LEGO is releasing a new robot kit, Computer Science and AI, later this year. It isn't able to run autonomously so it is essentially incompatible with the way FIRST LEGO League has worked for the last 28 years.
Earlier this year, FIRST and LEGO announced that FIRST LEGO League would split into two editions--Founders Edition and Future Edition. Both editions would run concurrently for the next two seasons. Founders Edition would continue the current autonomous format and teams could use any of the previous robot kits (RCX, NXT, EV3, SPIKE). Future Edition would be a new remote control format using the new robot kit. After the two transition seasons, Founders Edition would be discontinued and Future Edition would become the one and only format and ending the use of all previous robot kits.
Now that LEGO has announced they are ending their relationship with FIRST after next season, a lot of that is up in the air. Next season will proceed as previously announced, with both Founders Edition and Future Edition. After that, both FIRST and LEGO are each continuing on with their own, separate K-8 robotics programs.
Future Edition requires teams have two of the $530 Computer Science and AI kits. One for their robot and one for the interactive mission models. That's a huge investment for a lot of teams.
LEGO has said they will support SPIKE through the next three seasons but they have not said how that will work or if older robot kits (RCX, NTX, EV3) will also be supported.
FIRST has not announced anything about how their program will work after next season.
The robot kit can be kept and used again each season. Only the challenge kit (mat and mission models) change each season. The current robot kit is $540 vs just $95 for the challenge kit.
The LEGO Education version of MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor, SPIKE Prime, is still available and a new robot kit, Computer Science and AI, is being released this year. After next season, LEGO will be continuing on with their own K-8 robotics program (as will FIRST).
But you’re right in that they’ll have another new line—“Lego Education Computer Science & AI”, which is different in a way I don’t really understand and doesn’t fill me with a ton of confidence.
Compare Reese's peanut butter cups to peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's or Aldi and you'll taste just how bad Reese's have gotten. You'll never go back.
Go to summer camp. A traditional, out in nature, canoes, archery, and tie dye, sleep-away summer camp. At least three weeks. Preferably, they would have started going much younger than high school, but it's never too late.
They will meet lifelong friends, have real, in-person experiences, and unplug from technology. They will come back energized, de-stressed, more confident, and with memories that will last a lifetime.
This is the Department of Homeland Security, a United States federal government department, publicly advocating for deporting nearly a third of the entire population of the country. Only around 7% of the population are non-citizens. That means they would need to deport around 75 million American citizens. Let that sink in.
Apple TV+ needed to be renamed but they went with the absolute worst option.
There's already an Apple TV device and an Apple TV app. Neither of which are required for using Apple TV+ and both of which have functionality other than using Apple TV+.
Some people think that Apple TV+ requires an Apple device to use it and just dismiss it as an option. Apple should have come up with a new brand without Apple in the name. That would broaden their potential market and get their foot in the door with people who don't own any Apple products.
> There's already an Apple TV device and an Apple TV app.
This telegraphs that (1) Apple's priority is the service above all else, and (2) that they're about to rebrand their flagship device which supports the service. We'll know very soon, since the updated device is imminent.
Yeah, this all makes sense if the intention is to change the name of the device.
Netflix (the service) has an app named Netflix. You access Netflix via Netflix on... XYZ. Same goes for basically every other streaming service.
So Apple TV the service on Apple TV the app makes perfect sense if you are thinking about accessing their streaming service via other set tops where Apple TV the app is available.
My guess is that the Apple TV set top will be renamed to something else, perhaps "Apple Home".
Then it would be "Access Apple TV via the app on your Apple Home device" and the merging/conflation of "Apple TV subscription via the Apple TV app" will make perfect sense the same way you would say "Access Netflix via the app on your Apple Home device".
My guess is that "tvOS" will be renamed "homeOS" to go with it.
Apple Home is already the name of their app for smart home stuff.
The Netflix comparison doesn’t quite work with Apple TV. I have an Apple TV (the device) and I don’t just use Apple TV (the app) to access Apple TV (the service). Apple TV (the app) is also where I need to go to buy/rent movies from the iTunes Store, watch Apple keynotes, and it can also be a place to aggregate content in a single UI from a bunch of different streaming services (notably not Netflix, they opted out). Apple TV (the service) is just one feature of Apple TV (the app), at least when it’s running on Apple TV (the device).
These distinctions do matter, due to Apple trying to consolidate everything into that single app. They sunset multiple other apps with its release. I actually find the app pretty hard to use as a result.
It's been a PITA enough searching for Apple TV to only have hits about Apple TV come up for years now. I really hope it's all part of some master plan now coming together, as you say, but I feel like it's just as likely they want to keep the naming "simple" as they have in the past on this regard and that's just the way things are going to stay.
or perhaps it means that they plan to expand their TV offering so as to merit being something more than just a "plus"
i don't know if i like the rebranding or not – it's such a minor thing that idk if it even warrants an opinion. But they should now be obliged to next rebrand Apple Carplay to Apple Car.
> or perhaps it means that they plan to expand their TV offering so as to merit being something more than just a "plus"
That's an interesting point. One potential reason to simplify the service's base name is to allow for segmentation, e.g. Apple TV Ultra.
I think there's a reasonable possibility that they'll introduce a <$100 device in an effort to 10X their living room user base, in which case we might see something like an Apple Theater Pro and an Apple Theater mini.
The article itself even shows just how confusing it is:
> Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro ...
How did anyone think "this is fine" in a proofread here when coming up with this rebranding?
Netflix is available on Netflix App. HBO is available on HBO app. Normal people don't care.
It's perfectly normal for Netflix the company to run Netflix the service on Netflix the app on Netflix device if they release one. It's not confusing at all. What would be confusing is if they all had different names.
Not sure if you’re cutting my quote in bad faith to fit your rebuttal, or just didn’t read it fully. How is this not confusing?
> Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app … on … Apple TV …
Watch Apple TV in Apple TV on Apple TV.
Why choose Netflix as your example as well when both Google and Amazon already have streaming services that don’t have an identically named hardware device. Do you honestly think if Netflix put out a device they would name it Netflix.
The only time I can see this being confusing is when referring to the Apple TV box by the same name, and even that can usually be figured out by context.
Earlier this year, FIRST and LEGO announced that FIRST LEGO League would split into two editions--Founders Edition and Future Edition. Both editions would run concurrently for the next two seasons. Founders Edition would continue the current autonomous format and teams could use any of the previous robot kits (RCX, NXT, EV3, SPIKE). Future Edition would be a new remote control format using the new robot kit. After the two transition seasons, Founders Edition would be discontinued and Future Edition would become the one and only format and ending the use of all previous robot kits.
Now that LEGO has announced they are ending their relationship with FIRST after next season, a lot of that is up in the air. Next season will proceed as previously announced, with both Founders Edition and Future Edition. After that, both FIRST and LEGO are each continuing on with their own, separate K-8 robotics programs.
Future Edition requires teams have two of the $530 Computer Science and AI kits. One for their robot and one for the interactive mission models. That's a huge investment for a lot of teams.
LEGO has said they will support SPIKE through the next three seasons but they have not said how that will work or if older robot kits (RCX, NTX, EV3) will also be supported.
FIRST has not announced anything about how their program will work after next season.
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