Lego Is Discontinuing Mindstorms (brickfanatics.com)

Article summary

The LEGO Group is discontinuing its LEGO MINDSTORMS line-up at the end of 2022, with app support guaranteed for another two years. The company will focus on LEGO Education and other Build & Code experiences, such as SPIKE Prime. The MINDSTORMS platform has been central to the LEGO Group's coding experience for nearly a quarter of a century. The discontinuation may affect programs like FIRST Lego League, which has used MINDSTORMS in its competitions.

Main themes

• LEGO MINDSTORMS discontinuation
• SPIKE Prime and LEGO Education
• Robotics and coding for children
• Alternative platforms and firmware
• FIRST Lego League and robotic competitions
• Nostalgia and legacy of MINDSTORMS

What commenters say

• The discontinuation of MINDSTORMS is a loss for the robotics and coding community, especially for those who learned programming with the platform.
• Alternative platforms, such as SPIKE Prime, may not be as engaging or inspiring for young children as MINDSTORMS was.
• The limitations of MINDSTORMS, such as limited app support, can be mitigated by using third-party firmware or programming languages.
• The LEGO Group's decision to discontinue MINDSTORMS may be a strategic move to focus on more profitable or popular products, such as SPIKE Prime.
• Some commenters are disappointed with the lack of creativity and inspiration in the new SPIKE Prime sets compared to the older MINDSTORMS sets.
• Others argue that the new SPIKE Prime platform is a good improvement over the last generation of MINDSTORMS and offers a better introduction to programming for children.
• The use of sensors in robotic competitions, such as FIRST Lego League, can be unreliable and affected by environmental factors.
• The discontinuation of MINDSTORMS may lead to a lack of availability of compatible parts and components for existing projects and robots.