Cubing generations

[Cubeaddiction]

I started cubing in 2008. This was about a year before dayan got popular (thrid gen I think)

 

[Isaac VM]

4th generation: I'm going to call this the DaYan generation, from 2009 to 2012, when the DaYan cubes got big, there were some okay speedcubes for other events (like SS big cubes, etc.), and cubing was getting faster and more well-known.
5th generation: the explosion; when cubing got WAY bigger, from 2013 to now. It could be characterized by the release of many modern (non-DaYan) speedcubes, cubing YouTubers getting a lot bigger (I remember around the beginning of this time period when 30K or 40K was about the maximum, and look at people like CBC and RedKB now), and many more competitions and new competitors around the world (2013 had 359 competitions and 2015 had 572).

Well, I learned to solve the cube back in 2010, but I did not speedsolved it until a year ago, so I guess I am a 4th generation cuber but a 5th generation speedcuber.

 

[bazmonkey]

I learned in the mid-90's, so... I'm part of the third "lost" generation?

I very much hope this isn't the case, but I fear the next "generation" (5-10 more years) may be the beginning of a dark time again. 3x3 times have improved threefold from when I first got a cube, and somewhere around 4 seconds is probably the hard limit of solve times. Technology has helped about as much as it can: I can't imagine a cube innovation that would drastically affect top solve times as this point. Record-breaking can only get more and more rare. Years may go by in between records that just eek a few hundredths of a second off the previous. Do you all think the "sport" will survive in its current form when the prospect of breaking a record is all but nil?

 

[AlphaSheep]

Do you all think the "sport" will survive in its current form when the prospect of breaking a record is all but nil?

But the prospect of breaking a record is practically nil for at least 99% of cubers already and it seems to be fine... Funny how people somehow seem to enjoy cubing even when they have no hope of breaking records.

 

[mafergut]

But the prospect of breaking a record is practically nil for at least 99% of cubers already and it seems to be fine... Funny how people somehow seem to enjoy cubing even when they have no hope of breaking records.

I don't find it strange nor funny that people can enjoy cubing with no prospect of breaking any records. People play basketball, or football or chess with no hope of being in the big leagues or beating Magnus Carlsen or even getting an ELO ranking. It's very easy: people enjoy doing those things just for the sake of it.

For me, cubing is a lot of fun and a personal challenge. So I am breaking records almost every week: my own records and PBs. In fact, I got into big cubes, skewb, pyra, etc. because I was starting to get stuck at 3x3 and PBs were more scarce. Now I'm happy that I can improve at 4x4, 5x5... and even at 3x3 every now and then.

 

[bazmonkey]

Funny how people somehow seem to enjoy cubing even when they have no hope of breaking records.

No doubt, I'm one of those people. But you don't think overall enthusiasm for it won't die down at least a little when it starts going 3 or more years in between any new records? The passionate die-hands will always be around, but I can't imagine it not taking a hit to its popularity at all

 

[mafergut]

No doubt, I'm one of those people. But you don't think overall enthusiasm for it won't die down at least a little when it starts going 3 or more years in between any new records? The passionate die-hands will always be around, but I can't imagine it not taking a hit to its popularity at all

WCA might decide to change the rules again and restart records from scratch on some events, like, for example, counting the inspection time in speedsolving events, because, right now, it takes more time to inspect 2x2 and 3x3 than to solve them

 

[wir3sandfir3s]

I see generations of cubing like this:
1st generation: 1980s, like you described
2nd generation: cubing "dark ages", as described by cmhardw
3rd generation: the revival, from around 2003 to 2008. Pretty much when cubing was starting up again and there weren't too many advancements hardware-wise.
4th generation: I'm going to call this the DaYan generation, from 2009 to 2012, when the DaYan cubes got big, there were some okay speedcubes for other events (like SS big cubes, etc.), and cubing was getting faster and more well-known.
5th generation: the explosion; when cubing got WAY bigger, from 2013 to now. It could be characterized by the release of many modern (non-DaYan) speedcubes, cubing YouTubers getting a lot bigger (I remember around the beginning of this time period when 30K or 40K was about the maximum, and look at people like CBC and RedKB now), and many more competitions and new competitors around the world (2013 had 359 competitions and 2015 had 572).

According to this, I'd be part of the 4th generation. I remember very well seeing the first videos of non-DaYan 3x3s (like the ShuangRen and HuanYing) right when they were released, although I was pretty new to cubing at that point. I started in mid-2012, so I'm late 4th gen.

I'm 5th gen then.

 

[Ordway Persyn]

But the prospect of breaking a record is practically nil for at least 99% of cubers already and it seems to be fine... Funny how people somehow seem to enjoy cubing even when they have no hope of breaking records.

I think a lot of cubers focus on just going up the world rankings as we'll as some wan't to go up sum of ranks.
Also for some people like me, state records.

 

[One Wheel]

WCA might decide to change the rules again and restart records from scratch on some events, like, for example, counting the inspection time in speedsolving events, because, right now, it takes more time to inspect 2x2 and 3x3 than to solve them

I rather like this idea, if for no other reason than that it's confusing to people who don't know the rules the way it is right now. How many videos have you seen where someone has a scrambled cube, hands it to somebody who knows how to solve it, and says "you can solve it in 15 seconds? 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . ." Of course, eliminating inspection time would virtually eliminate the advantage of color neutrality, and would result in many more very bad solves.

As far as losing popularity as records get harder to break, it could go either way. I'm in no danger of breaking any records in the near future (or ever, really) and to be honest I find 2x2 and even 3x3 a little boring, but big cubes are fascinating, and I believe that longer events may be the way to go. It seems that big blind is gaining popularity, and I would love to see things like gigaminx, 6 and 7 bld, and 4 or 5 mbld offered. When the records for big blind are 1 hour+ big mbld is absurd, but this year over half of the people who have completed 4 bld have done it under 10 minutes, and over half of 5 bld records this year are under 20 minutes, why not offer a mbld option for those? The thing with scheduling mbld is that you always know exactly how long the event is going to take, so it's going to be easier to fit around stuff. 4x4 FMC has also been mentioned, and it would have the same advantages as bmbld (great acronym, btw).

 

[xchippy]

I would love to see things like gigaminx, 6 and 7 bld, and 4 or 5 mbld offered. When the records for big blind are 1 hour+ big mbld is absurd, but this year over half of the people who have completed 4 bld have done it under 10 minutes, and over half of 5 bld records this year are under 20 minutes, why not offer a mbld option for those? The thing with scheduling mbld is that you always know exactly how long the event is going to take, so it's going to be easier to fit around stuff. 4x4 FMC has also been mentioned, and it would have the same advantages as bmbld (great acronym, btw).

I don't think that events that are super hard like 6bld or 7bld would be good for getting people into the community because then it would seem like all of us are like nerds who have no life. Also I don't know of many competitions that would have the time to run these events

 

[One Wheel]

I don't think that events that are super hard like 6bld or 7bld would be good for getting people into the community because then it would seem like all of us are like nerds who have no life. Also I don't know of many competitions that would have the time to run these events

You're probably quite right that very few competitions would run these events, but I don't think that should be a disqualification. Out of 99 upcoming competitions on the WCA site right now only 30 offer 5BLD, and 32 offer feet. Even US Nationals doesn't have feet, but it's still an event, and its comedic value means that it is important to retain, to dilute the natural "nerd alert" response to a Rubik's cube competition.

As to the argument that it would make us seem like nerds who have no life, well, in a very real sense I started cubing because I am a nerd who has no life, and I was not under the impression that I was alone in that . In all seriousness, though, people already assume that if you can solve a Rubik's cube you're either a nerd who has no life, or at the very least possess superhuman intelligence. You and I know that at least the second one isn't necessarily true, but not everybody knows that. Furthermore, and more importantly, Not everyone would do 6BLD and 7BLD. It wouldn't help the few people who compete in those events, but everybody else can make themselves seem much more relatable to the general public by saying something to the effect of "yes, I can solve a Rubik's cube, but there are people who competitively solve a 7x7 Rubik's cube blindfolded! And who do 5 5x5 Rubik's cubes blindfolded at one time!" Makes you seem almost human right away.

 

[Tony Fisher]

I wonder if this is a cycle, and a lot of people will start losing interest in cubing, because records are becoming harder to beat, and cubing will come back years later.

I doubt that very much. With the internet / social media hobbies are far more likely to continue. Back in my day what people did was far more influenced by their (real world) friends. So if a few lost interest in a craze it would quickly disappear. Now the ones still interested will keep in touch and feed off each other. That in turn brings in new fans who before would never have considered it since the craze would hardly have been mentioned again. All my school friends loved the cube in 1980 but by 1983 or so I was the only one.
I would also challenge the claim that records are harder to beat. I haven't done the maths but it seems to me that they are broken more often now than ever. That might be due to a greater number of cubers but it's still relevant.

 

[One Wheel]

I doubt that very much. With the internet / social media hobbies are far more likely to continue. Back in my day what people did was far more influenced by their (real world) friends. So if a few lost interest in a craze it would quickly disappear. Now the ones still interested will keep in touch and feed off each other. That in turn brings in new fans who before would never have considered it since the craze would hardly have been mentioned again. All my school friends loved the cube in 1980 but by 1983 or so I was the only one.
I would also challenge the claim that records are harder to beat. I haven't done the maths but it seems to me that they are broken more often now than ever. That might be due to a greater number of cubers but it's still relevant.

The impact of social media is interesting, and you are most likely right. I wonder though if it isn't possible that at some point there could be a significant wane. Probably not because records are hard to break, but because if current growth rates continue the ability to solve a Rubik's cube will no longer be anything special in another decade or two.

 

[efattah]

I started cubing in 1980 with a Hungarian Rubik's cube my dad brought back from a business trip in Budapest. Shortly after that, the cubes became available at every store in North America. The peak of my cubing was actually in the dark ages (1984-87) where at times I felt like I was chasing an invisible record (In '87 I got a 19.8 single but I figured the record had to be way lower than that, since 5 years had elapsed since the 22.95, yet the Guinness records book still listed 22.95)

In terms of the 'end' of records, this has already happened in freediving. As a competitive freediver I predicted (in 2001) that depth records would stop around 125-130m (in constant weight diving) and this is exactly what happened. Despite the 'end' of records (for men's constant weight and static apnea at least) participation in competitions is higher than ever before-- even to the point that in many countries even national records have 'ended.' Most national constant weight records are at least 5 years old or more. So I don't think the inability to set records will stop people from participating as they are mostly competing against themselves.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[asacuber]

Cubing has grown alot now

 

[conanthewarrior]

I am unsure exactly being fairly new to speedcubing.

I got my first cube from a friend when I was around 18-19, so that would of been 2008-2009. I learnt the beginner method then stopped for some reason.

I am now 26, 27 this month, and recently found my old cube, and I have some memory problems due to illness and thought it may help a bit, if not it is still fun. I got myself a thunderclap to use for now, so started again this year so I guess you could say I fall into two different generations in a sense.

 

[shadowslice e]

I made a video which attempts to detail some of the models proposed in this thread so I thought I would post it here. Hope that those people who's models I used don't think I misrepresented their views too much.

 

[DGCubes]

I made a video which attempts to detail some of the models proposed in this thread so I thought I would post it here. Hope that those people who's models I used don't think I misrepresented their views too much.

Whoa that's so weird... I just thought about making a video about cubing generations this morning. Guess not now.

I'll watch the video when I get home. I'm excited to see it.

 

[Sajwo]

I am pretty sure that we are approaching whole next stage. I'd like to be consistent and say "Max Park Generation", but nah.. Speedcubing is on it's way to become a real sport. Big companies like Moyu, Gans, MFG or Yuxin are recruiting world-class cubers to promote their cubes. They are now getting paid for using their flagship cubes, wearing their apparel and they travel worldwide. It's so much bigger than before. People now finally have a real motivation to break records, it's not a pointless hobby anymore. I also like the idea of rivalry between countries on Worlds this year. I hope that WCA will come up with some more exciting ideas in the future. Or will it be RSA?