Why All the Craze Over Hoverboards?

I noticed this after seeing quite a few people recently riding these around, and have to admit that I suspect this to be a bad invention.

Quite frankly, I think it is just a money scam, like so many other things.

Hoverboards are not skateboards and not roller skates, although there are similarities. There are similarities to other vehicles, such as mopeds and scooters, although they are not these, either.

What I do not understand is why these things are taking off in the first place. They are expensive, and in most cases that I saw, the people riding them were not going all that fast. If they were going faster than your average walking pace, than it was barely so. It just seems like more trouble than it's worth.

The fastest speed that a top of the line hoverboard will go up to is a bit over 6 mph, which is essentially a brisk walk. And that top of the line model is expensive, at over $1,000!

So, what is the point, exactly? Why not simply walk the old-fashioned way? Are we getting so lazy that machines have to assist us in doing something that is older than human beings themselves?

It just seems like one of those things that becomes a fad, but will die off not to long from now in the future, simply because this is something that looks cool, and so serves as a status symbol.

Frankly, I do not even see much advantage to these, even if you are lazy. I mean, you are standing the entire time, and to me, standing solitary in one place (even if it is on a moving hoverboard) is far more tiring than walking or hiking for the same length of time, even if that seems paradoxical at first glance. But I don't think so, because you shift your weight while you are walking, so the burden is not simply on your feet. With these things, you are literally standing the entire time on your feet, putting all of the pressure and weight on them, which means that they cannot be all that comforting to ride to begin with.

These just seem like the kinds of things that were created essentially to milk as much money out of people as possible, because with the blue lights in front lending a futuristic look, plus the admittedly cool technology behind it, coupled with it being bound to be a novelty item to attract the curiosity of others. That, however, will not ensure long term success, once the "next big thing" rolls around that those with money to throw away, because other than the novelty element, these things really do not have much to offer. In fact, they are a bad sign of the increasing willingness to stamp out even more natural aspects of our lives, in favor of what people perceive to be a lazy and cool, highly technological replacement.

I will venture a prediction: these things will fade away, and sooner, rather than later.