New Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire (newsweek.com)

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New Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire (newsweek.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday July 1, 2017 @05:42AM from the Samsung-envy dept.

An anonymous reader quotes Newsweek's latest story about fidget spinners: In a development that now seems like it was inevitable, the three-pronged toys are starting to catch on fire. Gizmodo on Thursday pointed to two recent instances of Bluetooth-enabled fidget spinners going up in flames while they were charging. In Alabama, a fidget spinner owned by the son of Gardendale woman Kimberly Allums caught fire after being plugged in for less than 45 minutes. In Fenton, Michigan, Michelle Carr said her spinner started smoking after charging for less than half an hour. "He noticed that it burst into flames and he just started screaming," said Allums of her son and his spinner. "I was downstairs and all I heard was 'fire...fire,' and the fidget spinner had literally, It wasn't smoking, It was in flames"... The fidget spinners in question were Bluetooth-enabled so that they could light up and play music as they spun.
Friday CNET ran a column titled "Fidget spinners exploding? Of course they are." It concludes with a warning that "if you choose a powered off-brand tech item, you better pay close attention when you plug it in."

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burning by nastyphil · 2017-07-01 05:45 · Score: 2

It's not a bad thing.

--
Dialectician. Archology.
1. Re:burning by Aighearach · 2017-07-01 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  As a wise being once said, "If you have a problem: Solve it with fire!"
2. Re:burning by Applehu+Akbar · 2017-07-01 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  It's not a bad thing.
  If your lazy-ass kid buys a motorized fidget spinner, he richly deserves this fate.
3. Re:burning by WallyL · 2017-07-03 04:06 · Score: 1
  
  It's not a bad thing.
  When it's electronics, it probably is.
Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire by ZippyTheChicken · 2017-07-01 05:45 · Score: 5, Funny

See Atheists there is a God
1. Re:Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire by Z80a · 2017-07-01 14:39 · Score: 1
  
  Not necessarily the christian god.
  Could for example be the god of destruction (of fidget spinners).
2. Re:Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire by blindseer · 2017-07-01 18:32 · Score: 2
  
  Not necessarily the christian god.
  Could for example be the god of destruction (of fidget spinners).
  Shiva has spoken!
  Or something.
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
3. Re:Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire by Z80a · 2017-07-01 21:04 · Score: 1
  
  More like ifrit, as shiva would freeze the fidget spinners.
4. Re:Fidget Spinners Are Catching On Fire by GrumpySteen · 2017-07-02 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  If defective batteries were proof of God, the question would have been settled with the Galaxy Note 7 last year.
Lest just call it by JustNiz · 2017-07-01 05:52 · Score: 2

natural selection
1. Re:Lest just call it by techno-vampire · 2017-07-01 10:02 · Score: 1
  
  Better yet, let's just call it evolution in action.
  
  --
  Good, inexpensive web hosting
2. Re:Lest just call it by No+Longer+an+AC · 2017-07-01 14:39 · Score: 2
  
  Some of us live in multi-unit housing. At least I'm not in some building like Grenfell Tower. I'm sure I could get out alive if my neighbor starts a fire with their cigarettes, Samsung phone, hoverboard or now fidget spinner but that would still be very inconvenient to say the least.
3. Re:Lest just call it by KozmoStevnNaut · 2017-07-02 20:34 · Score: 1
  
  That is one of the reasons why I looking to move to a house rather than the apartment I live in now. I don't trust my neighbors to not be idiots. I'm a board member in our association, and I've seen firsthand how idiotic, short-sighted, ignorant and downright malicious our tenants can be. And since it's a condo, it's extremely hard to throw out the assholes.
  
  --
  Eat the rich.
Bluetooth-enabled fidget spinners? by fredrated · 2017-07-01 05:57 · Score: 1

Seriously?
1. Re: Bluetooth-enabled fidget spinners? by Tukz · 2017-07-03 01:52 · Score: 1
  
  Measuring RPM I'd assume.
  
  --
  - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
Magnetic Gyro Wheel's from the 50's by Joviex · 2017-07-01 06:00 · Score: 1

Paddle Ball
Fidget Cube
Worry Stone
Stress Ball

are reinvented by some millennial.

News at 11.
Old news... by frank_adrian314159 · 2017-07-01 06:04 · Score: 1

They're about three weeks past their shelf life out here in Oregon. Big for a while but now just a passed fad.

--
That is all.
1. Re:Old news... by Aighearach · 2017-07-01 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  Yep.
  The new fad is DIY electric skateboards.
  They're riding along in the street with headphones staring at their cell phones. The only thing saving their lives is the screeching sounds coming from the bearings. (pro tip: spherical roller thrust bearings)
  Or if they're poor or hip enough, the sound of the two stroke leaf blower engine.
  The Harry Potter era was better.
2. Re:Old news... by AHuxley · 2017-07-01 20:44 · Score: 1
  
  Soon the headphones will connect to a Walkman playing a cassette tape.
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Kierthos · 2017-07-01 06:16 · Score: 2

Can someone explain to me why someone would need a Bluetooth enabled fidget spinner?

--
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
1. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Calydor · 2017-07-01 06:20 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I am reminded of an old comic strip in which Mickey Mouse on one of his many adventures got tossed into the future, around year 3000 or so. Among other things, exercise bikes now came with an engine so you wouldn't over-exert yourself.
  This is kinda like that.
  
  --
  -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
2. Re: Perhaps I'm just old, but... by slazzy · 2017-07-01 06:38 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure but I love my Bluetooth toilet.
  
  --
  Website Just Down For Me? Find out
3. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by SCVonSteroids · 2017-07-01 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  I need to be explained why someone needs a fidget spinner at all.
  
  --
  I tend to rant.
4. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Aighearach · 2017-07-01 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  So that they can watch a little numerical counter go up. Visual feedback through the phone.
  Exists, but not a successful product.
5. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by istartedi · 2017-07-01 07:00 · Score: 1
  
  Summary says it lights up and plays music when you spin it. It must download songs via Bluetooth. Some redneck just needs to glue a boom-box and a flash-light to a lazy Susan. That'll do 'er.
  
  --
  For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
6. Re: Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-07-01 07:24 · Score: 1
  
  "Another successful bowel movement brought to you by Blulets! For added smoothness, try Blupaper, it's extra smooth! Tap here for more!"
  Your phone must never leave your side...
7. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by JustNiz · 2017-07-01 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Its just another product designed to take advantage of the weak-minded and gullible.
8. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by iggymanz · 2017-07-01 08:45 · Score: 1
  
  I thought lottery tickets filled that void perfectly, and paid for state education to boot
9. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Megane · 2017-07-01 09:17 · Score: 1
  
  Summary says it lights up and plays music when you spin it.
  Fisher Price had stuff that did that back in the 1980s. It may not have been MP3s, but it was music. And it didn't catch on fire.
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
10. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by jellomizer · 2017-07-01 10:06 · Score: 1
  
  Well I googled them. They seem to have LED lights and can play music. You don't need a fidget spinner in general so you don't need a Bluetooth fidget spinner. But it's a toy and Bluetooth features could be fun.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
11. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by jellomizer · 2017-07-01 10:08 · Score: 1
  
  Because most homes are not built with category 6 cables in the kitchen... Duh!
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
12. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by PPH · 2017-07-01 13:05 · Score: 1
  
  Lights and music.
  What I don't understand is: You hand this thing to some Aspie who will be spinning it to save his life. And you can't tap just a tiny bit of that rotational energy off to run the electronics?
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
13. Re: Perhaps I'm just old, but... by blindseer · 2017-07-01 18:41 · Score: 1
  
  Your phone must never leave your backside...
  Fixed that for you.
  Reminds me of a comment my not-a-fan-of-Apple brother said about my new iPhone, he told me that it should work well for scraping the shit off my ass. If he ever asks to borrow my phone I'm going to refuse.
  
  --
  I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
14. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Dog-Cow · 2017-07-01 19:22 · Score: 1
  
  The plan worked perfectly. You just fail to understand who the planners were :P
15. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by AHuxley · 2017-07-01 20:38 · Score: 1
  
  AC re "Can someone explain to me why someone would need a WiFi enabled refrigerator?"
  So the CIA can spy on you.
  "CIA: We'll spy on you through your refrigerator" (March 19, 2012)
  http://www.zdnet.com/article/c...
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
16. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by 91degrees · 2017-07-02 01:23 · Score: 1
  
  People like to fidget.
  
  But it's hard to work out what bluetooth adds to this.
17. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by 91degrees · 2017-07-02 01:28 · Score: 1
  
  Apparently it has sensors that detect spin speed, count number of spins and the like. The app allows you to challenge others to - I dunno - see who can spin fastest or something.
  
  Whether this answers your question or not, I have no idea.
18. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Highdude702 · 2017-07-02 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  Actually they are now a days, most new homes are built with a phone line in the kitchen, and they just run a cat-5(I know not cat6) and if you have a good builder they all run to a central cabinet so you can re-purpose them.
19. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by Highdude702 · 2017-07-02 03:30 · Score: 1
  
  You for got a d and another i.
20. Re:Perhaps I'm just old, but... by PPH · 2017-07-02 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  Gee. I don't know
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
The moral of the story... by presidenteloco · 2017-07-01 06:20 · Score: 1

Stop Fidgeting !!!
Like your mother told you.

--

Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Re:Wait... by digitig · 2017-07-01 06:28 · Score: 1

Quite. "Off-brand" isn't necessarily the issue.

--
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
Fidgets got it's maker nada by Trax3001BBS · 2017-07-01 06:35 · Score: 4, Interesting

"As the inventor of the original fidget spinner – the ubiquitous new toy that has quickly become a craze in playgrounds around the world – Catherine Hettinger should be enjoying the high life."
"Hettinger held the patent on finger spinners for eight years, but surrendered it in 2005 because she could not afford the $400 (£310) renewal fee."
https://www.theguardian.com/li...
1. Re:Fidgets got it's maker nada by Anonymous Coward · 2017-07-01 15:22 · Score: 1
  
  They are a great educational toy - so many things that can be done:
  - How frictionless bearings work
  - Explaining how hard disk drives can spin so fast
  - How ceiling fans are so silent
  - Angular momentum
  - Comparison of different spinners in terms of precision engineering and behavior
  Maybe she should look at making science kits
2. Re:Fidgets got it's maker nada by NoSalt · 2017-07-06 06:47 · Score: 1
  
  Actually ... Hettinger is not the inventor of the fidget spinner.
Re:These toys SUCK. by RightwingNutjob · 2017-07-01 06:41 · Score: 1

The self-awareness is NOT strong in this one.
Leave it to the media by markdavis · 2017-07-01 07:15 · Score: 1

>"CNET ran a column titled "Fidget spinners exploding? Of course they are."
Here we go again. Nothing "exploded", it was just a lithium battery catching fire (although it can be violent sometimes). Gotta make it into an attention-grabbing headline, though, as if it were TNT or C4. Anything poorly made/designed (or the product is abused) with a lithium battery inside it can catch fire, unfortunately. And it is most likely to happen when being charged.
It does make one wonder if we should be charging all these devices on a large, non-flammable surfaces. Hmmm...
1. Re:Leave it to the media by markdavis · 2017-07-01 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  Some models have lights and play music when you spin them.
Pro Tip for the manufacturing sector by nehumanuscrede · 2017-07-01 07:25 · Score: 1

Not everything requires batteries, wifi, bluetooth and the like. Simple spinner would not suffer from such problems.
Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should.
1. Re:Pro Tip for the manufacturing sector by plover · 2017-07-01 10:12 · Score: 2
  
  Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should.
  You didn't run that idea all the way through the Capitalism 101 grinder: "if people will buy it, and you can make money selling it, sell it!" It's the practical application of the century-old P.T. Barnum quote, "There's a sucker born every minute."
  Anyway, I've learned not to begrudge people for buying or selling useless-to-me items, just because I disapprove of their lack of utility. Why not? Because I'm not in their shoes, and I don't know what motivates them or makes them happy. Besides, I certainly don't want somebody else questioning my every purchase, just because they lack my imagination.
  
  --
  John
Re:CCC = cheap chinese crap by Anonymous Coward · 2017-07-01 07:57 · Score: 1

WTF is with the election tears still Jesus Christ grow you sissy so what your mentally and physically ill corrupt diaper wearing, influence peddling, war mongering/saint candidate didn't win get over it.
I am sure 100% of the people who voted for Trump did so not because they were tired of career politicians with a history of getting nothing done but because they are RACIST,SEXIST and whatever else now stfu you can't always get what you want but you got what you needed.
Sounds more like... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-07-01 09:47 · Score: 3, Insightful

jumping the gun on when to patent it, and when to market it.
The fact that they became so popular 12 years after it was 'surrendered' and 20 years after it was patented indicates either a failure to market it correctly or a failure to wait to patent it when the market would bear it.
Either way it would have been out of patent this year so she wouldn't have made back the licensing fees anyway.
Bluetooth Enabled Fidget Spinners by nuckfuts · 2017-07-01 19:10 · Score: 1

Do they connect to Alabama's "Internet of Thangs"?
Re:Bluetooth Enabled Fidget Spinners by JustNiz · 2017-07-02 09:59 · Score: 1

They ARE Alabama's entire Internet
Darwin Award by DrYak · 2017-07-02 10:42 · Score: 1

You think adding bluetooth to a fidget spinner is a brillant idea ?!
You're *this* close to winning a Darwin Award.

--
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]