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[Jeremy McCreary]

After posting my umpteenth top video on YouTube yesterday (below), this comment appeared: "Why do you like tops so much?"



Fair question. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I replied:
1. Deliciously complicated physics and math behind such simple objects.
2. Many interesting engineering challenges in tops made of LEGO.
3. Many interesting visual design opportunities, both in resting and spinning tops under naked-eye, video, and even still photo viewing.
4. I just like them.

How would you have answered?

[jmadrigal]

A top can be different things. At times it's a tool I use, a design I am working on, an interesting physics phenomenon or just simply art. The many aspects of the top are what make it so appealing to me.

[Dick Stohr]

One day while waiting for my car to be inspected at a gas station I was playing/practicing with a top. A guy walking by said "a miss spent youth?" No, I asked what he did for a living. He answered a carpenter. I asked what tools he used. He said a hammer. I said as That Yo-Yo Guy I presented school programs and used spin toys to teach science so this top is a tool that I use to make a living. He was completely  dumb founded, and had no reply.

[studio42]

My answer is very simple:

"I simply like them".

I saw a video of Andre Boulay playing with some tops in one of his Dark Magic promo videos and I was "whoah, I don't think I'd seen that before". I found out what it was, watched some more videos and decided "OK, I hope to do SOME of that some day".

I've already exceeded my initial objective, which was to be able to perform corkscrew. I've since stalled but that's OK, I'm getting ready to move forward again.

I simply like them. I find them fun to play with. I choose to enjoy my spare time using skill toys. May others be able to fill up their spare time with something they enjoy as well. I don't think people should have to really qualify why they do those things that they do. There's skill toys I have zero interest in(or at least it's that way for the moment). I don't criticize other people's choices. I also reserve the right to change my mind regarding any skill toy.

Now, I think I need to get to YYE and order some more "recreational rotational devices".

[jim in paris]

hello Jeremy

I've had to answer this question about yoyos and tops too

to me ,it's the moment "in suspension" when the yoyo sleeps or the top spins
it's fugitive, won't last long ,defies the laws of physics....during this "extra" time
everything is changed(......)

in addition
yoyos and tops are great tools for communication:it's present somewhere in everybody's head, like kites , it touches the young and the old,it embodies culture,poetry,the fun of playing (...)

to develop this question it would require an interview:
that would be  another project: talking about tops for 2 minutes and posting the vid on the tube


jim

[Jeremy McCreary]

Can't believe this question has only drawn 4 replies in almost as many weeks! Has it been hashed and rehashed too many times already?

[Diz]

Hmm perhaps as in the Eames classic film "Tops" 1969, there just are no words to explain it.

[Jeremy McCreary]

Hmm perhaps as in the Eames classic film "Tops" 1969, there just are no words to explain it.

No doubt about it, the attraction partly defies explanation for me, too. But I can still point to some of the things that draw me to tops.

[ta0]

Can't believe this question has only drawn 4 replies in almost as many weeks! Has it been hashed and rehashed too many times already?

I have not answered because I would have to write a book!   

[Jeremy McCreary]

Can't believe this question has only drawn 4 replies in almost as many weeks! Has it been hashed and rehashed too many times already?

I have not answered because I would have to write a book!   

Fair enough, I guess, but you've already written one book. What's another? 

Off topic: One unexpected benefit of joining the ITSA is that it got me a one of your ITSA business cards. And there I found your avatar, but this time large enough to make out the details. Never could figure it out from the teeny tiny version the forum. Cool!

[Kirk]

Can't believe this question has only drawn 4 replies in almost as many weeks! Has it been hashed and rehashed too many times already?

I suspect that others, like me, are a bit afraid to answer.  If we did, we would also need to answer questions such as, " Why do you like... the beach ...  your wife ... trains ... "

[cecil]

Tops are a PHYSICAL - MENTAL - AND A ARTISTIC CHALLENGE. I have met and came into contact with so many different people. And I love SHARING. I think I know what fun is, and TOPS ARE FUN. And there is nothing like having a big top hit you in the face.

[ta0]

Off topic: One unexpected benefit of joining the ITSA is that it got me a one of your ITSA business cards. And there I found your avatar, but this time large enough to make out the details. Never could figure it out from the teeny tiny version the forum. Cool!

You have visited www.ta0.com, haven't you? 

[Jeremy McCreary]

You have visited www.ta0.com, haven't you? 

Yes, when I first joined the forum. Guess the image failed to register at the time. When you're 68, things do that now and then.

[Watts' Tops]

I first spun a top in.  Became serious about learning in 1962.  Started making Watts' Tops in 1993.  Why do I enjoy them so much??  Been part of my life over parts of 8 decades.  Just fun and challenging.
 

[trav1121]

They are challenging, fun, and have a great community behind them. They also are an "ageless" toy that people have been enjoying for thousands of years, with so much history behind them. What's not to like?

[Jack]

They are challenging, fun, and have a great community behind them. They also are an "ageless" toy that people have been enjoying for thousands of years, with so much history behind them. What's not to like?

agreed @-@

also....

[trav1121]

They are challenging, fun, and have a great community behind them. They also are an "ageless" toy that people have been enjoying for thousands of years, with so much history behind them. What's not to like?

agreed @-@

also....

Great meme haha. Indeed.