NEWSLETTER
Perhaps the most popular Christmas present of the year, the “hoverboard” isn’t quite a hoverboard, at least in the ‘Back to the Future’ sense. Instead, the handless automated rolling thingy is more like a Segway without the handle bar.
Although that sounds like some fun, it also sounds like it would be incredibly easy to bite it while trying to maneuver the thing.
Turns out it is, even for a professional athlete like second baseman Dan Uggla:
https://www.instagram.com/p/_u8XBTkDJm/?taken-by=janetteuggla
Could that video, shared by Uggla’s wife, be more perfect? Their daughter zooms by with ease, remarking on how much fun the device is. Meanwhile, Uggla, himself, scoots awkwardly in the background before losing his footing and wiping out.
To be quite clear, I’m sure if I tried one of these for the first time, I’d struggle mightily, too. Even at my athletic peak – you know, when I was basically a kid (the decline for we average folks is so real) – I could never manage a skateboard. My hands-free locomotion was limited to roller blades and steering Mario Cart on Nintendo64 with my feet (seriously, I was really good at that).
Aside: I recently listened to a fascinating ‘Planet Money’ podcast on these hoverboards (well, fascinating if you’re a huge nerd like I am), and how it’s really hard to pin down exactly who invented them and who “owns” the design.
