On December 23, 2016, James Plafke of Forbes published an article describing fidget spinners as the "must-have office toy for 2017." In late March, users on social media websites such as YouTube and Reddit began uploading videos reviewing and performing tricks with fidget spinners.The Boston Globe reported that fidget toys in general "entered the mainstream" with the related Fidget Cube toy also rising in popularity.Several sellers on Etsy were reported to be creating and selling customized spinner designs.
The fidget spinner's popularity began to increase greatly in April 2017, with Google searches for "fidget spinner" spiking that month, according to Money magazine.By May 4, variations of the spinner occupied every spot on Amazon's top 20 best seller list for toys.[11] Many publications referred to the fidget spinner as a fad, with some journalists comparing it to the rise in popularity of water bottle flipping in 2016. On May 16, 2017, video game publisher Ketchapp released a fidget spinner app. The app received 7 million downloads in the first two weeks after it was released.
Child with fidget spinner.
A June 16 article on FiveThirtyEight declared that "fidget spinners are over", based on a decline from mid-May to mid-June in Google News searches, web searches and YouTube searches, combined with the number of fidget spinner videos in YouTube's top daily trending list leveling off in the US.
As of 2017, the patent status of the various fidget spinners on the market was unclear.Catherine Hettinger, a chemical engineer by training, was initially credited by some news stories to have been the inventor of the fidget spinner, including by media outlets such as The Guardian,The New York Times,and the New York Post.Hettinger filed a patent application for a "spinning toy" in 1993 and a patent was issued, but Hettinger allowed the patent to lapse in 2005 after she could not find a commercial partner.A May 2017 Bloomberg News article showed that Hettinger was not the inventor of the fidget spinner, and Hettinger agreed.
In an interview appearing on May 4, 2017 on NPR, Scott McCoskery described how he invented a metal spinning device in 2014 to cope with his own fidgeting in IT meetings and conference calls.In response to requests from an online community, he began selling the device he called the Torqbar online.
As of 2017, the patent status of the various fidget spinners on the market was unclear.Catherine Hettinger, a chemical engineer by training, was initially credited by some news stories to have been the inventor of the fidget spinner, including by media outlets such as The Guardian,The New York Times,and the New York Post.Hettinger filed a patent application for a "spinning toy" in 1993 and a patent was issued, but Hettinger allowed the patent to lapse in 2005 after she could not find a commercial partner.A May 2017 Bloomberg News article showed that Hettinger was not the inventor of the fidget spinner, and Hettinger agreed.
In an interview appearing on May 4, 2017 on NPR, Scott McCoskery described how he invented a metal spinning device in 2014 to cope with his own fidgeting in IT meetings and conference calls.In response to requests from an online community, he began selling the device he called the Torqbar online.
Responses from schools
With the rapid increase in the spinner's popularity in 2017, many children and teenagers began using it in school, and some schools also reported that kids were trading and selling the spinner toys.
As a result of their frequent use by school children, many school districts banned the toy. Some teachers argued that the spinners distracted students from their school work.According to a survey conducted by Alexi Roy and published in May 2017, 32% of the largest 200 American public and private high schools had banned spinners on campus.
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