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Big emerging market - hoverboards
  • All major US online retailers suddenly started to ban actual Chinese manufacturers on their sites.

    Now "United States Postal Service has joined the growing list of airlines and online retailers cracking down on the hoverboard due to safety concerns, saying it will no longer carry the devices on airplanes for fear their batteries may be a fire hazard."

    Reason? Hoverboards bring very good profits to intermediate US / EU sellers and they are not happy with price wars.

    And yes, big cheap batteries in the things that can have significant impacts during their life can become not very safe, but it is same for US resellers.

  • 13 Replies sorted by
  • US Customs and Border Protection said this week that the agency seized 16,000 counterfeit hoverboards during a bust in Chicago.

    As market becomes hotter capitalist do step after step to ensure their profits.

  • if they'd develop one with bigger wheels than 10" , they'd be safer .

  • if they'd develop one with bigger wheels than 10" , they'd be safer .

    They won't :-) You can just research that 14-16" mono wheels are can do to you.

    Plus even 10" weights too much, most popular ones use smaller wheels.

  • like the difference between a motorcycle and a scooter ? Bigger wheels are safer , esp if they want this to be a transport, not just a malltoy, and many of the manufacturers are making segway copies as well.

  • Bigger wheels are safer , esp if they want this to be a transport, not just a malltoy, and many of the manufacturers are making segway copies as well.

    Well, "many" is vague term. Around 3 more or less good brands (main ones are just 2 :-) ) and around 10 factories making close copies, I mean long gone Segway non copies (they are not copies, really).

    If you ever had been on mobile electrical transport you understand that even mono wheel is not really last mile transport (and it is closest to it, but results of failure or sudden issue can be really bad).

    This small things are not handy as transport (believe me I tried many things :-) ) and won't be safe (it is physics thing).

  • UL, a company known for certifying the safety of all sorts of everyday products, has started accepting submissions from hoverboard manufacturers and distributors.

    As usual in capitalism - guys want money. And they are just first in line.

  • image

    Story continues...

    Purchase standard from private criminals... Voluntary standard you need to comply...

    Constant pushing of fire stories (of course many of the is due to bad cells and chargers).

    img119.jpg
    730 x 542 - 132K
  • I guess they can look on the bright side - these hoverboard makers didn't get blasted by the government motors agent Obama like toyota, vw, takata have. Oh look - one of the GM ignition switch lawsuits was dismissed by a federal judge

  • I guess they can look on the bright side - these hoverboard makers didn't get blasted by the government motors agent Obama like toyota, vw, takata have.

    Well, letter states that without doing this things stock can be arbitrary seized :-) And you will need to spend huge money to release it, if ever.

  • Yep, it is perfect example on how capitalism is working (internet in 90s and recently drones are another samples).

    Until something is young and used by few capitalism do not care as managing costs are too much and gain is too little. This stage shows that actually capitalists never care for your safety.

    On next stage, as something approach wide usage capitalists start to see big potential income, and it is not only productive income, but taxes, patents related litigation, certifications, customs fees.

    On this stage you always need to throw some terrible and horrible things that can happen if good guys won't get their money. With internet it is pedophiles and terrorists (whole number of them is around 200x time less than tax paid motherfuckers fighting with them). With drones it is wide republishing of any crash case. With this boards it is fire and possible acceleration or sudden stops.

    As you can see problems are all real, they are just blown out of proportion to make someone think that something happens around 100-1000 times more frequently than in reality.

    Final stage always follows as interested people impose all regulations into laws and various other papers that allow them to have good income (again, laws always represent interests of ruling class). From time to time they will initiate some complain to impose new regulation or to just remind people why they pay the money to this motherfuckers.

  • The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a General Exclusion Order banning a number of personal transporter products that infringe on Segway's patents. The infringing products are banned from importation into the United States until the relevant patents expire.

    One Chinese firm who now own this patents want to damage other ones :-) Beauty of capitalism.

    https://www.usitc.gov/intellectual_property/exclusion_orders/337-ta-935_0.pdf

  • The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 501,000 “hoverboards” produced by several companies and sold through two stores. The recall, as anyone familiar with these hoverboard devices will guess, is over potential fire risk. According to the CPSC, the lithium-ion battery packs found in these units may overheat, possibly leading to explosions, fires, or smoking.

    http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2016/Self-Balancing-Scooters-Hoverboards-Recalled-by-10-Firms/

    You think what this guys are for your safety? Nope.