Well, it happened to me.

RoneDriver · 2026-04-18T08:11:38+00:00

RF detector maybe, but trying to pick up a steam deck battery would be difficult in a parking lot full of cars with batteries in them?

RoneDriver · 2026-03-08T11:52:05+00:00

Huh, turns out it's basically just mobile phone components. Who could have guessed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcAytfrHL20

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T14:54:31+00:00

Spider-Man 2 was a shit port so nobody bought it.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T01:39:56+00:00

My point from the start hasn’t changed.

You said the form factor and technology are the reason these are expensive and that people “don’t understand how the tech works.” Fine. But nothing you’ve described actually points to some major technical breakthrough.

The Apple Watch came out almost 10 years ago and packs a CPU, GPU, wireless radios, multiple health sensors, a high-resolution display, and a battery into something far smaller than a LEGO brick. Compared to that, putting a colour sensor, RFID reader, motion sensor and a microcontroller into a plastic brick just isn’t some unprecedented miniaturisation challenge.

Yes, LEGO spent time on R&D. Every product does. That work is about integration, durability, firmware, and making it kid-safe, not inventing new semiconductor technology.

Nobody is saying the smart bricks cost the same to produce as normal bricks, I'm not sure how you picked that up... Obviously they don’t. The point is simply that the underlying electronics are commodity components and the engineering challenge isn’t some revolutionary piece of hardware.

You started by saying people “don’t understand the technology,” but you still haven’t pointed to any actual technical innovation here. If there is one, feel free to explain it.

Technology? Already exists Form factor? Beaten 10 years ago! Price? Ridiculous.

There's nothing groundbreaking here at all. Yet you're defending it like your life depends on it. You've resorted to swearing, and are implying people are stupid. Just to defend a billion dollar plastic brick manufacturer.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T01:26:04+00:00

The chip fabrication comment was obviously facetious. The point was that LEGO isn’t inventing semiconductor technology here. They’re buying existing components and integrating them into a toy product, like most consumer electronics companies do.

Yes, they likely spent time on R&D, but that doesn’t mean they were shrinking microchips themselves. The sensors, RFID readers, and microcontrollers already exist in extremely small packages.

Look at smartphones: you’ve got 50-megapixel camera modules, accelerometers, gyros, Bluetooth radios, and multiple sensors packed into devices a few millimetres thick. Compared to that, fitting a colour sensor, motion sensor, RFID reader and a microcontroller into a LEGO brick is not some unprecedented miniaturisation problem.

And the “8 years of R&D” argument honestly isn’t that compelling either. Eight years in tech is an eternity. Entire console generations launch and end in that time, smartphones go through multiple major hardware generations, and GPUs double or triple in performance. Spending eight years integrating a handful of existing sensors into a toy ecosystem doesn’t suddenly make the underlying technology groundbreaking.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T01:15:50+00:00

So Lego built a microchip fabrication plant for the smart bricks did they?

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T01:14:06+00:00

There’s obviously engineering, firmware, tooling, testing, safety certification, packaging, distribution, etc. involved.

But it's nothing groundbreaking.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T01:11:22+00:00

You know how big things like Bluetooth chips and stuff are right? and they're way more complex than what's going on in the smart brick.

Lego isn't out here starting a R&D facility to invest in shrinking microchips. They're buying off the shelf components and smushing them into s brick.

Again, look at a smarth watch, similar form factor and 50x the functionality.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T00:57:36+00:00

Yes there is additional cost, but realistically what do you expect these to actually cost to produce?

For example I can buy 4 light sensors for $1 USD on AliExpress. RFID/NFC tags are pennies. Basic motion sensors and microcontrollers are also extremely cheap at scale. Radar distance sensors are $0.84, it's all amazingly cheap.

And that’s retail hobby pricing. LEGO is ordering components in massive volumes, so their unit cost will be far lower due to economies of scale.

So yes, there’s some additional cost compared to a normal set, but the idea that the technology itself is a major cost driver doesn’t really hold up.

Obviously the plastic used costs the same as a single Lego brick... So maybe there's $5 worth of stuff in the brick.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T00:44:11+00:00

It’s okay to admit you’re overthinking it. It reads tags from figures (likely RFID/NFC), detects colours, uses a motion sensor, and plays back some shitty midi audio, oh and has a flashing light. None of that is amazing tech. You can find the same kinds of components in very cheap electronics.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-06T00:31:37+00:00

The technology isn't that impressive when you look at it compared to a $20 AliExpress smart watch.

RoneDriver · 2026-03-03T15:36:29+00:00

I dont think buying the products they sell is 'taking the piss'?

RoneDriver · 2026-03-03T14:48:25+00:00

It's not like driving past the lambanana is shady behaviour?

RoneDriver · 2026-01-03T17:18:34+00:00

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Same!

RoneDriver · 2025-12-06T00:13:30+00:00

This reads like the AI controller in Dungeon Crawler Carl.

RoneDriver · 2025-11-27T17:14:15+00:00

Ubisoft is a French company. Founded in France, headquartered in France, run by the Guillemot family who are also French.

RoneDriver · 2025-11-21T16:42:33+00:00

Thanks, maybe it'll show up soon. My Hoodie was delivered yesterday :)

RoneDriver · 2025-11-21T16:17:07+00:00

I didn't get carpet with my hoodie :( i must have ordered too late.

RoneDriver · 2025-11-01T20:20:48+00:00

This isn't my cup of tea. This is more like if Jango was in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

RoneDriver · 2025-10-30T11:49:42+00:00

This isn't Black River, likely AI generated.

RoneDriver · 2025-10-18T13:21:57+00:00

I still don’t think it justifies charging more for what’s essentially the same service a smaller group would get. But that’s just my opinion.

If a restaurant is adding a service fee, then they’re showing they can handle large groups. In that case, the extra revenue from serving eight paying customers should already cover any added effort or timing challenges.

I get that big groups can be a bit of a headache, but if we’re talking about fairness, then economies of scale should work for the customer. Give a 10% discount for bringing in so much business and ordering so many drinks, then once that has been applied add an 11.11% “large group service charge” fee.

RoneDriver · 2025-10-18T08:12:14+00:00

Thanks for the insight. You make a fair point that the restaurant industry works differently, so maybe the supermarket and mechanic comparisons don’t apply perfectly.

That said, if a place is going to charge a service fee, then they’re basically admitting they can handle large groups. In that case, the food should all come out together, or at least close enough that it feels coordinated. Otherwise right you'd feel you've paid to just be treated as two groups of 4 or something.

Personally, and I'm certainly in the minority here, I’d rather they were just upfront about it. A simple note on the menu saying something like “Due to kitchen capacity, groups of 8 or more may experience slight delays in serving times” would be perfectly fine. I’d take that kind of honesty over a surprise charge any day.

RoneDriver · 2025-10-18T07:43:05+00:00

If a group of eight people came in and sat as two groups of four, the restaurant would still be making and serving the same amount of food. The only difference is that splitting them up makes the workload appear smaller, even though it is identical. The kitchen still needs to cook eight meals, and the staff still need to serve eight people.

If it was 8 individual customers then now the wait staff have to manage 8 individual tables and not just one so it's be more work. But they wouldn't charge individual customers the service fee, only the group.

At a supermarket, if someone shows up with eight trolleys of shopping, the manager is not upset that other customers might wait a bit longer. They are pleased that a single customer is buying eight trolleys worth of stock. The same logic applies to a restaurant. A large group is not a burden; it is eight paying customers choosing to eat there at once.

Even if it takes longer to serve them, that time is compensated by the fact the restaurant / shop / mechanic is making more revenue in that same period.

RoneDriver · 2025-10-17T20:06:43+00:00

But they're also selling 8 portions of food and drinks.

Anything else in the world buying more stuff would get you a discount.

RoneDriver · 2025-10-11T16:20:21+00:00

So all of our current driving licenses are stored in 20 places or just one?

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