Founder here.

Actually, we see people using it because they prefer it to a bike in certain situations. It's compatible with most public transit and ridesharing, and there's little to no risk of theft. Compared to a normal skateboard or bike, you also don't risk being sweaty when you arrive at work. Bikes also require more regular maintenance, which isn't expensive but can be time-consuming.

We've seen it enthusiastically adopted in many cities outside SF and NY.

It's a totally fair comparison if Uber is what Boosted Boards are replacing, which it has for me as well.

Anecdote: the other day I had lunch with coworkers 2 miles from our office in SF. I happened to have my board, so I rode it back while they Ubered back. We left at the same time. I beat them back to the office by 5 minutes.

That probably wouldn't have happened on a bike or skateboard, but if it did I'd be sweaty as hell. Plus I'd have to lock up my bike in the garage.

I'm convinced electric skateboards are the fastest, cheapest, most convenient, and most fun (albeit dangerous) form of transportation in a dense city like SF.

The uber comparison is more fair than your comparisons. Ok, yes the bike. But the bike isn't something that you can take with you everywhere, it's not nearly as easy to bring it on the train or grab a bus or if someone is picking you up somewhere you'd need them to be able to pick up your bike. An uber solves all above mentioned issues, however it's exepensive. A skateboard does solve as well, but using a skateboard as a means to get from point a to point b is less than ideal and the lack of brakes and numerous other options make it a non-option for a lot of people and why skateboarding is a culture instead of any everyman type situation. Enter the boosted board now you have a relatively easy way to get around on a skateboard and people that were turned off by the inconvenience have now a much more convenient and even more convenient way of doing things that is extremely portable you can pick it up and carry it with you don't have to worry about finding a spot to lock it up. The original comparison is not exactly fair you are right, but your comparison relative that isn't even remotely fair or showing of an understanding of why there is a market for electric skateboards.

Comparing a $1500 electric skateboard to a used bike isn't a fair comparison either (especially with assumptions like the bike will last longer, less likely to break). I can show you a list of a few hundred to thousands of bikes that are more expensive than $1500. I could also show you a list of electric bikes that are more expensive than $1500.

My point is that to comparable products or modes of transportation, electric bike, segway, car, uber, taxi's, $1500 isn't a ton of money.

My bikes cost $2000 and $3500. So while you CAN get a bike for $500, that is not what most serious bikers spend ;)

broke both arms in six months of use! Assuming the person was in a cast for six weeks and didn't use the board while in a cast, they spent half the time not using the board as they did using it.

People can break arms on regular skateboards as well.

A skateboard is not a very efficient mode of transportation. It's about as fast as jogging. The boosted board is more like a bike...specifically, it's comparable to an electric bike, except that you trade off range to get greater portability (pretty useful to have in areas where bike theft is common).

Calling it a 'toy' is silly, and obviously intended just to be insulting. If someone buys a nice road bike to get to work, is that a 'toy'?