>Short-range urban transport is a solved problem in all but marketing - Americans remain inexplicably certain that cycling is not for them.
As someone who has both biked and longboarded to work/local grocery stores/etc., I infinitely prefer longboards (in fact I don't even own a bike anymore). Much lighter, easier to carry around (if you have a backpack that can accomodate it, then it's ideal), you don't have to find a place to lock them when you enter buildings (and fear getting it stolen), much easier to carry in public transportation (the Caltrain bike car at peak hours is complete chaos— and are you even allowed to carry a bike in the MUNI/Bart?), and so on.
I've seen some people with foldable bikes, not sure if those solve all of those problems.
You do raise valid points wrt the riskiness of the device, but I still think that there's progress to be made in short range urban transportation.
I've seriously considered using a longboard and public transportation as a replacement for my bicycle. Sadly, the geography here in Pittsburgh is rather hilly, so a skateboard isn't practical unless you're commuting within one of the "plateaus."
Still, for flatter locales, I could see longboards being viable modes of transportation.
As someone who has both biked and longboarded to work/local grocery stores/etc., I infinitely prefer longboards (in fact I don't even own a bike anymore). Much lighter, easier to carry around (if you have a backpack that can accomodate it, then it's ideal), you don't have to find a place to lock them when you enter buildings (and fear getting it stolen), much easier to carry in public transportation (the Caltrain bike car at peak hours is complete chaos— and are you even allowed to carry a bike in the MUNI/Bart?), and so on.
I've seen some people with foldable bikes, not sure if those solve all of those problems.
You do raise valid points wrt the riskiness of the device, but I still think that there's progress to be made in short range urban transportation.