Is Makeblock dead?

#10

Both links to the linear motion items work.

I did a test mail to info@makeblock.com, works fine, does not bounce.

I think it is normal that retailers go out of business or change their product line. I have some counter examples:

  • makeblockshop.eu has the whole product range
  • the two major electronic online shops in Germany carry >60 Makeblock items each.

I don’t get your point about the taobao.com site … how is that even related to Makeblock? The whole domain seems offline to me.

It seems to me that you base your anger on issues which I can not replicate.

#11

@Andreas Come on… Please read what the bounce-email said. Makeblock were over their “Ip frequency limited” and the server returned that error. It does not mean that they have not resolved it and that you cannot get an email through when trying at a later time?

Makeblockshop.eu is a bad example. They were started in 2017 as you can see from this http://web.archive.org/web/*/makeblockshop.eu

Compare that to http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://makeblock.no that was around since 2014. I spoke with the owner, so I know from the inside why he had to close. I’m not “just saying this”?

Taobao is the chinese equivalent of Ebay. It’s massively huge and what I say is that it’s better maintained than makeblock.com. Here’s a presentation that shows how they completely squeezed Ebay (and others) out of the Chinese market: https://www.slideshare.net/y_pinkinelli/taobao-42676821

#12

Concerning the bounce mail: I find it a bit strange to conclude that Makeblock is dead because they have a mail server hickup. Same as concluding Amazon is dead because they had a server outage last year.

You say that retailers are quitting Makeblock, I bring a counter example with the complete Makeblock stock and and you call that a bad example? I accept that your example shop had reasons quitting, but some other shops have reasons to start, so what? I showed Makeblock to multiple people in the last year, and they ordered stuff from multiple vendors with no problem.

I can’t tell about Taobao because I can not access it from here … but on eBay Germany I find 442 open offers right now.

Looking at https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/makeblock.com I find that the interest in their web page is trending up since 6 months, and their ranking is better than competitors such as Ozobot or Seeed.

Also I find the tech support here in the forum quite helpful. It’s not perfect, but compared to other vendors it is pretty ok.

#13

I believe that the following would give present and future users a level of comfort in using makeblock products:

  • twice a year makeblock gives a statement, on this forum, of what sensors/modules are supported on each platform (mcore - megapi)
  • once a year makeblock gives a statement, on this forum, on what their plans are for the next year (hardware and software)
  • once a year makeblock does a poll of what users want for this product line. (example color sensor for mcore - megapi, not just megapipro: and IR emitter, not just receiver) and commits to completing the top X items.
#14

Hi jenschr,

I am regularly forum and I did not see your answer.

For my part, I always had good service and good listening from the support and Makeblock directly. There may be forgetfulness but that does not seem to be regular or I do not feel the problem that you seem to live.

A forum is a place of exchange where the community participates and answers questions. The support is there to help the community and answer some specific post. If you need help from Makeblock, the email works fine. However, I do not expect to receive only responses from Makeblock on this forum.

I believe you can continue to communicate with Makeblock and the forum users. Together we will probably have the answers to your questions.

#15

Dear Jens,
How are you? This is Kenny Wang from Makeblock. I am the head of Makeblock Europe and Africa.
Nice e-meeting you.
Firstly, I apologize for the annoying and confusing experiences you had met now. Please allow me to explain in details on the questions you asked.

  1. Makeblock did not attend the Shenzhen Maker Faire since we were making the launch of the lastest product"Codey Rocky"in same time period;
    Please find the information of Codey Rocky as below:
    http://codeyrocky.makeblock.com/en/
    Codey Rocky is an entry-level coding robot for STEM education, suitable for children ages 6 and up. The combination of easy-to-use robotics hardware with graphical programming gives all children the opportunity to take their first steps into the world of code
  2. For the missing links, we will do a complete checking on learn website. It is true that there are variable problems on the website. We will gradually improve.
  3. For the layout of the new official website, we are making some major updates on it. It is still on the progress. If you have any query please feel free to contact with info@makeblock.com (if there is still problem to send email to info, please let me know).
  4. For the delay happens on the reply of the posts, We are really sorry about it. We really appreciated your support and attention; It’s our pleasure to have a fans like you to devote on the spread of STEM and innovation things as Makeblock is doing. We will do our best to improve ourselves.
  5. For the sales or partner info. for Nordics. i will send it to you later on and get you connect with them;
    For any further questions ,you are free to contact with me by: kenny.wang@makeblock.com or my linkedin.
    Thanks again for your support on Makeblock.

Best Regards!
Kenny

Is makeblock still alive and kicking?
#16

Hi rojoamigo,

Thanks for your valuable suggestion. We will consider this.
Actually, when there is update on software, we will synchronous to sns platform like Facebook.
For the whole suggestions, we will share them to the operation department. Thanks again.

#17

@makeblock Now that’s the kind of reply I had hoped for! Thanks Kenny. I should say sorry for the negative title in my post. Based on the tone, I’m sure you can see that I was frustrated when I wrote it. I’m frustrated with seeing the company spending all time and resources on (what I think is) the wrong things. I had really hoped to see you at Shenzhen Maker Faire to get a chance to talk to Jasen or others in the company.

I think Makeblock has a great core product and I’m sad to see all attention go to products like Codey Rocky. It’s not an original product that builds on the company strengths. It’s just “another STEM product” that will get lots of attention when launched and then be forgotten. This is what happened with the mBot series. I wrote about this on my blog http://flashgamer.com/hardware/comments/makeblock-mbot-review back in September 2016. About half a year ago I got an email from an institution that had purchased mBot’s for more than 50k USD. Only after receiving the robots did they realise that the promised Curriculum for the robot did not exist and that they had to build it from scratch. There are many things still missing from mBot. Now it’s a half finished product that is difficult to use. It needs more work, so focusing on new products will not help the sales.

mBot and mBot Ranger is a product that plays to Makeblock’s strengths. It’s part of the construction system and like LEGO, you can expand it. Codey Rocky is a pure consumer product that makes it look like Makeblock is no longer focused on it’s core business. It cannot be expanded with Makeblock parts. It makes it look like Makeblock are moving away from construction toys/tools and towards kids/consumers. If you instead focused on making great examples using the new pneumatic system, thousands of schools teaching automation would be interested. If you focused more om building great software and original code libraries, IT schools (like the one I teach in) would be interested.

In terms of sales, this is a much larger market since it’s long term customers and do not require constant Kickstarters. I really hope that Makeblock will focus it’s attention on what it’s good at!

#18

I agree with much of your latest post @jenschr. Putting some more attention to the mBot / Ranger product line with strengthen what is a nearly unique product line. E.g. Lego has something comparable, but at a much higher price and with less flexibility (although its a bit more durable).

Why not do a mBot V2 with a build-in LED matrix at the top and a color coded line follower? That would beat codey bot and still would have access to all the extensions.

I have great success using mBots together with the mobile software to get kids started on programming and robots within seconds. Build on that, Makeblock.

Fix the known issues with the documentation, hardware (buzzer problem … does that ring a bell), software (such as connectivity issues with mBlock, just look at the number of questions around that in the forum).

#19

We have noticed that you are more active lately and that is appreciated.

We look forward to you turning these words into actions. A matrix of what modules are supported on what platform and if support is mblock or Arduino extension would be a good start.

As a sign of good faith we have just purchased another ultimate 2.

#20

Mr Kenny Wang:

In our multiple decades of joint ventures with the educational market, we learned six important things:

  • they do not have much money
  • teachers do not have much free time to design/build
  • teachers have little control of the curriculum
  • teachers have a passion when it comes to their profession and expect the same from their vendors
  • teachers expect a professional product (hardware/software/support) to be delivered to them with full documentation
  • the product must be modular, flexible and durable as their requirements constantly change

When we were researching what robotic platform to use, we ran each platform against these six criteria and the two finalists were VEX and Makeblock.

The strengths of Makeblock included free software (scratch and Ardunino mode) and a family of products (mbot to ultimate) that were totally customizable. With all due respect, the codey rocky meets few of the criteria. Even the airblock has at least three physical forms (air, land,and sea).

Examples of the ingenuity can be seen on this forum. Users dasansa and chuckmcknight posted about using the standard mbots to solve a maze. The both used the line follow and ultrasonic sensors in different ways. THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX. A major goal of any educator.

I hope to see Makeblock up its professional status, fill-in the missing support infrastructure and announce the next generation of compatible mbot to ultimate products

#21

Sorry for my english, it’s not very good

Hi rojoamigo:

I totally agree with you on the following points:

However, I would qualify some of your comments because you seem to speak for all the teachers in the world. The mBot product is really good for schools but it could certainly improve. Is it suitable for all ages? No. For my part, the mBlot remains assambler because the plastic wheels will break quickly.

Since I have the mBot, the Neuron kit and soon the Codey Rocky kit, I can allow it to make some comparisons.

The mBot is for the child who is at least 8 years old with supervision. The neurons that are expensive are for the older ones because of their cost. The Neurons are simple used but I’m afraid it will lose pieces and Makeblock does not sell parts right now.

Beware, the Neurons have nothing to do with the mBot. To my knowledge: The educational contribution and their potential has no equal on the market (Ni Lego, nor VEX can approach the potential of the 30 blocks of Neuron). Is the product ready to use in class? No. I hope Makeblock will stimulate the community and further develop the product as there are hundreds of possible experiences and posibilities with the material.

Hence the product Cody Rocky and block Neuron. With the latter, Makeblock seems to cover all age levels (beginner to 6 years). What I like about Makeblock is that it focuses on Neuron with Cody Rockey and mBot products. For the product AirBlock, I do not have it so I will not allow myself to evaluate without trying it (I see no interest in schools).

Now, I hope that the Cody Rocky will not be a disappointment and that the Neuron blocks will be usable and integrate well with the little robot. Yes, I have fears, but I hope that Makeblock has a solid plan and that it does not go into trials everywhere.

Good luck and show us that the money we put into your products is a safe bet.

#22

Dear Jens, Andreas, David, Michel
Thank you for all your valuable suggestions, we will convey the content to the relevant product manager, follow-up will continue to improve, you are welcome continuous attention.

Best Regards!
Kenny

#23

@Andreas Speaking of… I was just going to order something from makeblockshop.eu, but they are also closing shop :frowning: I guess I’ll get it directly and rather just pay for express delivery then? Do you know of any other shops that have the full line? I need sprockets and powerful motors…

#24

Hi,

Kiwi Electronics in the Netherlands sells quite a lot of Makeblock parts. Is this what you are looking for or not?

https://www.kiwi-electronics.nl/index.php?route=product/isearch&search=tandwiel&lang=en

Greetings,

PinkyPepper

#25

I’m really glad to see this thread. I am a teacher trying to use 30 mbots I inherited, and over the last two years keep using bits of my precious time to try to figure them out, and have been baffled by this company, the combination of clearly really great stuff with weird fails that crop up in so many ways. I’ve developed a pretty deep distrust. For instance I love the mblock app tutorial for ipad but it took forever to find it, and it dies in the ninth chapter. I spend a year saying “huh?” because I kept ending up on websites that seemed similar but unconnected. There is a mBlock software link that says “mBlock for PC” but has all the mac software in it. There are parts I see in pictures but can’t find when I want to order them. And on and on. So I’m relieved that it’s not me that’s going crazy. Because I’m also trying to invest a lot of my school’s resources in the mbot line, and am afraid of making a fool of myself by choosing a horse that’s dropping out of the race.

#26

Hi kwbueler,

I did not have these problems but I admit that I do not have 30 mBots.
Me, I use the application mBot on iPad and Mblock under PC. I have no additional modules and I do not do anything very complex.

However, I understand you because Makeblock is not a product like Lego. He is a little more open and he is still quite young. Indeed, there are some surprises, but the forum is still positive for me.

I would say that there is a lack of a place to find resources that people could upload. It’s not perfect but it’s still ok.

#27

As you can see from my posts, I share your concerns. I have many decades of experience in teaching, programming, etc and I have found the learning curve steep.
However, the reasons that I picked this product are:

  • it is very flexible
  • this forum has very talented users who are here to help.

I am also frustrated that some of the sensors/modules only work on some products and some are only available from China.

The roll out of mblock5 (the next software product) and how it supports the existing products will determine my future with the product.

On the documentation side, I suggest you read this link:
[Published mBot book today]

Charles is a great source for info and his book might be very helpful.

If you give the users of this forum a list of problems/questions/etc, maybe we can shine a light on this tunnel.

#28

Hi kwbueler,

Sorry to hear about the disappointing on the instructions and website.
For the issue on the chapter 9-2 of mBlock Blockly APP, here we have tested it and it works. For the issue on your side, could you let me know more info requested in this post.

For the issue that " I kept ending up on websites that seemed similar but unconnected", it will be appreciated if you can show these website. Your experience on these website is important and we will provide feedback to related department for optimizing.

For the issue "There is a mBlock software link that says “mBlock for PC” but has all the mac software in it. ", which link do you use? Normally, you can download the both the windows and MAC version mBlock software from this link.

For the issue that “There are parts I see in pictures but can’t find when I want to order them”, it is true some parts are not available for sell individually since it is special for a robot kit. But you can let us know which parts you need, we can help to check if it is available for sell individually.

#29

tech_support, I have accumulated many screen shots of what I’m referring to. But I don’t know how to get them into this forum. Could you email me, or I email you, directly to send you these screenshot of parts of your websites and what’s not working on them?