Hoverboards — A Step Closer To the Future of Personal Transportation
Introduction
The past one year has witnessed a major surge in the sales of ‘hoverboards with wheels’, which are technically known as ‘self-balancing electric scooters’. They are known by many different terms such as mini Segway, 2-wheeled hoverboards and smart balancing boards.
It has been revealed that term ‘hoverboard’, although popularized in 2015, was first used before 1989, the year of the release of the second ‘Back to the Future’ movie.
The Etymology of Hoverboard
When the movie ‘Back to the Future — II’ came out, it showed the protagonist riding a floating skateboard called ‘hoverboard’. Although it was merely an important prop in the movie, the effect it had on the public was huge.
Co-incidentally, it showed 2015 as the year of hoverboards- something that turned out to be partly true, as hoverboards with wheels came out in early 2015.
However, on digging a bit deeper into history, we can find that the first ever recorded use of the word ‘hoverboard’ was in a 1967 science fiction novel, titled ‘The Hole in the Zero’ that was authored by UK-born New Zealand-based writer M.K Joseph.
The novel told of a story set in space in the future, and described ‘hoverboard’ as one of the transportation devices of the future.
Although it didn’t set any particular date when hoverboards can be expected to be made in future like in the movie of 1989, it did predict what shape the future of personal mobility might take.
Today, major dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary do have a definition of hoverboard, which defines hoverboard as a wheel-less skateboard that hovers above the ground, without any mention of the two-wheeled electric self-balancing scooters that we call hoverboards today.
Hoverboards with Wheels Succeed Where Segways Failed
Segways have been around for a long time, and they work on the same self-balancing principle of a hoverboard.
It’s not like they actually failed; they were popular, but only to a limited extent among a particular group.
Workers used them to move around in factory complexes, but they didn’t appeal much to the general public.
Hoverboards with wheels provided what Segways couldn’t- compactness and portability. These two wheeled scooters didn’t have long handles, were much easy to use and could be stored under a desk, unlike the conventional Segways.
Conclusion
We do not have flying hoverboards yet, but there are companies like Lexus, Omni and Hendo hoverboards that are working on them.
There are limitations that restrict the application of such hoverboards, but the efforts of the makers will make sure that very soon, we might have an actual, hovering skateboard that works.
