The LEGO Company has been making great moves lately, moves that are building the online presence of the company and rewarding loyal customers.
I remember playing with Lego’s as a child and they provided hours of entertainment – I’m very glad to see that the company and the Lego is healthy and growing, especially in this age of computers. Lego’s were one of the first toys I bought for my kids as I think it’s fantastic for childhood development and creativity skills.
LEGO has done many other things than simply selling a product, which they do well. They have invited participation from customers who become a limitless supply of product designers. The LEGO Designer allows people to create their own model, share it and purchase it. As a result there are thousands of customer-created models in all kinds of categories, and the Lego Designers choose their favorites to feature on the site.
In a cover story on Wired, LEGO opened up development of Mindstorm Robotics. Lego started by open sourcing the Mindstorm NXT software – the core component of the robotics toolset. Coming later this summer, Lego will also release Firmware code for Software, Hardware and Bluetooth Developer Kits.
This is an amazing story of how a toy company started with a simple product and grew to take advantage of the technology of the age. Not only the technology but they have and increased their audience from children to those of us children that haven’t yet grown up.
