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Rubik’s Metallic 40th Anniversary Cube | 3x3 Cube with a Twist, Classic Problem-Solving Puzzle Toy

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In March 1981, the Cube landed on the cover of Scientific American, where Pulitzer-Prize winning scientist Douglas Hofstadter, author of "Gödel, Escher, Bach" (1979), called it “one of the most amazing things ever invented for teaching mathematical ideas.” The Rubik's Cube (3x3x3) is a cube shaped Twisty puzzle. It was invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor named Ernő Rubik. Rubik originally name the puzzle "Magic Cube" however, in 1980 it was renamed after its creator and is generally known since as the "Rubik's Cube". During the 1980s, the Rubik's Cube became a worldwide sensation, and it is estimated that by the mid-80s, 20% of the world's population at the time had played with it - that's 1 in every 5 people on earth! Until today, more than 350 million cubes have been sold worldwide, and it is considered to be the world's best selling toy of all time. As of January 2021, the Rubik's Brand, which was formed around the Rubik's Cube and other puzzles, is owned by the Canadian toy corporation Spin Master. Despite this fact, over the years a number of algorithms for solving the Rubik's Cubewere published. Some of them are more straightforward and some are more complicated but result in faster solves. The current world record for solving the Rubik's Cube is 3.13 seconds,it was set by Max Park (United States) at the Pride in Long Beach 2023 competition. An internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to have only one colour. It has inspired other designers to create a number of similar puzzles with various numbers of sides, dimensions, and mechanisms.

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Sitting on the patio of his home in the hills of Budapest, Rubik, now 76, fiddled with a cube as he recalled its "discovery" and accidental success. (He prefers to use “discovered,” rather than “invented” — as if the existence of the object was somehow pre-ordained).Find sources: "Rubik's Cube"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Taking advantage of an initial shortage of cubes, many imitations and variations appeared, many of which may have violated one or more patents. In 2000 the patents expired, and since then, many Chinese companies have produced copies, modifications, and improvements upon the Rubik and V-Cube designs. [40] Patent history After the first batches of Rubik's Cubes were released in May 1980, initial sales were modest, but Ideal began a television advertising campaign in the middle of the year which it supplemented with newspaper advertisements. [23] At the end of 1980, Rubik's Cube won a German Game of the Year special award [24] and won similar awards for best toy in the UK, France, and the US. [25] By 1981, Rubik's Cube had become a craze, and it is estimated that in the period from 1980 to 1983 around 200million Rubik's Cubes were sold worldwide. [26] In March 1981, a speedcubing championship organised by the Guinness Book of World Records was held in Munich, [24] and a Rubik's Cube was depicted on the front cover of Scientific American that same month. [27] In June 1981, The Washington Post reported that Rubik's Cube is "a puzzle that's moving like fast food right now ... this year's Hoola Hoop or Bongo Board", [28] and by September 1981, New Scientist noted that the cube had "captivated the attention of children of ages from 7 to 70 all over the world this summer." [29] His application to the Hungarian Patent Office in 1975 called the cube a “spatial logic toy.” At the time, Hungary was behind the Iron Curtain — it would remain a communist controlled Eastern bloc state until 1989 — and as Rubik writes, the country had “no particular affinity for toy production.” In March 1970, Larry D. Nichols invented a 2×2×2 "Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups" and filed a Canadian patent application for it. Nichols's cube was held together by magnets. Nichols was granted U.S. Patent 3,655,201 on 11 April 1972, two years before Rubik invented his Cube.

The invention, eventually renamed the Rubik's Cube, would become the most popular puzzle toy in the world, with more than 350 million sold as of 2018. The cube also inspired numerous artworks and films, and spawned a competitive sport called speedcubing that fills arenas with teenagers racing to complete the puzzle in the shortest amount of time. Even while Rubik's patent application was being processed, Terutoshi Ishigi, a self-taught engineer and ironworks owner near Tokyo, filed for a Japanese patent for a nearly identical mechanism, which was granted in 1976 (Japanese patent publication JP55-008192). Until 1999, when an amended Japanese patent law was enforced, Japan's patent office granted Japanese patents for non-disclosed technology within Japan without requiring worldwide novelty. [42] [43] Hence, Ishigi's patent is generally accepted as an independent reinvention at that time. [44] [45] [46] Rubik applied for more patents in 1980, including another Hungarian patent on 28 October. In the United States, Rubik was granted U.S. Patent 4,378,116 on 29 March 1983 for the Cube. This patent expired in 2000. Each of the six centre pieces pivots on a fastener held by the centre piece, a "3D cross". A spring between each fastner and its corresponding piece tensions the piece inward, so that collectively, the whole assembly remains compact but can still be easily manipulated. The older versions of the official Cube used a screw that can be tightened or loosened to change the "feel" of the Cube. Newer official Rubik's brand cubes have rivets instead of screws and cannot be adjusted. Inexpensive clones do not have screws or springs, all they have is a plastic clip to keep the centre piece in place and freely rotate. The puzzle was originally advertised as having "over 3,000,000,000 (three billion) combinations but only one solution". [51] Depending on how combinations are counted, the actual number is significantly higher.

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As a “cubing mom,” Kim began shuttling her son to cubing competitions — and became fascinated with the global popularity of the puzzle. Kim documents the way kids are mastering an analog tool using tools of the digital age — YouTube tutorials, articles, and more — and creating online communities around their love of the cube. "I actually think it's found a new niche in popular culture because of its immersion within the digital landscape," Kim said via video chat. See also: Rubik's Cube in popular culture The world's largest Rubik's Cube was constructed for the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. The first book by the reclusive inventor of the world’s most iconic puzzle, the Rubik's Cube. Erno Rubik inspires us with what he’s learned in a lifetime of creating, curiosity and discovery. Buy The Rubik's Cube has over 43 quintillion possible permutations - that's 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 to be exact. This number is so high it even excceeds the number of seconds passed since the Big Bang! Although the Rubik's Cube reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1980s, it is still widely known and used. Many speedcubers continue to practise it and similar puzzles, and compete for the fastest times in various categories. Since 2003, the World Cube Association (WCA), the international governing body of the Rubik's Cube, has organised competitions worldwide and recognises world records.

The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 [2] [3] by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, [4] the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Pentangle Puzzles in the UK in 1978, [5] and then by Ideal Toy Corp in 1980 [6] via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer. [7] The cube was released internationally in 1980 and became one of the most recognized icons in popular culture. It won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of March2021 [update], over 450million cubes had been sold worldwide, [8] [9] [ needs update] making it the world's bestselling puzzle game [10] [11] and bestselling toy. [12] The Rubik's Cube was inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame in 2014. [13] For all of its appeal to mathematical skill and logic, the broad popularity of the Cube may be rooted in the nearly limitless number of possible solutions. "That is one of its most mysterious qualities," Rubik writes. "The end turns into new beginnings.” Douglas Hofstadter, in the July 1982 issue of Scientific American, pointed out that Cubes could be coloured in such a way as to emphasise the corners or edges, rather than the faces as the standard colouring does; but neither of these alternative colourings has ever become popular. [44] Mathematics In October 1982, The New York Times reported that sales had fallen and that "the craze has died", [34] and by 1983 it was clear that sales had plummeted. [24] However, in some countries such as China and the USSR, the craze had started later and demand was still high because of a shortage of Cubes. [35] [36] 21st-century revivalThe original (3×3×3) Rubik's Cube has eight corners and twelve edges. There are 8! (40,320) ways to arrange the corner cubes. Each corner has three possible orientations, although only seven (of eight) can be oriented independently; the orientation of the eighth (final) corner depends on the preceding seven, giving 3 7 (2,187) possibilities. There are 12!/2 (239,500,800) ways to arrange the edges, restricted from 12! because edges must be in an even permutation exactly when the corners are. (When arrangements of centres are also permitted, as described below, the rule is that the combined arrangement of corners, edges, and centres must be an even permutation.) Eleven edges can be flipped independently, with the flip of the twelfth depending on the preceding ones, giving 2 11 (2,048) possibilities. [52] 8 ! × 3 7 × 12 ! 2 × 2 11 = 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 {\displaystyle {8!\times 3 Hofstadter has heard of speedcubers, and thinks it’s fitting that the object has endured. “It's absolutely deserved,” he said. “It's a miraculous object, marvelous invention, a beautiful invention, a deep invention.” The Cube can be taken apart without much difficulty, typically by rotating the top layer by 45° and then prying one of its edge cubes away from the other two layers. Consequently, it is a simple process to "solve" a Cube by taking it apart and reassembling it in a solved state. Rubik describes Cubed, as the product of a hermit who is “coming out of the shadows.” He refers to himself as a “concrete and intuitive thinker” and an amateur inventor, but like his invention, he defies categorization. His resume includes stints as a professor, architect, designer, editor and, now, writer. Rubik takes pride in his ability to self-teach, and bristles at the idea that those in authority are in the best position to impart knowledge.

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