As the co-founder of Arduino I can confirm this was a great inspiration for me. I learned electronics with this kit when I was 7 and it gave me also a great appreciation for design as well. The way I taught electronics to designers was also inspired by the method used in the book that came with the kit. I still have the book from my original kit. It’s an amazing tool
'precursor' is a bit of a stretch, as in the sixties MCUs weren't conceived yet. It's rather a fancy version of a solderless breadboard. It's been a <i>long</i> time since I've seen them and I never had one. I started with the competition, a Philips Electronic Baukasten.
I had a toy as a kid that was somewhere between this <i>Lectron</i> system and the <i>75 in 1 Electronics</i> kits that Radio Shack sold.<p>Components were on square blocks each (red plastic). Small clips would hold blocks edge to edge. Wiring was by means of, like the "75 in 1", spring terminals in the corners of the blocks — a small steel clip was inserted into the spring terminal — just the right length to bridge the gap between adjacent blocks.<p>Simple stuff as I recall: battery, light bulb, switch. If there was a transistor or two it went over my head at so young an age. I was at the "hook up battery to a bulb" stage of electronics learning.
Submitter broke the rules a bit here, the HN headline should match the article/site title which is, "The Universe of the Lectron System."<p>Moreover, I feel like Arduino is the wrong comparison. I guess submitter meant "breadboard" circuits. (Where Arduino is often used, but these were popular decades before the Arduino came to town.)
Looks very similar to denshi blocks, surprised I've heard of them but not this.<p>More a precursor to things like them and LittleBits than Arduino<p>Edit: were these only released in German? I guess that'd explain it. Can't find any English language sets for sale
I came across a similar concept in the shape of a kid toy in the early 90s.
Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the game (my parents got it on a trip to France), but it definitely got me hooked.