RocketSkates let you zip along the sidewalk at a top speed of 12 MPH | Hacker News Reader

RocketSkates let you zip along the sidewalk at a top speed of 12 MPH

engadget.com

68 pointsbjchrist64 comments

Not trying to be rude, but why is engadget linked here instead of the actual KickStarter? I can't be the only one who hates struggling to find a source link on most news sites? Wouldn't it be more useful to just link to the KickStarter?

Edit: Ok so engadgets source links are easy to find but still why not just link to the KickStarter?

So let's also link to the Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/petertreadway/acton-r-r...

I had the same thought. It's basically blog spam. Engadget adds a sentence or two.

>why is engadget linked here //

I'd guess that engadget is the news aggregator that the OP found the content on. HN should allow this sort of link, as a first submission, but add in source links if not given by the OP. [But HN don't seem interested in changing the interface at all].

As a person that's bought an electric skateboard in the past and a lot of other dumb stuff, I feel like I have a decent grasp on the target market here... but I couldn't buy one of these, they just look so dorky. It's like wearing cement shoes or something. Way too bulky and garish. And the marketing video.. ugh. Like the shirtless dude and the weird slow-mo cuts and the obvious pandering to a male audience? It just gives off a very desperate vibe. If they have to go to such great lengths to make it seem "cool" you can be almost assured they realize exactly how uncool it looks.

The other thing is, your target market is basically college students to start with (probably), or kids. 400+ is out of their range. I think you can get away with cheap/functional+dorky (regular skates), or expensive+cool, but you can't do expensive+dorky (segway territory).

I think their marketing is off.

It's 10-20% of the price of a segway, and you can climb stairs, and carry them much more easily. They also look easy to put on (unlike rollerblades).

If they can sell 500 units, they'll easily hit their stretch goals. I think they'll do OK.

They just shouldn't be afraid of being the next segway - segway didn't fail because it was "dorky". pg was using that as an example of the problems companies get when they run fat and are too cloistered. Segway had a lot of other problems (with the same root cause) - it was way too expensive, and it was too awkward outside a controlled environment (both of which these skates seem to solve). It also tried to sell 50,000 units on the first iteration, while these guys are selling maybe 1000 (for the kickstarter), and can then tweak things based on customer feedback.

Not all rollerblades are difficult to put on -- check out Doop skates.

>but I couldn't buy one of these, they just look so dorky.

Congratulations you described why rollerblading really never took off in the 90s. As a rollerblader even I can admit that there is just something about the look that screams "not cool", I'm just not quite sure why.

It mostly has to do with the human tendency to discern an innate level of intuitive ass-kicking power that any given artifact might imbue upon or withold from the wearer.

Ask yourself: If I had to fight Chuck Norris, would this magic item improve my chances of winning?

When the answer isn't a resounding "yes", the prospects of coolness are in doubt.

The marketing video is very cringe-inducing for me as well. I think that any time you're playing music over video, there's something in the real sound that you're trying to hide. I would not be surprised if these were annoyingly loud.

I'm still looking for a compact, possibly wearable short-medium distance personal transport. The sort of thing that lets you go further than walking when you get off a bus or tram (where you're unable to take a bike).

What disadvantages are there in taking something like Boosted Boards and making it smaller?

I don't know, I'm not a hardware guy. Battery capacity would probably suffer, limiting range. Seems like a decent idea.

I meant the board itself rather than everything. They're using a specific form-factor which might be unnecessary for people who aren't interested in longboards?

These look neat and they made a great kickstarter video. They know who's going to want those (25 - 30 something guys) and they made sure to have lots of shots of cute girls using the skates. I watched the whole thing ;) It was also fun to see my home town of Pasadena all over that video. Now I'm homesick. Good luck to you guys - they do look genuinely fun!

I was actually put off by the great pains they took to make them look cool in their video. It reminds me of the early promos for the Segway.

The shirtless guy, the slow-motion, the tricks and then the guy reading notes below the camera - found it off-putting as well. I think that most people who could afford this sort of thing just want a good way to get around rather than show off.

I feel like I'll see these in SkyMall some day.

This is kind of neat, but it negates one of the great benefits of skating (or walking, or running, or bicycling) which is exercise.

I agree. They are quite cool but they are solving a problem I never had. If I had a bunch of money laying around and was bored I would buy these but not otherwise.

Isn't it sort of similar to segways?

Speaking of the actual skates. The most real are probably http://boostedboards.com. There are almost here it seems.

The One Wheel looks pretty awesome too. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/4422853/onewheel-the-se...

I've seen a few Boosted boards in the wild, they're definitely real.

Yep, I got to ride one a while back. As someone who doesn't know how to skateboard it was pretty much terrifying real.

I rode one at SXSW in March 2013 -- they're yet to be made available commercially?

I think they've already shipped a fair number of the Kickstarter backer reward boards.

Romain Guy, a Google engineer (formerly Android, now works on their robotics stuff I think) has tweeted about riding his, so that sounds right.

$1995 WHAAAT

I think this is a very interesting concept, but stylistically speaking, they are so ugly.

I'm not too fond of the design of these things. They look like some kids toy.

Deleted comment

no offense, but quoting paul graham doesn't automatically prove a point.

I did not intend to repeat something pg said. Citation needed.

Seems like a neat idea if you live in a place with well-built roads. As a resident of Michigan, where the roads typically consist of more pothole than road, this would be useless at best and dangerous at worst.

Still waiting for the Kickstarter that brings us the 'spokewheels' from Snowcrash (not sure if that's the actual name, it's been a few years since I've read it). Something that can deal with potholes and road debris alike would be a godsend.

If I wore these, I'd have to kick my own ass.

You'll have to catch your ass, first.

I totally want a pair of these for "commuting" to work! Sure they're a little chunky, but I think they've achieved something remarkable anyway. Besides which it simply takes space for batteries and motors and all the gizmos and what have you. I'm sold. I think these will be a big hit if they work as advertised.

That video pitch may be the beginning of the end of Kickstarter...these wheelie things are not a safe, practical product and anyone who buys this wheeliebarrow of overpromises will be disappointed. Is it possible to short a Kickstarter project...maybe that's a Kickestarter project I should launch!

This reminds me of the hover boots from the Zelda: Ocarina of Time game for Nintendo 64. Fun memories! I see a lot of comments concerning the product's ugliness. But, hey, not every product has to be subtle and elegant. Some consumers may embrace the over-the-top, video game-like appearance.

This guy beat them to it: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/18n331wztgz...

Why does everything these days need an "app" with "games" or other gimmicks?

Boosted Boards focus on building an amazing electric longboard is much more appealing to me.

The angry masculine look of these isn't my style but I really like the idea. A 10 mile range is much better than I expected. I could see these becoming quite popular on college campuses.

I don't know about "zipping along the sidewalk" at 12mph -- that seems kind of rude anywhere there are pedestrians traveling at more pedestrian speeds. There is also an interesting gray area as far as traffic laws.

These look like foot-sized Segways.

Based on the name, I was expecting something much more Wile E. Coyote than this. Disappointed.

the founder was a teenager in 198x - that explains "Back to the Future 2" design, etc. As another 40+ years old a&& i'd personally feel strange trying to push a "cool and fun" thing to the 20+ years olds. (Even such an unquestionably cool, in my mind, thing as a million bucks is far from being cool for these youngsters :).

Wrt. all these new devices, mostly electrical - they are victims of "uncanny valley" effect - unmoving/freezed human body at speeds less than 20mph looks spooky. Even electric bicycles look this way.

I hope they come with a helmet.

More kickstarter Vaporware.

We'll never get cool things if we automatically dismiss anything cool as vaporware and refuse to engage with it.

Granted, sometimes projects like this won't eventuate, but I'd rather be optimistic and get disappointed occasionally rather than cynical and always feel negative about cool new stuff.

Yeah and more crap like Yo! and Make a Potato Salad kickstarters will get funded by people who have 20 bucks to waste. I am not hating on the idea because this isn't new at all. Spend 15 minutes on Alibaba and you'll see most of what most hardware kickstarters are sourcing their stuff. .. And yeah I watched the slickly edited video, but they aren't getting my money.

Also this has nothing to do with optimism vs pessimism, it's that stuff like this shouldn't be on hackerne,ws unless they really are hacking something/creating something/showing something innovative (semi innovative works also).

Vaporware is stuff that nobody can get. Alibaba hardware is stuff that anyone can get. It can't be both.

Yeah, eventually something like this will solve a particular pain point for a subset of people. If this is supposed to just be a recreational thing, then I don't see the advantages it offers over stakes, bikes, scooters, etc.. But as the tech progresses then one day we might find something like this pop up again that is a valuable solution to some legitimate problems.

Vaporware? Have you watched the video?

I have. It's a kids toy with a slow mo video. But I am sure the founders of this seeded this thread with enough fake accounts to make sure it gets its much deserved publicity.

You realize that all new accounts on HN show up with green usernames. Currently, there are only two 'new' users who have posted in this thread, both expressing negative views about the product. If they've 'seeded' this thread with fake accounts, there's no evidence of it.

I think they mean upvoting the story submission rather than the comments.

I confess, the still used as the cover frame for the video put me off of watching it. Is any part of the video not a barely clothed model wearing the skates?

Ugh, no kidding. I want to see what the skates look like up close. I want to hear what they sound like without music being played over the top. There's hardly anything useful in the video.

That said, I've been looking for a decently portable, medium distance form of personal transport for a long time (preferably wearable so I don't have to lug it). I can't take a bike onto a tram. These might actually fit the bill.

Can't wait for sidewalk/bikelane wars over this. Too fast for the sidewalk with people walking. Will cyclists give up there precious bike lane space?

The eagerness with which you desire conflict on an issue like this is bewildering. Maybe this isn't the forum for you.

I've also shared bike lanes with skateboarders without any issues or "wars".

You bring up a reasonable point (could this change road/sidewalk safety, how should that be managed, etc.), but perhaps try changing the tone with which you're raising that issue.

>Will cyclists give up there precious bike lane space?

I think you should stick to commenting on YouTube videos.

I don't think they have to, since this is not a bicycle.

These are probably too fast (and powered) to be considered pedestrians. They'll like suffer the same limbo the Segway did, and end up with nowhere to go.

Naw, I'd be able to use them on the sidewalks here in San Diego without any issues. And with the range and ride time they have I could get most places I want to go. There are plenty of places which allow electric propelled scooters (for example) or bikes on sidewalks...just so long as they don't go faster than 15 mph.

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