Legos For Kids?

December 06, 1998|By Jimmy Guterman. Special to the Tribune.

Many of the programmers, engineers and developers we talk to have a secret that they don't reveal until they know people pretty well. No, I'm not talking about the complete set of Star Wars playing cards they have stashed in the basement or the Rush LPs they haven't gotten around to trading in yet. I'm talking about Legos.

You remember Legos, those infinitely malleable blocks that children around the world use to construct everything from tiny towers to life-size towers. Perhaps because these toys leave so much to the imagination, they've captured the imagination of a generation of tech workers. The appearance of Lego in Douglas Copeland's novel Microserfs, set on the Microsoft corporate campus, is one example of how pervasive it is.

Something is happening right now that is encouraging grown-ups to go public with their addiction to all things Lego. In early fall, Lego released the Mindstorms Robotic Invention System, a $219 package that includes a 772-piece set of Legos. One of those pieces is a Lego brick that includes a computer. You can now program a Lego model to do things.

Mindstorms is also the title of a seminal work by MIT professor Seymour Papert, who used that book to debut his "Logo" computer language before a general readership. Logo is a small, ingenious set of small commands that gives children with no programming experience an opportunity to learn bona fide programming skills. In addition, the RCX (Robotic Command Explorer) scripting language included with Lego Mindstorms has a lot in common with Logo. Children can use RCX to build tiny robots that deal playing cards, take photographs, make copies and spin around in amusing ways, among countless other possibilities. Most "edutainment" software is neither educational nor entertaining -- Lego Mindstorms is both.

Now wait a minute. These systems list for $219 and only a small percentage of us are lucky enough to be in a tax bracket where $219 gifts to your children are feasible. Lego Mindstorms are no Furbys, but toy stores are having trouble keeping units in stock.

Who's buying these sets? Adults, of course.

Glide around the Net--or talk to a few friends at work--and you'll notice that a culture of Mindstorms enthusiasts has sprung up. And like the similar cult that has emerged for the PalmPilot, technically minded Mindstorms nuts are obsessed with taking apart the RCX hardware, figuring out what's in there, and discovering new ways to communicate with the unit. Even Lego corporate has gotten into the act, creating a software developers kit and ActiveX control for the RCX that are geared for adult programmers, not eight-year-olds.

So when you look under the desk of a colleague, don't be surprised to find an RCX connected to his or her computer.