Image © LEGO
Google, amongst others, is celebrating the 50th birthday of the LEGO brick today. Let us join the congratulations. I had tons of bricks as a child and definitely preferred those to my three small fischertechnik sets back then.
But:
Still playing LEGO as well as fischertechnik with my kids today, I begin to realize that LEGO is for visual designers whereas fischertechnik is for engineers.
Why is that?
While LEGO might mimic the shape and function of machines, with fischertechnik you can design and construct actual prototypes. The main differences are:
LEGO
- The original brick was and is unidirectional. You mainly build upwards.
- One type of brick comes in different colors and there are a myriad of different shapes to mimic all sorts of object surfaces.
- LEGO blocks are of an amazing quality and precision.
fischertechnik
- fischertechnik was designed to build horizontally as well as vertically right from the start with a universal basic building block.
- Priority is not on color and shape but on function instead.
- fischertechnik's quality and precision is even superior to LEGO's; combining plastic with nylon and metal.
You can find fischertechnik in selected stores in Germany or at Model A Technology in the US. If you can get hold of a set, you definitely have to give it a try.
Happy birthday, LEGO. Long live fischertechnik!
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