Hoverboards: why they haven't got off to a McFlying start

The gadgets inspired by Back to the Future Part II’s floating skateboards have failed to deliver

We could start by saying “they” didn’t promise us hoverboards. People want hoverboards because they saw one in the disappointing sequel Back to the Future Part II . But that doesn’t mean people or haven’t tried to make them. Like other colourful retrofuturist fantasies, hoverboards were a lustmotif that spoke to a whole generation in the way that flying cars and jetpacks did to baby boomers.

Problem no 1 : how would this thing hover? We have four choices: some type of thrust, a cushion of air, maglev or magic.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2NlRmtC