We weren't discussing the same thing?Unfortunately, I got some BTR sets as gifts back in 2003-04, and they're very different from Kre-O (and not in a good way). All the pieces were massive bulky chunks that often snapped apart at the slightest touch as if they were spring-loaded, and instead of minifigures they included ugly action figures with very stiff, squeaky joints and studs slapped on.
Kre-O at least has minifigure-scale "Kreons" (though they still look ugly IMO) and has more piece-by-piece building. Still doesn't compare to LEGO though, but it does stand far ahead of the utter crud that was BTR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Rule
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kre-O