Weeknote: Lumibricks, Quiche Browser, COVID nonsense, 0% Apple financing and more
Lego isn’t the only brick brand. But, for good reason, Chinese brands in particular built a bad reputation for themselves. Things have been changing, though, with a handful of companies innovating beyond Lego’s efforts. One such example is Lumibricks. For Stuff this week, I look into one of its sets in ’Why Lego should be paying close attention to this upstart company lighting up the block-building world’.
Want a tastier iPhone browser? Then check out Quiche Browser. And if you do, read my guide to many of its best bits.
Apple gear is expensive. We all know this. But Apple had long made it more palatable to buy an iPhone through its Upgrade Program(me). That’s now gone, replaced by very different schemes in each country. I wrote about the actual UK and rumoured US versions last week. (I’m not currently familiar with what’s happened elsewhere.) In the event, I think folks in the US have come out of this rather well. Sure, the Apple Upgrade Program is akin to a car lease, but it appears there are no real downsides, assuming you budget for a hefty final payment – assuming you want to keep your device. But also, you can now upgrade gear beyond iPhones.
Here in the UK, that option does not exist. Instead, we get the Flexible Finance Account. This basically gives you a line of credit with Apple that you can spend on a range of (but not all) products, with varying interest rates. You can still upgrade an iPhone after a set number of payments, but not an iPad or a Mac. However, what’s most strange in the UK is how buried the options are. Go to buy a Mac and it says you can pay over 36 months at 6.9% interest. It’s only when you’re several pages into the checkout process that the 0% option is surfaced. Hard to tell whether this is intent or just poor UX. Not great either way.
Journalists don’t know everything. In fact, they often don’t know a great deal once they move beyond their specialist subject areas. Either way, speaking to experts, distilling information and advice, and then making all that accessible is what makes for good journalism. Which is why it was depressing this week to see The News Agents spouting COVID disinformation. Fortunately, Prof Christina Pagel was on hand to offer a retort – but she really shouldn’t have had to.
Another retro doodad is here! Earlier this year, I received a Retroid Pocket 6 review unit, which I duly covered for Stuff. Out of every review unit in the gaming space, it’s the one that’s subsequently had the most playtime. Much of that comes down to its sheer range, supporting everything from the most ancient of home micro and console games to indie Steam hits via the likes of GameNative. Out of the blue, I was recently sent its 4:3 cousin, the Retroid Pocket Nova. I’ll be putting that through its paces soon – but I’m willing to bet right now that it’s also going to be fab.
“Chinese brands in particular built a bad reputation for themselves”
In my experience, this is undeserved, for one simple reason: Chinese brands offer a wide range of products at different price points, and only the genuinely cheap ones are poorly made. Yes, I can order a cheap Lego knock-off on AliExpress, and it’s going to miss one or two pieces, and they’re not going to stick together reliably, but that’s not because it’s Chinese; it’s because it’s cheap.
Meanwhile, companies like Mould King, Xingbao, or CaDA have been putting out absolutely amazing sets at a quality that often matches or exceeds Lego’s for years now. I haven’t bought a Lego set in a long time, because many of the Chinese sets are just better designed. It’s particularly obvious for more complex sets like car models; what Lego puts out pales in comparison to Chinese options.
I want to like Lego because I’m a Lego kid, but if they can’t be bothered to compete with Chinese alternatives in model quality, I’m not sure they deserve my money.