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Office toy

Novelty item typically placed on the desk of an office worker

Office toy
Summary

Novelty item typically placed on the desk of an office worker

A [[Newton's cradle]] executive toy

An office toy (also known as an executive toy or a desk toy) is a novelty item typically placed on the desk of a corporate executive or other office worker. They have no work-related function, but are often intended to provide decoration or pleasure, relieve stress or inspire creativity. The Newton's cradle is a classic example of an office toy.

Functions

Different types of office toys fulfill different needs for their users. Although providing pleasure and being decorative could be the two major functions in office toys, there are still some differences between each types of office toys. For example, puzzle-type toys can also help inspire creativity. A fidget spinner is an office toy that is used to reduce stress or boredom. Design curator Donald Albrecht described executive toys as "aspirational" objects, "less tools for provoking creativity than foghorns of identity and status in a sea of corporate homogeneity."

Examples

  • Drinking bird
  • Fidget spinner
  • Kinetic sand
  • Lava lamp
  • Magic 8 Ball
  • Newton's cradle
  • Pin Art
  • Stress ball
  • Useless machine
  • Plasma globe

References

References

  1. Hsiang Cheng 'Sam' Wang (2007) The Investigation of Office Toy. National Central Library
  2. James Plafke (2016) [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jplafke/2016/12/23/fidget-spinners-are-the-must-have-office-toy-for-2017/#48a6919618a4 Fidget Spinners Are The Must-Have Office Toy For 2017] ''[[Forbes]]'', 23 December 2016.
  3. Pomper, Stephen. (May 2000). "Drug Rush". The Washington Monthly.
  4. Julie Lasky (2015) [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/garden/designing-distraction-executive-toys.html "Designing Distraction: Executive Toys"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 4 February 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  5. Rose Hoare (2012) [https://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/03/business/global-office-executive-desk-toy-madness/ "Toy story: Office playthings come of age"] [[CNN]], 4 September 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  6. Chris Merriman (2013) [https://web.archive.org/web/20131224035457/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2307008/mit-demonstrates-a-morphing-computer-interface "MIT demonstrates a morphing computer interface"]. ''The Inquirer'', 14 November 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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