Lately, I’m much more dubious about Kickstarters than I used to be — I’ve been burned too many times by delays, failures, or simply bad quality. But when I saw the Fidget Cube, a desk gadget designed to keep idle hands busy, I signed up immediately. “How can such a simple thing be delayed?” I thought. Well, it was — despite getting funded just shy of 6.5 million (!) dollars — and that gap was rapidly filled with knockoffs.
The Fidget Cube is basically a baby toy for adults and I love it
In any case, my cube arrived today and it’s adorable. It has little geegaws for you to fiddle with on five of six sides. The geegaws are: combination-lock knobs, a little joystick, a rolly ball, a few buttons of varying clickiness, a switch, and a spinning dial. The whole thing feels a little too small at first, until you realize that it’s meant to sit in the crook of your finger. Most of little doodads feel well-built and satisfying to push / dial / spin / click. They’re all also a little too loud, so if you’re in a super quiet room your co-workers might hear it.
But whatever. I’m the guy who takes the little pieces of paper that hold napkins and silverware together at restaurants and worries it into a tight little roll through the course of dinner. I’d be a table tapper in meetings if it weren’t the most obnoxious thing in the world. Don’t even start with me about Zippo lighters. I fidget. I worry.
The Fidget Cube helps with that, I guess. It is not a thing designed to get you to stop fidgeting. It is a thing designed to make your fidgeting slightly less annoying to those around you. It appears to do that job, mostly.
Pros
- Nicer to your co-workers than playing iPhone games during a meeting (Casey Newton, I see you)
- Does not require recharging
- Allows me to publish words like “doodads” and “geegaws”
Cons
- It’s a cube so it’s awkward to put in your pants pocket
- Some of the buttons and switches are too loud
- Requires a silly, silly accessory if you want to attach it to a keychain
- I will probably lose it
You can preorder a Fidget Cube now and the company claims it’ll ship in March or so. It’s probably an obnoxious way to spend $22, but it’s less obnoxious than putting one of those gel-filled stress balls on your desk. Nobody wants to see that.
A look at the Fidget Cube
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