Hoverboards: Getting around campus in style

By Lauren Rust

Hoverboards are now cruising the HCC campus.

Since the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, hoverboards, which are two wheeled boards that are essentially a Segway without the pole or handle bars, have become popular in metropolitan areas as well as college campuses.

This alternate form of transportation can also be referred to as the hoverboard-segway, Segway, or self-balancing scooter.

Hoverboards first became known after CNN named the IO Hawk-branded hoverboard as one of the 10 coolest pieces of technology in January 2015.

After this article and an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, companies have tried to make their own version of this transportation.

Since then, they have swept the world by storm, specifically the United States.

There are many students at HCC with these boards. These students use them as an alternative to walking or just to have fun.

Jordan Noil, Atlanta, is a student at HCC as well as a recent owner of the new phenomena.

Luckily, Noil was able to get the board on the cheaper side from Amazon, for $200.

“I got it because it looked fun,” he said. “I’m also lazy and sometimes I don’t want to walk.”

Noil said where he is from in Atlanta, the hoverboards are even more popular, so the trend will more than likely stick around.

“It wasn’t that difficult for me to learn,” he said. “It took maybe five minutes to get the hang of it.”

Noil also described how to effectively ride the board.

“It’s not like a skateboard at all,” he said. “To go forward, you almost go up on your tiptoes and to stop or slow down, you go back on your heels.”

This form of transportation can be bought on many sites, the most popular and affordable being Amazon.com. Other sites include hovershop.com, aliexpress.com, ebay.com, and many others.

These scooters cost anywhere from $100 to $650 depending on what kind of hoverboard you are looking for.

According to PC Advisor, depending on what kind of hoverboard it is, most can hold 220 pounds and can go up to 10 mph. They also weigh a little over 25 pounds themselves.

Hoverboards are here to stay and won’t be riding out of campus life anytime soon.

The hoverboard craze is an offshoot of the anti-gravity devices seen in the “Back to the Future” movies, with Michael J. Fox.

Those boards floated without any wheels. There are true hoverboards now in use, but only in laboratories and in specially designed tracks fitted with strong electro magnets.

In June, Lexus announced a true hoverboard, using liquid-nitrogen-cooled superconductors and permanent magnets. But it only flies on special metallic surfaces.

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