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I'm halfway through the article and still have no idea what a fidget spinner is.
by legopelle 9y ago
I'm halfway through the article and still have no idea what a fidget spinner is.
- Rotonde 9y agoIt's another silly fad toy object that you spin in your hand. A very successfully marketed one, that is.
- ccvannorman 9y agoive never seen an ad, only self reported use/pictures. The success is in hitting a nice intersection of cheap/satisfying gadget.
- fapjacks 9y agoWell if you have seen someone using one on Instagram, it's an ad if that person has more than a few thousand followers.
- ChrisClark 9y agoMarketed 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.
- bluedino 9y agoThere are ads all over Facebook and Instagram
- beedogs 9y agoWhy on Earth do people not run ad-blockers on Facebook and Instagram? I never see ads on either of those sites.
- speg 9y agoLots of people don't know how to use browser extensions. Some people don't like to use many browser extensions, like me. I've never been bothered by the ads; sometimes they are even useful.
- coldtea 9y ago>I never see ads on either of those sites. Half of the content of both of those sites is ads, even if it poses as part of the regular flow (sponsored feeds etc).
- gambler 9y agoI wouldn't be surprised if some smart folks in China launched a covert social media campaign to sell this stuff. You don't need much (aside from money and some dedication) to create a fad these days, as long as it's something simple and doesn't require extensive concentration to grasp.
- bitexploder 9y agoThey have been popular with folks that owned 3D printer for a while. It could be something simple like a critical mass of 3D printers being reached. My wife was printing these for fun a few months before it all exploded.
- dsjoerg 9y agoanother? what is the other one? the yo-yo?
- falcolas 9y agoThree skate ball bearings in a 3D printed frame. They're fun, and you can make them pretty easily. And they can spin pretty quickly for a handheld, printed device.
- milkytron 9y agoI believe it's actually four bearings. One in the middle and one for each of the three arms.
- wlesieutre 9y agoTriangular ones seem to be more common, but there are straight versions also https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1985737 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1985737
- cortesoft 9y agoThere are a lot of different designs.
- DanBC 9y agoSome time ago (in the 1990s, I think) a women who had relatives with autism designed a toy thing that provided some sensory "stimming" activity. The toy market is brutal. She wasn't wealthy and couldn't afford patent stuff; she didn't manage to make much (if any) profit, so she dropped the patent in 2005. The toys are a set of 4 bearings held in a plastic frame. http://www.asseenontvandbeyond.com/assets/images/fidget-spinner-black.jpg http://www.asseenontvandbeyond.com/assets/images/fidget-spin... You can get deluxe versions using metal frames and ceramic bearings, and some spinners use two bearings not 4. You pinch a bearing between two fingers and spin the frame. The toys have a legitimate use for people with autism. It's a shame that they're being misused in classrooms. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14271914 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14271914