A virtual Fidget Spinner

#1

Post by madhukarah » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 9:14 AM UTC

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#2

Post by bcherny » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 10:35 AM UTC

Does anyone know who is behind the Fidget Spinner phenomenon? A few months ago they didn't exist, and now they're everywhere. Who's getting rich off this?

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#3

Post by throwanem » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 10:38 AM UTC

bcherny wrote: post #2

Does anyone know who is behind the Fidget Spinner phenomenon? A few months ago they didn't exist, and now they're everywhere. Who's getting rich off this?

No one, because they're not branded or licensed. The people doing well out of them own the factories in China that make them, or buy them from those factories to mark up and sell to the gas stations and convenience stores where they get marked up again and sold to the kids who want them.

Thirty (twenty?) years ago, it was "slap bracelets". Same story; it's just that the Internet makes everything faster.

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#4

Post by bfu » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 10:47 AM UTC

HN 2017

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#5

Post by gh0zt » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 10:57 AM UTC

bcherny wrote: post #2

Does anyone know who is behind the Fidget Spinner phenomenon? A few months ago they didn't exist, and now they're everywhere. Who's getting rich off this?

According to an article linked here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14271914 Catherine Hettinger filed the original patent

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#6

Post by Artlav » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 11:01 AM UTC

bcherny wrote: post #2

Does anyone know who is behind the Fidget Spinner phenomenon? A few months ago they didn't exist, and now they're everywhere. Who's getting rich off this?

Perhaps Ripple have something to do with it - http://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ripple/

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#7

Post by ainiriand » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 11:01 AM UTC

bfu wrote: post #4

HN 2017

Flag this submission please.

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#8

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 11:03 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#9

Post by deluvas » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 11:10 AM UTC

bcherny wrote: post #2

Does anyone know who is behind the Fidget Spinner phenomenon? A few months ago they didn't exist, and now they're everywhere. Who's getting rich off this?

They did exist, they just weren't very popular.

I remember back in January, there was this video [1] that kept showing in everybody's recommended videos, similar to the "1000 DEGREE EXPERIMENTAL KNIVES" video from MrGear [2]. It became popular very quickly and so the trend started.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP-tqMKqDAQ

[2] https://youtu.be/hjSheQ7LgJ4

Re: A virtual Fidget Spinner

#10

Post by ilanco » Thu, Jun 01, 2017, 11:13 AM UTC

gh0zt wrote: post #5

bcherny wrote: post #2

Does anyone know who is behind the Fidget Spinner phenomenon? A few months ago they didn't exist, and now they're everywhere. Who's getting rich off this?

According to an article linked here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14271914 Catherine Hettinger filed the original patent

As pointer out by @wlesieutre [1], the fidget spinner does not do not correspond to the claims of Catherine Hettinger's patent.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14271914