The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
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Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#2If you read between the lines this is the broken window fallacy: We need people to make useless junk in order to have jobs.
But now there is no one making sure the useless junk stays popular, so less jobs.
Except that's exactly the broken window fallacy: We could instead spend that money on other things.
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#3My stepson went through the fidget spinner phase in about a month, I think he has a dozen of the damn things I keep finding them.
The longest he's stayed interested in anything is a cheap kite I bought him, so I think next year remote control plane.
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#4[deleted]
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#5It's rise in India is so fast and deep that it's been sold in local trains for 40-50 Indian rupees (~70 cents). Almost everyone from kids to adults in office and park started spinning it for no reason because they saw someone else spinning and it was just cool.
PS: I bought two while in the local train. For me and my wife. A day before that a kid in my flat was showing off his skills and a week after that my 40ish manager was spinning it while walking around. And now I hardly see someone spinning.
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#6Not all fads are the same. Some are genuinely interesting product lines that just happen to start as a fad, but stick around (Beanie Babies, video games, and Magic: The Gathering). Others are just fads with no legs (Fidget Spinners, Slap Bracelets, and Cabbage Patch Dolls).
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#7"disintermediation" I believe this is how an IYI says "cut out the middle man".
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#8"disintermediation" I believe this is how an IYI says "cut out the middle man".
It may be. It might also be the term that economists use when they talk to each other, to avoid having to go to "Cut Out the Middle Man Conference 2017." Just because someone isn't using a colloquialism doesn't mean they're pretending to be an intellectual.
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#9Not all fads are the same. Some are genuinely interesting product lines that just happen to start as a fad, but stick around (Beanie Babies, video games, and Magic: The Gathering). Others are just fads with no legs (Fidget Spinners, Slap Bracelets, and Cabbage Patch Dolls).
Why does Beanie Babies stay around vs Cabbage Patch Dolls? I imagine that's because the marketing and other mechanisms for popularity they mention in the article.
Re: The Rise of the Fidget Spinner and the Fall of the Well-Managed Fad
#10If you read between the lines this is the broken window fallacy: We need people to make useless junk in order to have jobs. But now there is no one making sure the useless junk stays popular, so less jobs. Except that's exactly the broken window fallacy: We could instead spend that money on other things.
Ars knows what's useless better than people who spend their own money.