IF the price of the electronic scooter hoverboard down to $100 will you buy?

[RedDevil]

The weather finally cleared enough to give the hoverboard a try.

I was first, knee and wrist protection on and go!
I managed to make it turn, move back and forth and in circles.

Then my mother-in-law tried.
She never managed to get both legs on it.
When it moved back at her with one foot on it, she did not take her foot off but slowly turned away from it, gently dropping to the tarmac as if casually sitting down. She moved away from me and I could not stop her fall.
No problem, she just wanted to get up and try again.

But she couldn't. Too much pain.
We finally got her up but she could not use her right leg anymore.
I got the car and brought her to the doctor. She could not get out of the car, so the doctor examined her in the car, then sent us to the hospital.
She has broken her hip

That's it for this hoverboard...

[Daox]

I've had a similar experience with the hoverboard I tried. My brother in law got one for Christmas. It was a fun toy, but certainly capable of injuring you very quickly. However, once you get the hang of it is quite fun. Practical? No haha.

[ProDigit]

Want something that's even harder?

Check out this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOOoFEKiK8A

looks so easy, when they show you.

[RedDevil]

It took a day before my mother-in-law could get her hip-op but then she got the best surgeon in the house.
24 hours later again she was released from the hospital, full metal ball and cup in he hip, because of her otherwise excellent health condition. That was a record for (hundreds of) hipops by this hospital.
She walks using crutches now and describes her pain as 3 on a scale of 1 to 10...!
Still using mild painkillers though - she has the operations wounds still there to heal properly of course.

She is not keen on trying the hoverboard again in a hurry.

[RedDevil]

We returned the hoverboard for a refund.

PM. We ticked the box on the refund apply form that said "The appliance was unfit for the age of the intended user"

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

It is quite dangerous especially with my motorically and mentally clumsy kids.

Kids can take a fall, unlike the elderly. The only way for kids to improve their motor skills is to test them, especially on something that is fun.

I've got fantastic balance, mostly due to running river rocks as fast as I could when I was a kid. It taught me to look 3 steps ahead, and to recalculate on the fly when a rock shifted. Sure, I could have broken something, but I was a kid and would have recovered quickly.

My sister is 28 years old and still doesn't know how to ride a bicycle. She never got comfortable with the idea of falling in the process of learning. She's terrible at all things requiring motor coordination, including driving.

I don't know how much motor coordination is genetically encoded, but I'm pretty sure everyone can improve it with practice.

[Hersbird]

I've seen cartoons or scify movies with a flying platform hardly bigger than a garbage can lid. Then in whips around in circles at high speed with amazing acceleration and deceleration. Think about it, would be comfortable standing on a perfectly stable 200 foot high rock pillar with a 24" platform on it? Now fly it around. I don't think so. The propulsion device needs to be affixed to your body's core, like a jet pack or a seat. Even a handglider is really attached to your core and steered with you arms. It's one thing to ride on something like a surfboard, skis, or skateboard, but when that thing brakes, accelerates, and turns, being at one end of all your weight seems like a bad idea.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

I've seen cartoons or scify movies with a flying platform hardly bigger than a garbage can lid. Then in whips around in circles at high speed with amazing acceleration and deceleration. Think about it, would be comfortable standing on a perfectly stable 200 foot high rock pillar with a 24" platform on it? Now fly it around. I don't think so. The propulsion device needs to be affixed to your body's core, like a jet pack or a seat. Even a handglider is really attached to your core and steered with you arms. It's one thing to ride on something like a surfboard, skis, or skateboard, but when that thing brakes, accelerates, and turns, being at one end of all your weight seems like a bad idea.

I'd be comfortable standing on a 24" rock pillar 200 ft high, but that's because I've done it enough times.

Strapping a motorized device to the core of a person adds cost and complexity. It's much more cost effective to have the person adapt to the handling characteristics of the hoverboard. I know I wouldn't pay more for a device that doesn't go any faster, have more maneuverability, or takes less skill to operate.

...and this video shows that a high degree of stability can be achieved by merely placing the propulsion at the foot of the object. Example starts at 4:00, but the whole video is neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2itwFJCgFQ

[freebeard]

I feel more comfortable if it was shaped like a skate/surfboard, to allow a for-and-aft stance.

The 'surfboard' could be a dirigible made of 'vacuum foam'.

[freebeard]

maduraiwebdirectory
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That's an interesting user profile.