RUBIK's CUBE PUZZLE

Inventor of the Puzzle

Erno Rubik a lecturer of Interior Design in Budapest, Hungary invented the most fascinating cube's puzzle of the time in 1974 and patented the same. Although 1974 marks the birth of the puzzle Cube, the journey that led to the invention began a few years earlier. Erno Rubik had a passionate interest in geometry, in the study of 3D forms, in construction and in exploring the hidden possibilities of combinations of forms and material in theory and in practice.

CUBE PUZZLE in the classroom

Erno Rubik being a lecturer of Interior Design used 3D Models made from paper, cardboard, wood or plastic as the most preferred medium of communicating his ideas. He use to enjoy challenging his students to experiment by manipulating clearly constructed and easily interpreted forms. It was the realization that even the simplest elements, cleverly duplicated and manipulated, yield an abundance of multiple forms that was the first step on the long road that led finally to the Cube. Erno had applied for a Hungarian patent for the Magic Cube in 1975, the first test batches were not produced until late 1977.

RUBIK's CUBE PUZZLE - Classical Antecedents

RUBIK's Cube Puzzle possibly the most original of all invented puzzles and games but it surely had a history. Its classical antecedents are great puzzles in their own right. The Tangram, originating from ancient China, merely consists of 5 triangles, a square and a parallelogram, simple elements that yield a multitude of interesting figures. The Pentomino, invented by Solomon W Golomb, has 12 different elements, each one made up of five squares joined together, displaying all the possible configurations of the five combined squares. Pentomino poses the fascinating geometric problem of constructing various rectangles. Piet Hein's Soma Cube is, in a sense, a three dimensional version of Pentominos. It resembles Rubik's Cube both in shape and in the large number of ways its seven elements can be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube. Finally, there is Sam Loyd's well known 15 puzzle, with it's numbered tiles locked together yet moving separately, so that by pushing them about they can be set in sequential order and scrambled at will. Viewing these puzzles places Rubik's Cube in a context and highlights just what a breakthrough creation the Cube really is.

RUBIK's CUBE PUZZLE - Configuration

After conceiving the idea of the 3x3x3 Cube, Erno Rubik first tried to hold together the elements of a simpler, 2x2x2 cube, by means of an elastic rubber construction that threaded its way through all 8 elements. Even at this simple level it soon became clear that such a device could not work. The alternatives then available, such as magnets and the obvious tongue and grooves system, could not cope with the complexity of the different junctions and movements that each element required.

The inspiration came on a lazy, summer day as he was watching the Danube flow by. Rubik's eye was attracted by some pebbles, whose sharp edges have been rubbed and smoothed away in the course of time bringing into being rounded shapes of great but simple beauty. The interior of the Cube elements had to have the same rounded architecture. The brilliant interior mechanism, which is basically cylindrical, took some time to reach its final form. For ease of manipulation, the balance between tightness and looseness had to be just right, tolerances had to be exact. Finally, the 54 outer surfaces of the individual elements were given their colors. When the Cube was complete, Erno Rubik demonstrated it to his students and let some of his friends play with it. The effect was instantaneous. Once somebody laid his hands on the Cube it was difficult to get it back!

Manufacturing and Marketing of RUBIK's CUBE PUZZLE

Dr Tibor Laczi, born in Budapest, educated in Vienna and employed by a major German computer manufacturer "discovered" the Cube on one of his frequent business trips to Hungary. He fell in love with it, and sensing its potential consumer appeal, brought it to the Nuremberg Toy Fair in February 1979 in the hope of finding a potential German toy distributor. He did not meet with a great deal of success but he did stumble across an individual who at that point of the Cube's history was destined to make a crucial difference.

Undeterred by this Initial rejection for CUBE's Puzzle, and spurred on by his firm belief in the exceptional quality of the toy, Tom Kremer, now armed with a convincing marketing plan, continued his search for a viable partner. After many disappointments, he succeeded in persuading Stewart Sims, Vice President of Marketing of the Ideal Toy Corporation, to come to Hungary, to see with his own eyes the Cube in play. It was now September 1979, by which time the Cube had gained a sufficient degree of popularity to be seen occasionally in the street, on trams, in cafes, each time in the hands of someone turning and twisting it, completely absorbed.

First International Debue of REBIK's CUBE PUZZLE

Apart from a small seepage across the Hungarian borders, the Cube made its international debut at the Toy Fairs of London, Paris, Nuremberg and New York in January/February, 1980. With Erno Rubik demonstrating his own creation, the Cube made an immediate impact. The trade buyers were impressed, orders rolled in. There was just one problem: there were no Cubes! Western quality standards and packaging norms meant drastic changes in the Hungarian manufacturing process. This, as with any change under a communist in regime, was slow in coming. Communication between New York and Budapest, given the linguistic and cultural differences, despite the frequent interventions of Tom Kremer, were not easy. The new Cube was easier to manipulate. Ideal Toys renamed it to Rubik's Cube. The first Rubik's Cubes were exported from Hungary in May 1980.

Erno Rubik has not changed much over the years. Working closely with Seven Towns, he is still deeply engaged in creating new games and puzzles, and remains one of the principal beneficiaries of what proved to be a spectacularly successful invention.

References :
http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/Rubik_Cube.htm
http://www.geocities.com/mathfair2002/games/rubik.htm
http://www.eightyeightynine.com/games/rubiks-cube.html