Fidget Spinners: Why Being Interesting Can Do More for You Than Being Useful

Post by gm-conspiracy » Fri, May 19, 2017, 11:16 AM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #116

hodgesrm wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like a product where some investor will end up with a few dozen railway cars full of unsaleable fidget spinners when the excitement dies down. 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.

But unlike other fads the bearings have some minimal value, and fidget spinners are easy to breakdown into a pile of plastic and a pile of bearings.

Post by DanBC » Fri, May 19, 2017, 11:18 AM UTC

beaconstudios wrote: post #99

edanm wrote: post #92

I've been in the "fidget" and specifically "spinner" community for a long time, well over a year at this point. It's funny, but all these articles and all these posts are completely missing the story of the actual rise of the spinners. That's too bad - it's a good story. These spinners first started getting popular online in a community driven mostly through Facebook/Instagram, and where adults collected metal spinne…

interesting! Could you expand on what this original spinner was, and what led to it drawing a community of its own? Especially given that it sounds pretty expensive.

Post by gm-conspiracy » Fri, May 19, 2017, 11:24 AM UTC

psyc wrote: post #85

emef wrote: post #2

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?

I've kept a variety of fidget toys on my desk for decades. These are very simple, and the gyro sensation is nice and interesting.

Post by pbhjpbhj » Fri, May 19, 2017, 11:32 AM UTC

gm-conspiracy wrote: post #121

DanBC wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But unlike other fads the bearings have some minimal value, and fidget spinners are easy to breakdown into a pile of plastic and a pile of bearings.

This is what I am waiting for - an abundant, inexpensive supply of bearings for projects.

Post by throwanem » Fri, May 19, 2017, 11:59 AM UTC

schtitt wrote: post #113

throwanem wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No reason you can't be both.

In a given person's life, there might be plenty of reasons why they can't be one or the other, but that's just me being a pedant. However, as I see it you can choose to invest time and resources into being 'useful' or 'interesting', but the one will usually divert said time and resources away from the other. E.g. you can do deep science, and help the scientific progress of humankind, or you can be 'interesting' like…