[Jessica Boucher]

Originally Posted by Ryan M.

But the difference between and iPod and Mindstorms is that there are other MP3 players, where as Mindstorm's competition is... nothing.

I think what greencactus was trying to get at (and if I'm wrong, please correct me) was the economic sense of their similarities, which hails back to the theme of the article. In that sense of the word, the iPod and the RCX are durable goods (which can be used over and over again) as opposed to nondurable goods which can be used once (like food).

The Mindstorms RIS and the iPod are also similar because they're touted as the "big holiday gift", much like an iPod or a computer.

There's lots more I want to say about this later. This is a great discussion - keep it up!