I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there already are competitions and educational kits made and sponsored by Rubik's. Go to YouCanDoTheCube.com to find out more.Rubik Speedsolving Association? Call me a downer but I'm quite happy with what we have right now. Nothing wrong with the WCA and the way things are going, people compete, and some people organize, that's the way it should be. If this is just meant to act as a catalyst to what we already have then by all means I welcome this, but I really don't want to have competing systems for competitors, we saw in Jessica Fridrich's accounts of 1982 how that went wrong.
Next year we might be rating Rubik's alongside Moyu and Gan as a credible speedcube brand. And they have the money and means to expand the market too.
Guanlongone more area where RSA may earn a lot of money is to develop a cheap version of the cube for mosaic building (with price less than $1). This is also a huge market for sales as a simple portrait needs at least 300 cubes, and this may impact growth of cube-art around the world
In other words, there will be one 3x3 "sport" event with the latest and the greatest cubes (which we have now), and there will be one with the "original" Ribik's Cubes. In this case, in terms of sport, there will be an event with equal rights for all cubers around the world as they have exactly same cubes. For the Erno's sponsors it will be huge boost of "Rubik's"(tm) cubes sales.
They might provide cubes for the competitors. That would be a major fail.Guanlong
How do you regulate what is and isn't an original brand cube? People modify their Rubik's brand these days by removing hardware such as the core and replacing it with a good core. How would this be regulated? Each cube must be popped open to check for different internals?
Guys, Rubik's has sponsored the World Championships before and allowed all cubes to be used even when they were cracking down on "knockoff" cubes. Why on earth are people suddenly worried that they're going to demand that all competitors use Rubik's brands, when it sure looks to me like they're starting to accept other cube brands much more than in the past?
Well this is all speculation of course, but my two cents is that Rubik's and Seven Towns have tried and pretty much failed to limit the use of non-Rubik's brand cubes, and following the recent lost case in Europe perhaps this is a sign that they are ready to redirect their efforts toward growing the market instead, by leveraging the appeal of speedcubing. They have a reach that the other players don't, and ultimately they could make more money by aggressively growing the market and taking a share of it, than by continuing to fight an uphill battle to monopolise a small market.what's the possibility of a detente between WCA and Rubik/Seven Towns and a ban on "knockoff" cubes in competition?
From a post from Erno:what WCA can do for RSA, for example, is to add the extra event "3x3 (only Rubik's Cube (tm)".
In other words, there will be one 3x3 "sport" event with the latest and the greatest cubes (which we have now), and there will be one with the "original" Ribik's Cubes. In this case, in terms of sport, there will be an event with equal rights for all cubers around the world as they have exactly same cubes. For the Erno's sponsors it will be huge boost of "Rubik's"(tm) cubes sales.
one more area where RSA may earn a lot of money...
Well this is all speculation of course, but my two cents is that Rubik's and Seven Towns have tried and pretty much failed to limit the use of non-Rubik's brand cubes, and following the recent lost case in Europe perhaps this is a sign that they are ready to redirect their efforts toward growing the market instead, by leveraging the appeal of speedcubing. They have a reach that the other players don't, and ultimately they could make more money by aggressively growing the market and taking a share of it, than by continuing to fight an uphill battle to monopolise a small market.
So this might be an interesting event to add to WCA competitions. Everyone take a look at this PDF of rules and guidelines for You Can Do the Cube competitions. It's a team solve. And you have to use Rubik's brand cubes. Oh, and a 180-degree turn counts as two moves, so a U2 would be a DNF. And a 90-degree turn would not be a +2, it would be +5! WOW!I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there already are competitions and educational kits made and sponsored by Rubik's. Go to YouCanDoTheCube.com to find out more.
Nobody really seems to know or worry about these, but I just wanted to let you know it has been done before and it may help you to know what to expect.
For the Erno's sponsors it will be huge boost of "Rubik's"(tm) cubes sales.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but afaik the RSA is not connected to Seven Towns in any way.
I actually think the best part about this is that if you aren't currently enrolled in K-12, you're not even allowed to compete! WOW!Everyone take a look at this PDF of rules and guidelines for You Can Do the Cube competitions. It's a team solve. And you have to use Rubik's brand cubes. Oh, and a 180-degree turn counts as two moves, so a U2 would be a DNF. And a 90-degree turn would not be a +2, it would be +5! WOW!.