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This Rube Goldberg Machine Briefly Makes Fidget Spinners Relevant Again

But the video's ending ensures the formerly trendy gadgets won't be sticking around for too long.

YouTube

There was a time — specifically, last year — when the world couldn’t get enough of fidget spinners. Oh did people fidget. But fads come and go and with each passing day, the once beloved distraction contraption drifts further and further away from the spotlight. However, fidget spinners may get to enjoy a bit more of its 15 minutes of fame thanks to YouTube’s Kaplamino, who bought 50 of them in order to build a totally awesome Rube Goldberg machine that makes perfect use of the toys’ limited but extremely specific functionality.

The fidget-spinning tribute video begins with Kaplamino simply dropping a marble on a slightly slanted table. Then, gravity takes hold. Thanks to Kaplamino’s meticulous design and planning, the marbles are able to move up and down the table with ease and the fidget spinners are consistently used in ingenious ways in order to set off chain reactions that keep the marbles moving in unexpected ways. And in a hilarious and unexpected twist, the video also doubles as a meta-commentary on the social irrelevance of fidget spinners, as the Rube Goldberg machine ends by tossing one of the spinners right into the garbage where it now belongs.

The video has instantly become a hit online, as nearly half a million people have already watched the video just three days after it was uploaded. Perhaps it will even inspire a few people to play with their old spinners for a bit before realizing how boring and useless they are and following the video’s lead by tossing them into the trash.