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Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's another silly fad toy object that you spin in your hand. A very successfully marketed one, that is.
ive never seen an ad, only self reported use/pictures. The success is in hitting a nice intersection of cheap/satisfying gadget.
This is a great article about fidget spinners: https://geeksdistrict.com/inside-the-fidget-spinner-gold-rus... "Over the last month or so, the spinning toys have gone from an elementary-school fad to a nationwide obsession. Unlike many other toy crazes, fidget spinners offer a wild-wild west for global capitalists looking to cash in on the craze. For one, there are no patents or trademarks to worry about infringing,…
Some VCs I know had a similar problem with garden gnomes a few years back. They used a few for office decorations and probably buried the rest.
Seems like lots of people dismiss spinners as a fad or silly. They are a fad. But I celebrate the fact that they are generally simple mechanical objects that feel good in the hand. Not a doll, not a cheap molded plastic toy (ugh, Shopkins), not an electronic lump of stuff that will eventually leech into a landfill. (Yes, I know there are LED spinners, but that has it's own simple coolness.) I have enjoyed having ball…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's another silly fad toy object that you spin in your hand. A very successfully marketed one, that is.
Marketed by who though? Like the article says, there is no main company or companies behind this. Just lots of random products cheap from China being resold.
Anybody tried a fidget spinner? My wife has adhd and likes the idea but we haven't ordered one. Are these interesting for 5 minutes and then shelved? or do they have some lasting appeal?
Fun fact: marketing toys as a cure for ADHD isn't new to this trend. It could be literally any stimulus. Yo-yo, etc.
A lot of ADHD kids spend too much time getting schelped around and don't play well. If you ever volunteer at school you can see it when they are young.
Reminded me of active dogs who don't get walked. If needs aren't met, they adapt in weird ways.
Then schools and restaurants and other places will have the justification to ban them from their property in principle. This will take the "show" culture part down a peg, forcing it into off-campus. Eventually it won't be cool anymore, and actually kind of geeky to have one instead of the new cool thing, a [SECRET INVENTION BY 6STRINGMERCENARY] which keeps score of taps as a game to share online.
If you doubt my Cassandra-screed above, just go look into Slap Bracelets circa the 1990s in the US. I'm not the first person to make the connection (way to go TFF OT!) but I find it extremely comparable. Once they became bare metal razors, as the late, great Bill Paxton said, "Game over man, game over!"
For the record, I don't think Fidget Spinners and Yo-Yos belong in the same sentence. I'm proud to be able to do a half-dozen Yo-Yo tricks with my kick-ass green Butterfly. It's what helped me quit smoking Camel Lights about 6 years ago. Yo-Yos are awesome, Fidget Spinners are Pogs on a ball-bearing.
Its not really an interesting product. Its a fad. The article really doesn't explain why fads happen. I think humans are just dumb animals at heart who like shiny things and automatically copy what other humans are doing without even realizing it.
Our ability to copy others is a sign of intelligence, not stupidity.
Or is there more going on and I am being stupid ? Like people being aware but doing it to fit in due to social instincts ?
Once the kids heard about it, the spinners flew off the shelves. They were also popular with people who have ADHD and those in rehab, giving them something to do with their hands.
When my printer broke a month ago they didn't wait for me to fix it and bought their own. They now have an order of over 200 units and nobody that knows CAD design... guess who they called for help.