[Ken Streeter]

Originally Posted by DeepWater

Maybe that is partially our own fault. Maybe we should stop calling it a "Kit of Parts" and "KitBot", etc. and start calling it a "Pile of Parts" or "Boxes of Bits and Pieces" or something else. As long as we all keep calling it a "Kit" that's exactly what people outside of FIRST are going to think.

I agree that it would make sense to call the initial "pile of parts" something other than the "kit of parts" -- I really cringed when I saw the original article's wording that "FIRST... sent each team a $17,000 robot kit with ... instructions to build a 'bot that can shoot a ball into a hoop or a goal."

The article almost makes it sound like teams just needed to assemble a kit with complete instructions in the same way that one puts together a bicycle one purchased at ToysRUs, and that the assembled robot would be all set to shoot balls into the high goal! Then again, when I thought about it a bit more, I wasn't too worried, as most of the general populace has great trouble assembling a bicycle with complete instructions!