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Yeah. When I was a child (still am) if you wanted to make a model you got an Airfix kit and some glue. LEGO was for imaginative construction from standard blocks (at bit like an old web-page, which didn't exist at the time I was talking about).
LEGO today is like a cross between Airfix and MineCraft!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Forogar wrote: LEGO today is like a cross between Airfix and MineCraft!
And, IMO, with most of the disadvantages and few of the advantages of both. 
LEGO may develop children's dexterity, ability to follow instructions, etc., but it does nothing for their imaginations. Furthermore, the models are often too fragile for anything other than display, so you can't play with them, either!
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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"Airfix" - I don't think I have heard that name for at least 40 years, maybe more!
In my early childhood, boys were divided into to competing groups: Those that went for the Matchbox model cars, and those going for the Corgi cars. Do those brands still exist?
Also in my early childhood, I played with constructions sets labeled BiloFix (Bilofix - Wikipedia[^]). They were wooden beams and large plastic nuts and bolts. Not until today did I know that Bilofix was made by the inventor of LEGO! Older kids built models with Meccano - Wikipedia[^] - I haven't seen that around for quite a few years, but you could make rather fancy models with it (as shown in Wikipedia).
As we grew, we advanced from model cars to model railroads. Again, there were two camps: Those going for Märklin, and those going for Fleischmann. The scale was the same, so carriages and locomotives were interchangable, but you didn't want to fraternize with the enemy... The Märklin camp was proud of the rails being mounted on a shell decorated to look like a real railroad stone fundament, while the Fleischmann guys were equally proud of their "bare bones" rails and ties: Your are supposed to build your landscape yourself, from plaster or clay or paper mache, and create your own stone fillings! The Fleischmann camp was generally considered to be more "serious"; the model railroad was more than "just a toy". I believe that both brands are still on the market, but I haven't seen a kid playing with a Märklin or Fleischmann model train for decennies!
This spacecraft LEGO kit that started the discussion was marked suitable for 16+ olds. My immediate reaction was "Wouldn't a JoystyKit have been more suitable?" - that is another brand name that few people know of today. I looked it up and was surprised to see that is is Danish, too (like LEGO) - it was marketed internationally, at least in most of Europe: All the electronic components, including a print board, and for many kits a cabinet, for some electronic circuit, ranging from tiny toys like an electronic die, digital doorbells, small FM transmitter, up to reasonably sized amplifiers. Hundreds of different kits, at a very reasonable price. Essentially, the only thing you did was soldering the components onto the board and mount the board, buttons and switches in the cabinet, according to detailed instructions (not too different from the LEGO kits!), but I remember the instructions as ... well, instructional. They explained a lot!
During my student years, my attitude towards LEGO dropped quite a bit, and it had nothing to do with the plastic brics: Some guys in my class started a litterature association, for regular meetings presenting and discussing all kinds of litterature. They named it by the latin verg "lego" - reading. But they were sued by the plastic brick company: A tiny student litterature association at a technical university using the same name as the toy company could (it seemed  ) completely ruin their market for selling plastic bricks to 3-4 year olds... The litterature guys decided not to push it. They caved in and changed their name. It gave me a feeling very much like patent trolls of today: Legally, they may (or may not) be in their full right, but when they push it to extremes, the way I think LEGO did fourty years ago, I get a bad tase in my mouth. It hasn't yet gone completely away.
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Agreed, modern Legos are about models and movie tie-ins.
My first set came in a box with a styrofoam insert containing ~125 bricks of various sizes & shapes, and my brother's was similar. We built everything under the sun -- when Star Wars came out, we built our own blasters. This was a time when the toys came out AFTER the movie was a success.
We drew plans for our blasters on graph paper so we could rebuild them exactly as we originally built them -- when they inevitably got broken apart. Lego toys couldn't take rough play, but we used them constantly. [I think I still have my plan for the blaster, assuming I can decipher what the 14 yo me wrote!]
Later I got a small helicopter and was disappointed that some of the pieces were specific to that plan and I didn't have a lot of other use for them ... I wanted another generic box so I could think up more stuff.
But the modern stuff isn't all bad -- my son inherited my Legos and added on 10 fold (or more). For a while he was into WWII stuff, but instead of buying models, he found plans for tanks, built them, then modified them to look more realistic. Then he looked at other vehicles and designed his own.
The imagination part isn't all gone ....
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Sander Rossel wrote: It'll look great once it's finished though
That will be the cue for your cat to return...and proceed to dismantle it in an attempt to make it a place suitable for napping.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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Look at those prices. Lego must love you.
I mean, I don't judge, as I've spent lots of money on art, and to each their own.
My favorite legos were the "technics" i think they are called, with the gears and motors and such - and lego mindstorm kits, if those are still a thing.
Real programmers use butterflies
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honey the codewitch wrote: Look at those prices. Lego must love you.
It's the only LEGO I still have, so I think I'm not that big of a customer to them 
I used to love LEGO Technics.
I had the barcode truck[^] and the pneumatic submarine[^] when I was a kid 
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Not cheap, but I don't care!
I've got this monster[^] sitting on my table right now.
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That... Is... Awesome! 
The biggest LEGO Technic set.
I think an ex-coworker had that, but just a regular scale model (not LEGO).
He had it delivered to work so we could all look at it (no touchy)
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LEGO is very big in my family.
I don't care about the $$$ either. Everyone spends lots of money on the things they enjoy.
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Slacker007 wrote: I don't care about the $$$ either. Everyone spends lots of money on the things they enjoy.
Amen to that!
People be partying, spending €100+ a weekend, but judge you for spending €700 once in a lifetime
Slacker007 wrote: LEGO is very big in my family.
Either you have a family of midgets or they're actually playing with Duplo 
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Ohhhh, nice. I always tell my wife that if she just has no idea what to get me for gift-giving occasions, to just pick up some Legos. I grew up with a ton of Legos and K'nex(rollercoasters), and would still very much enjoy putting that stuff together. I satisfy the urge now with the Vex Robotics stuff, usually to my daughter's delight as well. 
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I never had K'nex as a kid, but I played with it at friends. Cool stuff!
Never heard of Vex, looks cool too.
I actually had an ex who once told me "If you buy that [LEGO Millennium Falcon], we're through! There's no way you're spending THAT much money on a kid's toy!"
First of all, it's MY money and you have no say in how I spend it.
Second of all, if that's what makes me happy you should respect that.
Needless to say that didn't work out.
I recently spoke to her father, he said "she has a new boyfriend now, poor guy"
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Thankfully, my wife is pretty chill with my non-essential purchases. I just recently bought and installed a new, larger intercooler with upgraded charge piping for my car; a pretty fair investment. I did ask if she'd have an issue with my spending of the amount, and was met with a, "As long as I can get a new Kitchen table." Needless to say, a kitchen table is being built.
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You win some and you lose some
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Sander Rossel wrote: First of all, it's MY money and you have no say in how I spend it.
...aaand that's why she was your girlfriend and not your wife.
Count your blessings. I do.
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I really wouldn't want a wife who tells me what I can and cannot do (within reason).
In this particular case there are a lot more reasons than that, though
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I definitely know plenty of couples for whom spending a few hundred dollars on Lego would not fly with one of the two.
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Well, it depends on the arrangements you've made.
Let's say you need at least €2000 a month to get by and your shared income is just about that.
Buying some expensive stuff without discussing it first is sure to start a fight.
Let's say you need the same amount, but you both earn €3000.
Each put €1500 on a shared bank account for the monthly costs and some savings for vacations, a new dishwasher, etc. and keeps €1500 for themselves.
How that €1500 is spent should be of no concern to the other, unless illegal or affecting the other negatively.
Let's say you both have plenty of money, but only one room in the house and you plan to stall the Lego there, get ready for a fight (and selling your Lego).
In our specific case, we both lived with our parents and I made a lot of money while she still went to school and made no money at all.
I just bought my own three-bedroom house where I would go live alone and maybe she would join me, but we were only dating for a few months (I already bought the house before we started dating).
We had no financial obligations to each other, and I only had the house, which still left me with plenty of savings.
And then she told me how I could and could not spend my money 
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Sander Rossel wrote: And then she told me how I could and could not spend my money
As far as I'm concerned, marriage only makes that worse. To quote one of my wiser uncles (in his 80s): What's hers, is hers, and what's yours, is hers.
I very clearly remember one of my aunts thinking I was being cute when, at the age of 7, I said I'd never get married. I'm turning 48 next month, and I'm still sticking with that story, now with more conviction than ever.
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Amen brother.
I don't want to get married either.
It's a very expensive day and if you don't believe I love you without spending €30,000 then maybe we're not meant to be
I could get married for free at city hall, but only with a prenuptial agreement(?).
What's mine is mine and I'd like to keep it that way because I've worked hard for it.
No kids either, I'm not ready for that kind of commitment and sacrifice without getting some obvious reward in return.
"But it's the best thing that ever happened to me" is NOT an obvious reward.
In fact, study has shown that people without kids are slightly happier on average.
And if you're unlucky your kid(s) will bring you mostly worries and sadness.
A girlfriend would sometimes be nice, but that's hard if you don't want to get married and also don't want kids and are also very introverted
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I'm an introvert and I can enjoy being by myself for very long periods of time.
This lockdown thing has done very little to change how I'm living my life. I've been working at home for over a decade, so I've been doing this already for a long time.
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Yeah, me too 
I've worked from home for a couple of months in 2019.
After about three months I got a little lonely though, so I found myself an office with other people.
It's good because I get to meet new like-minded people (and networking is important as a business owner) and I lack the discipline to work from home for longer periods of time.
Having an office, even a shared one, is also more professional towards customers.
The only thing COVID-19 did was make me work from home again
It delayed some projects too, but luckily I've still got plenty of work.
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Nice, and pricey!
I'm not sure how many it cookies it makes to be happy, but so far it's not 27.
JaxCoder.com
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That sort of money would make a good downpayment on the real thing...
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