit for Margot for Xmas. So gotta go do that now.
Love it!
Better act fast, folks. 19 left.
Nice to see you’re back in full form today, Tereza.Procrastinating on something again? 😉
Actually, since you asked, i’m at the hairdresser. My dark (+ gray) roots were like 2″ long. Disgusting. But I’m so glad that through modern technology I can share my thought leadership with you all, simultaneously. (j/k)15 min left of this blow-dry and it’s back, deep into the salt mines. Much, much to do.
you’re reminding me I need a haircut
More of your thought leadership, we could definitely do with. The trenches, I hope you will enjoy. May the friday force be with you..
#occupylittlebits 😉
Easy reece!
😉
The video sold me. I said “we have to get this… perfect gift for your nephew.”The price crushed my hopes and dreams. It’s about double where it should be.My completely unsolicited advice? Take the Gillette approach. A loss on the starter and enroll me in subscription for cool new parts monthly….maybe quarterly awards video in various categories (innovative, practical, K-3, etc) Then again, I’m a subscription-model die-hard and I know nothing of this business. lol
Andy I agree 100% w you.I did buy it bc I want to be first. But that’s not a scalable price.Subscription model FTW.Which can finance their future inventory.
@ShanaC, @andyswan, @tereza, @johnrevay, @fredwilson, @teegee price is absolutely an issue. Believe it or not, we make practically no profit on these, but our cost is crazy high. Our main focus right now is getting the price down. Keep in mind this is version 0.1 and only 250 kits were made. Big price drops will come with volume and we’re also improving the design to get our cost down.littleSecret: the next batch of starter kits comes out early December and will be slightly cheaper hopefully, stay tuned!
AyahI totally appreciate that. Believe it or not in my bag of tricks even have some supply chain experience and was presuming this was going on. You even wrote on the website that the price is in part bc of the price of magnets. I thought that transparency was endearing. Heck, you could even ask people — ‘anyone got any leads on cheap magnets?’ — crowdsourced supply chain help! I really believe in what you’re doing and that’s why I put in an early order at the higher price point. I really want to see you get to the next level. Keep truckin’!!
CLICK TOGETHER LIKE LEGOS INSTEAD OF MAGNETS.LOT CHEAPER, JUST AS GOOD.
actually that is super smart. the magnets are probably uber expensive, and plastic clickthroughs holding the wire connections should work just as well if you do a good job machining
Magnets make it much easier for younger kids. And they ADORE magnets. I just made something with magnet together pieces and they can’t stop playing with it. ( Shana has seen it and was magnetized as well!)Magnet may be old trick but still very catchy. Bucky balls are new bling.
I like the magnets…it’s different and feels core to the personality of the product
littleReply: syntax is geeky and fun. Just like littleBits
Ayah,Yes, the reality of actually producing a product to retail! Now you have sold your initial inventory of product, Christmas is right around the corner and its one issue after the next!Good luck to you! You have a great product and I think you need to look at some program via donorschoose.org to develop a grass roots distribution channel.
thank you, that’s a wonderful idea!
Its a great way to get your product in front of kids and at the same time allows donors to absorb the high costs you are dealing with now. Kids and teachers would be a great word of mouth marketing campaign for you and with all the geeks and techies clamoring for more science and engineering exposure in schools it gives them a great opportunity to put their money where their mouth is.Besides, retail will demand wholesale pricing that you might never be able to achieve.
good. needs to be in a toy fair though.
@andyswan, @Ryan Drew: the subscription model idea is awesome! We’ve been toying with the idea of having littleBits club, where people get sneak peaks into new modules before they come out and get to join workshops. This would be a great business model to explore. and YES, a free “fred how to video” with each subscription!
Fantastic! An occasional ‘guest littleBits aggregator’, with a write up (or video) would be awesome. I’d love to see how cool a kit Fred could put together.
ADVICE:NOT ALL PARTS NEED DO THINGS.DECORATIVE PARTS TO TURN PROJECT INTO JET, CAR, DRAGON, ACTION FIGURE, ETC.BUILD BOXES THAT LIGHT UP FUN. BUILD ROBOT THAT LIGHT UP FUNNER.ALSO: MAKE ARMBAND MODULE. WHAT POINT OF BUILD THING THAT LIGHT UP AND GO “WOO WOO WOO” IF NO CAN STRAP TO ARM AND SHOOT IMAGINARY ALIENS WITH?
I can’t believe you left out robot dinosaur…
BECAUSE THAT MUCH AWESOME MAYBE TOO MUCH FOR SOME KIDS.
Ha..true true!
Freaking Brilliant!
The Gillette approach is unquestionably the right way to sell atoms if you can make that work. And the subscription model is unquestionably the right way to build a great business if you can make that work, too.
Thats great advice Andy
Anyone else experiencing Disqus real-time updating broken in Chrome browser?(Yes, I have it “enabled”)
Funny I noticed something too (Chrome). It shows 0 comments for all posts on AVC.
Intermittent. All the comments are there if I reload the page. But that makes it near impossible to follow the conversations.
I can follow OK, but it’s just that it says 0 Comments when the thread is not open. I might have a solution for you one day 🙂
Yeah, funky.Or are all of our NY-ers hungover + sluggish from the #RaiseCache bash last night.
Wide awake and clear-headed over here.
It shows 0 comments in current and past posts.
This is cool! Hopefully this will get kids thinking more about the possibilities of engineering. Next up: Startup Monopoly.”Timmy you got a Chance card!””Let’s see… it says, ‘Down Round: Your valuation has come down this funding round and you’ve been diluted to hell. Your board is thinking of replacing you. Do not pass Go. Do not collect option grant.'”*Tears*
Ha!
It is times like these I wish my girls were just a little older!
@elia, How old are your girls? Part of the product line will be kits for younger kids, but they have to go through more rigorous certification and testing.
They are 5 and 3. Would love to know when they are available if you have some way to alert me.
sure, you can subscribe to the mailing list (low volume 🙂 ) and we can keep you posted. http://www.littleBits.cc
Awesome. Done!
Can you do a demo of Shapeways 3-D printing next? Talk about cool!
Yes i can
Oh man…now that would be really cool!
I really think they should work with legos as a replacement for mindstorm.I sort of wish I had a mindstorm set growing up. I have no idea what I would have done with it.I do know that based on what I used to play with my legos before(build really nice houses and schools, play dollhouse, I’m very girly, moving on), that I probably would have taken something like this and built lights that turn on and off for my house.So when can we stick them into legos again????
I saw this video and realized my generation is using what they learn to make cool new innovations that make the world a more interesting place. I’m excited to see what my generation is able to do for the world before we hand over the baton.
Thanks @fredwilson, @gothamgal and thank you all for your amazing comments!My name is Ayah, I’m the founder of littleBits and have to say it’s very exciting to see people interested, and we’re very excited by the potential. I’m gonna try to address all your comments, but without going on a rant :)PS: we’re actually littleBits (one word, camel case)… it’s geeky, I know :)@littleBitswww.littleBits.cc
i love geeky! http://www.alearningaday.co…:D
I will see your correction (littleBits) and raise you one (@thegothamgal) Thats is the cost of my wife ignoring me about twitter for a year or so
oh no! yes @thegothamgal is what I meant! sorry.. will repost now
Haha. So that’s the story behind ‘the’I was wondering about that!
HURR HURR!TEACH PROPER CODE CONVENTION EARLY. ‘<
Graphic arts wise at least I believe a variation of this started with the TV show “thirtysomething” back in the 80’s using two different fonts next to each other with no spacing. Proper typography prior to the macintosh didn’t have people doing things like this. Giving people the ability to mash together fonts apparently led some to think that it actually looked pretty good. When classically trained typographers were the only ones doing this that didn’t happen. Same type of thing happened with video.
CAMEL CASE NOTHING TO DO WITH DESIGN.IT PROGRAMMING THING. HAPPEN BECAUSE HAVE TO MAKE FUNCTION ONE WORD, BUT WANT READ BETTER.
Yes. I also own v1 of the “Camel Book” so I know my way around the animals we are talking about.Edit: Ok let me be clearer (below comment). I know about all of this. I learned APL on a Dec System 1090 in the same computer center that Eric Raymond was at during the same time period. It was hooked up to the arpanet. Many years after that I bought the camel book so I know the history of this stuff. The graphic arts reference referred to mashing two different font weights together something separate from the use in programming (hence “variation”). I just thought it was interesting (which is what you agreed below).
the term “camel case” doesn’t come from perl, or the book.interesting about the typography.
and there i was thinking you made a schoolboy error.yeah, typography is awesome. i admire it, don’t think i’d have the patience to create my own typeface though (or anywhere close to the skill).you should check out the film helvetica.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…1954 EARLIEST DOCUMENTED USE IN CODE.
I think you have a hit here Ayah…well done! Look forward to seeing this develop.
We saw them at the NY Maker Fair a few weeks ago. My 6 year old was completely fascinated by them. He was totally engrossed for almost an hour (longer than any other booth). I can easily see having hours of fun with him and the Little Bits. And the founder of the project, Ayah, was very interesting and engaging. I can easily see a nice community forming around this product – both kid and adult. At the moment, I have two concerns: – The price is too high for the limited number of units in one kit – The unit selection is still very limited. My son ran out of components in one kit in minutes. And after the hour of play, he was starting to run out ideas to try. More variety of units would help that.
this reminds me of a kids version of the company in your portfolio – is it bug?
Yup
This is fantastic. Memories of hooking up home-made circuit to Apple II plus in 1981. Buying several.
How delightful. I haven’t felt as excited about circuitry since 1979 when my neighbor gave me a predecessor to the Commodore PET to play around with!
First let me say that as someone who built and took apart things as a kid I think this is a great idea – that’s obvious. The ability to understand how things work was essential in making money not to mention fun. To this day I always pay attention to whatever any repairman is doing and ask questions about how the thing they are fixing work. Off the top I have a few thoughts. I’m sure most of this is obvious and future planned but I thought I would mention:1) This needs to also get in retail distribution. They need to attend the NY Toy fair at Javitshttp://www.toyassociation.o… (The launching point for my father’s giftware business was a booth at the NY and Chicago Gift show many years ago. Even if they can’t get their own booth they need to get themselves in someone else’s booth (mfg. rep etc.) If they can’t do that stand outside Javits and give out flyers. 2) They need to go to specialty toy stores with the product and get the opinions of people who work there and parents who shop there. Online is great but the many buyers (like grandparents) buy at the retail level. 3) They need to be careful of making comparisons with Lego. Lego is litigious. And there are other companies that appear to have patents that are for similar products (magnets that snap together) that could cause them problems. If they haven’t done so already they need to at least have a conversation with an *experienced* patent attorney (I don’t mean someone who is a friend right out of law school). This may or may not be an issue but potential infringement needs to be considered. 4) As others have mentioned the .cc name is a non-starter. I can’t stress this enough.
Thats a cool toy!! I’m gonna find a way to procure one for my kids!I like FUN FRIDAYS!
It was your idea my friend
I like fun Fridays. Sure beats feature Fridays. Maybe one day there’ll be a fun feature Friday.
Aren’t all good features fun features?
I think most of them are.
U’re cool man..
Very cool.Not to put it in a box but is this akin to Codecademy for hardware?
I would say in certain respects yes.
“These simple, intuitive, space-sensitive blocks make prototyping with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together.”So like Heroku for hardware? Awesome.
I was thinking about creating LED lighting applications. I’m wondering if “Little Bits” would be the right materials for my idea. I want to do something similar to the Korean Lollipop phone but instead of an internal application, I want to do an external application.
my best friend’s mom makes $77 an hour on the computer. She has been out of job for 9 months but last month her check was $7487 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read about it here CashSharp.com
you will probably also have fun with this one: http://www.kongregate.com/g…
P.S. I found a competitor who is a lot cheaper…http://sparklelabs.com, the question is do they do the same thing?
Geek Heaven haha
I just checked out the little Bits site and it looks like these would make great Christmas gifts. Also, My wife, who home schools our daughter, said the home school networks across the country would probably be a great market.
I used to blow my entire allowance (I had to work for it) on various electronic bits at Radio Shack. I would hack motors and LEDs and such into my toys to make them cooler.I like the snap together parts but learning to use a soldering iron is one of life’s great pleasures.
“soldering iron”I hate to read and follow directions which is why I liked to take things apart and put them back together (as opposed to using kits with instructions). It took me a while to figure out that you had to heat the material not heat the solder.
Those damn instructions always get in the way of a true learning experience don’t they! 🙂
It’s like the modern version of the Radio Shack 101 Electronics Experiments Kit. No soldering, but you could build a crystal radio or a door alarm. When I was 10 I totally freaked my parents out by routing the door alarm into a toy phaser, with the output going to the stereo input at full blast.
That is a great hack
What a fun way to introduce kidsto the conceptthat everythingcan be viewed as a platforma set of recombinant / programmablesubstrate building-block processesa new networking Tinkertoy setlimited only by their imaginationat reconfiguring / networkingthe available substrate building blocksIs there a web-based virtual-version out there? Years ago, when my son was still a kid, I got him a program that offered a drag-and-drop virtual-tool-set very much like this Little Bits Kit. I can’t recall the name of that software?I’ve been waiting for a social-processes macro-assembler for the rest of us , ever since.Instead we get an endless array of isolated corporate Web-API silos with little or no mass-culture accessible macro-asembler tools. Think VisiCalc or Hypercard like tools.Open, standards based, Web-APIs that serve up a diverse palette of basic data, networking and logic functions could serve as our:brave new networking-world Tinkertoy setlimited only by our enduser imaginationsat reconfiguringa social-networking substrate-paletteof standardized Web-API building blocksWeb pages that are loosely coupled, highly granular, Hypercard-like, containers filled with standardized Web-API function calls.Web pages that sacrifice efficiency for random reuse by localizing every thing back into the web-page itself.Making each web-page its own functionally reusable and customizable presentation stage. Each page carrying with it all its own CSS and its own set of localized DNA control structures for orchestrating access to a diverse palette of open, standards based, Cloud-API functions that couple in unlimited data and intelligence processing.This seems to be taking an excessively long time to emerge as a global networking schema. After all, what has biology ever done to help frame global networking schemas? Web development seem completely dominated by a bottom up, short term commercial gold rush niche, approach with little or no global top down social-process or biological-process based framing.Can anyone here point me towards any such online efforts or tools ? ? ?I really like whatif this then thathttp://ifttt.com/wtfis doingbut it is still just a mashup of open but proprietary corporate Web-APIs with a very limited scope of usefulnessOK…OKI admit that I am talking through my hat here?I don’t have the technical where-with-all required to realistically assess whether this is simply too complex a task given todays networking and software tools or whether this is more a by product of our contemporary business models and their conventional competition strategies ?I would love to hear the opinions of all the coders here!Is this type of expectation simply just unrealistic, delusional, crazy talk?
Web development seem completely dominated by a bottom up, short term commercial gold rush niche, approach with little or no global top down social-process or biological-process based framing.the system is too complex for top-down control. bottom-up in an evolutionary fashion is a must imoInstead we get an endless array of isolated corporate Web-API silos with little or no mass-culture accessible macro-asembler tools. Think VisiCalc or Hypercard like tools.this was part of the unfulfilled promise of yahoo pipes, and web 2.0.as a general theme i think we could loop back around to having personal home pages with substrate social services that are desecrate, but connectable. the beauty of this is that it doesn’t take one large company to produce it, it’ll be many companies all chipping away in an invisible hand manner (adam smith) . this is when systems are at there strongest. and also past the comprehension of mere mortals.
Thanks for the input!”the system is too complex for top-down control. bottom-up in an evolutionary fashion is a must imo”I agree that the system is too complex for top-down control or top-down implementation efforts.I was thinking more about the lack of top-down framing required to ensure meaningful long term social efficacy to the bottom up implementation efforts that in mho should be targeting reuse and control for the rest of us democratic citizens.I think that is a very critical social-networking goal if we are to preserve any semblance of democratically distributed political or economic control by the citizenry. And that outcome is very unlikely if everything is framed and developed solely by the hide hand of bottom-up commercial corporate interests.
Very cool!
video > text. building is fun.
a web app to build the bits virtually. – can then get metrics on bits- allow people who haven’t bought it yet to try it out – allows trying out new bits in the market with little cost- allows sharing of bit maps with social circle- allows groups of bit’ers to build togetherand once there’s a sign up process metric driven marketing can be used. relationships built etc customer lifetime value established, conversion funnels etc.once there’s more bits tutorials can be used, educating users, and also acting as marketing (showing off what cool things can be made).i’d concentrate less on the technology and build a story around the product.
I’d do both
The way I look at it, for $129, it takes the “HOT soldering iron and Lead” mess out of the equation. Safer for kids to play with and reconfiguring is a breeze. Ship me one now and get to work on reducing the price (scale up).
Look at the joy and curiosity on fred’s face in the video… One of the reasons I like him.Even though he’s a big time VC he still gets excited about magical things (or, maybe that’s why he’s a big time VC 😉
Fred has rebranded and delivered personality to VC’ ism…by the very nature that the bulk of the content, context and commentary is just plain good ole sincere advice and knowledge sharing… Paying it forward in more ways than one.
The latter for sure
I love classic days like this at AVC although it was pretty much a head down day for me so couldn’t fully enjoy it.Today’s fare: Introduction of a great, cool product and startup tech company — complete with interaction by the founder herself, insightful critiques, brilliant insights and even some “consultant quality” free advice, completely unrelated but intensely interesting side conversations, ample humor and wry wit, @JLM:disqus wisdom, a dose of silliness, and peeks into people’s lives and history, some poignant, further adding to the sense of appreciation and familiarity within the community. And watching you play was a bonus! You couldn’t have planned it better, and yes I know you didn’t. Doesn’t get much better than this. The only thing missing was a “beef” that @kidmercury:disqus needed to referee –or did I miss that.(This product is amazing by the way. My little Lego lover will probably get one for Christmas. I just wish the price was lower — then we’d get two.. err, I mean HE’D get two. And another huge vote for subscriptions, here.)
I love days like that tooThey are the best
Awesome! love it can you make this interface with software? ie make it programmable? really like giant robots idea of characters being built out of this just like lego but something interactive
Very cool. It would be great to see them put together a kit that is marketed to girls to get them interested in electronics/engineering. I went onto the Maker site and they have a Dangerous Book for Boys Electronics Kit…but nothing for girls. Disappointing. The little Bits kit has made it onto our Xmas list for our 10-yr-old girl, though! She’ll love it!
“Bless the maker and his water, bless the coming and going of him, may his passing cleanse the world.”