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11/05/2002 Archived Entry: "Mindstorms for Boys"

According to Lego Mindstorms: The Structure of an Engineering (R)evolution, when Lego turned MIT's Programmable Brick into the basis for its Lego Mindstorms product line, it turned it from a gender neutral toy to a toy targetted at 10-14 year old boys (namely by choosing dark coloured bricks and gearing its kits and examples towards robots etc...). According to MIT, the original product appealed equally to both genders, but Lego's marketing department disagreed. What makes this even more unfortunate (well, aside from the fact girls now steer away from this fascinating tech product), is that its founding Constructionist ethic suggests this type of grounded, embodied programming may be a style more engaging for women.