Why the Hoverboard Craze Faded Soo Fast

Hoverboards are not devices that hover above the ground but rather self-balancing electric scooters having two wheels and stepping pad for a person to ride on. The hoverboards became very popular in late 2015. Celebrities, the cool kids of Instagram and the who is who in society were rolling on one and posting the videos for everyone to see. I must admit that the trend looked soo cool. I thought it would last longer. Hanging out in the major shopping malls in town was hectic as pre-pubescent boys, girls, and teens threw caution to the wind and rolled carelessly on these battery-powered platforms with flashing LEDs. It seemed like a reinvention of the wheel and futuristic gadget. Two years down the line, the hoverboards are rarely seen.

Citizens are innately peculiar. People are too quick to try a new trend and show it to the world but forget it very fast. We have not forgotten the Google Glass, MySpace and all the fuss which went down the drain. Similarly, people are likely to have shown interest in the hoverboards but forgot about them sooner.

Hoverboards have been disheveled with celebrity culture from the likes of Chris Brown, and Justin Bieber, including others. Hoverboards are following the footsteps of netbooks, Walkman, and MiniDisc players among others. For those people who were attentive, all the signs of withdrawal were in black and white: fast and blind acceptance by the celebrity class, many unfamiliar brands offering the self-balancing scooters, and the minimal safety certifications. Cases and cases of exploding scooters and falls were reported. This paved way for the ignominious fall.

But What Exactly made Hoverboards Lose the Game?

I suppose the self-balancing electric scooters lacked the control required for such devices especially in terms of safety and the quality of materials. There were no major manufacturers of the devices and such names as IO Hawk came up in the tech industry. This resulted to numerous accidents due to poor quality of materials, minimal safety features, and inadequate instructions on purchase.

A significant number of self balancing electric scooters were also reported to catch fire originating from the battery. This could potentially burn people’s feet and property. The U.S airline industry, such firms as JetBlue, American, and United Airlines, took this seriously and banned the scooters on passenger flights. UPS also terminated shipment of hoverboards by air. Amazon also stopped sales for a short while. These led to the slow but sure death of the hoverboards.

The other thing to watch out for is the electric unicycle whose popularity is growing fast. The unicycle is a one-wheel self-balancing scooter with a bigger wheel and more power than the hoverboard. Some electric unicycles are designed to conquer rough terrain including jumping over curbs. This means they have a better chance of surviving. However, people should be ready to dig deeper into their pockets as the top models are retailing as high as 1200USD. We did love the hoverboard but it was definitely not made to last.

Guest article written by: My name is Amos Denis Nzuki, an enthusiastic technology blogger with vast interests in product testing and reviews, upcoming trends, robotics, AI, machine learning, e-commerce among others. Academically, am a graduate Mechatronics Engineer. What drives every day is to see people lead better lives across the world.