bleepblop (u/bleepblop)

bleepblop commented on BBC chooses AI over human voiceover artist twitter.com/SaraPoyzer/st... · Posted by u/ximeng

raincole · a year ago

If AI could actually do what they are doing, programmers would be laid off at a rate never seen before.

I mean never seen before in human history.

bleepblop · a year ago

Man, do I have some bad news for you.

These guys have been at it for a few years now: https://www.replicastudios.com/

And the list is growing quickly.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

mc32 · a year ago

In my experience they tend to add extras for the smallest pieces and have never missed a piece.

bleepblop · a year ago

I envy that you have never experienced missing "key" pieces.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

bombcar · a year ago

The only time I ever had a large piece like that missing, it was pretty clear (on afterthought) that the box had been opened in the store before I bought it.

And I've had to return a set or two to Amazon because they'd clearly been opened and returned (and usually all the minifigs stripped out).

bleepblop · a year ago

Understandable. I am pretty selective when it comes to a kit. Dare I say autistic? Box condition is a consideration, along with down to how I open them. It's noticeable.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

the_mitsuhiko · a year ago

I don't know. It very much depends on what you are into. I feel like a lot of the stuff that Lego does got way better in recent years. For instance the manuals in the app are a step above and beyond of where they were, and the build together element means that my kids are playing together and rebuilding old sets.

bleepblop · a year ago

I am totally on the same page with you. It definitely boils down to what are you doing. There are a ton of cool pieces these days that would've been a pipe dream when we were kids. And lego's MO has always been imagination and creativity. I feel like the addition of stickers in essence sort of rules out the variable, but forces the builder to use it if they are following the kit by the book. Where as with a printed brick the person gets to choose whether they use it or not.

It's really splitting hairs at that point, but ascetically speaking it doesn't fit their ethos.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

the_mitsuhiko · a year ago

> How many stickers are in the kit? And honestly it's too damn high.

I know I'm going against the grain here, but I love stickers. Many of the sets my kids got were "sticker infested" but as they only re-bricked it, we just did not put the stickers on some of them and got just more fun out of it.

> Within the past 10 years I have had at least 7 kits missing pieces. And the frequency keeps growing

I never had it. Also if you do, Lego will send you any piece (that is not a minifig) no questions asked. My kid threw my glob down and one of the parts got a bad indentation and looked ugly. I got a replacement part in the mail no questions asked.

bleepblop · a year ago

I am fully aware of the customer service side of lego. That's why I still use their stuff. But I suppose that is where our agreement will lie. Knowing what they are capable of and where they are now is noticeable.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

jacurtis · a year ago

I've also always questioned this. I have purchased about 60 sets in the past 4 years. I have a friend who has purchased well over 100 (he runs a Lego YouTube channel - he spends > $6,000 a year on Lego by his estimation).

I have never had a missing piece. There have been two times when I thought I was missing a piece and then found it stuck in a bag or hidden under another piece. I've never had to write to Lego to get a replacement (which I've heard they are really easy to work with if it does happen).

Out of curiosity, I just texted my friend to get another sample from him and he said it happened to him one time, but also admitted his kids might have been to blame.

So when people claim that every other set they buy has missing pieces, I always feel like I am either the luckiest person to ever live, or maybe the pieces are there and certain people are just more likely to misplace or lose them in the building process.

bleepblop · a year ago

I don't have children and I do all sorts of kits besides lego; with even smaller pieces. Either I have bad luck or I am careless. But you'd think with multiple decades under my belt I'd eventually find the "missing" pieces. When it's like a 4x12 left wing, or a 2x1 it starts to get suss.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

Larrikin · a year ago

My experience is in fact the opposite. I usually buy the larger sets, and have nearly always had left over smaller pieces. It made me worried the first time it happened and I spent the time tracing back through the model only to find I didn't miss anything.

bleepblop · a year ago

I wish I could say the same. The extra little guys is to be expected. I am talking about key pieces to the puzzle.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

breuleux · a year ago

How many sets do you buy per year, out of curiosity? I got into Lego during the pandemic and bought around 50 sets in the past three years. Over that sample, the number of missing pieces was precisely zero.

bleepblop · a year ago

I go on some wild stints. But if I had to average it out; somewhere around 10-20 kits a year.

bleepblop commented on Lego price per part over the years brickinsights.com/statist... · Posted by u/janandonly

bombcar · a year ago

> Many people quote that a set should be priced at around $0.10 per part to be worthwhile. Is this the average?

This has been the average, and it's so "perfect" that it has to be that Lego has been aiming for it. They've accomplished this by having more and more detail (read: smaller pieces) in newer sets.

They appear to have been forced (or trying) to jump to $0.20 per piece in some sets (e.g., https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/cinderella-and-prince-cha... )

bleepblop · a year ago

I have a new metric when it comes to lego kits these days. How many stickers are in the kit? And honestly it's too damn high. I have been pretty vocal to lego about this in the past and current times. If they can mass produce an uncountable amount of minifigs with detailed paint schemes; they can do the same for bricks in the set.

I have a hard time believing it's nothing more than a cost cutting measure. And to add insult to injury; I have noticed their quality control slipping over the years. For example: in the past 40 years or so, I might get a kit with a piece missing once a decade? Within the past 10 years I have had at least 7 kits missing pieces. And the frequency keeps growing. As a long time lego enthusiast; they have been slowly losing my trust.

bleepblop commented on Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right hugo.blog/2024/03/11/visi... · Posted by u/wolverine876

jwcooper · a year ago

They would have needed controllers and actually cared enough to support steam on it.

There is zero chance Valve would release HL:Alyx without full steam support on the device.

That being said, I get what you're saying - that a killer game could have helped the value proposition. They clearly didn't design it for that though, even based on how much lower their refresh rate is for hand tracking.

It feels like a consumption device like the iPad, with some productivity mixed in.

bleepblop · a year ago

The irony is I can use steam link with an ipad. On top of that I can use it as a second monitor for when I am on the go among some other productivity. From what I saw with the vision pro, nothing compelled me in that department. And I have to agree with you, not having some sort of controller interface was an additional no go as well.