The History of HoverBoards
First appearing on our screens in the 1980s, the hoverboard has been the dream of kids everywhere. It's magical ability to seamlessly take you from one place to another, completely unhindered by the surface over which you travel. Seeing Marty McFly hover over a pond on a childs converted scooter sparked something in everyone, people started to consider it as possible. It's only right that in 2015 we have come a step closer, as it is the year in the future Marty and the Professor visit.
In 2015 (for real), hoverboards do actually exist! Do not get too excited, however … There does not need to be a fair amount of things in place for it to 'hover', as such. Lexus famously made a hoverboard for their advert, as part of an ad series to do with technology. Their board needed a metal track to run above and a good serving of liquid nitrogen every now and then, it's not quite as practical as Marty's just yet. The other hoverboard being worked on (which actually hovers above the ground, anyway) is a bit better, needing only a metal skatepark to run above. Unfortunately, there is no way to control the direction of travel on this board, but it's a step in the right direction.
The hoverboards I am referring to is the 2 wheeled, self balancing kind. They were first seen in action at the Canton Fair in China, a popular technology fair which has lots of new and cool gadgets being shown off by their producers / inventors. Granted, it got a lot of attention, but clearly no-one quite knew what it was going to become. In the early months of 2015, they hit the Western world and exploded to fame with a few clever product placements. Justin Bieber and Chris Brown were seen with the boards, and the rest is history! IO HAWK, one of the original importers of the hoverboard, had sent a board or 2 to Justin and his clan completely free of charge, which has since paid itself off quite nicely.
Justin Bieber had one, so everyone else had to as well. Naturally, the viral nature of the Segway Board caused the popularity of it to skyrocket. It was on everyone who was anyone's snapchat story and Instagram page. If you did not have a hoverboard, you were lagging behind, which of course meant good things for the importers of the high in demand, short in supply people transporters. It was easy work for them, getting them in the country was the hardest task they faced.
As it was such easy work for such a great gain, hoverboard sales websites and pages sprung up everywhere. You could fill a dictionary with the names people were giving them – Scoot Boards, SwayBoards, BalanceFoots and most commonly, hoverboards, despite the clear fact that the wheels of them are firmly planted to the ground. The reason the name hoverboard became it's given name is due to the feeling a user gets when riding it, a 'hovering' sensation.
Where can I buy one?
As mentioned, the choices you have on where to get them are near enough endless. If you were to inquire into every seller of hoverboards you are in for a long evening! The main difference between the resellers are prices, varying from $ 300 to $ 1800. Price differences are often justified in many different ways, from claiming to have the fastest in the world or claiming their battery is more efficient than all others. In reality, every board is the same. There are sometimes aesthetic differences like wheels or casings, but they all come from the same factory. The differences in pricing are different size attempts at getting as big a markup as possible. You should aim to get as close to $ 300 as you can for the standard hoverboard, any lower it is possible you are being scammed (especially below $ 250) and any higher you are paying too much!
The best results I've had is with comparison comparison websites, as they look at all the prices and safety of the hoverboard sellers, making sure the place is trusted and secure and looking out for the best deals. My recommendation is this cheapest hoverboards finder, as they have strong social media presence on Twitter and Instagram with a lot of history. Also, a lot of their links go to Amazon sellers, which are extremely well-trusted. You can buy boards on there for as low as $ 300 and they have lots of different models to choose from.
