The Galaxy Surfboard: because isolation cannot be tolerated

12 May 2016

Samsung has thrown its hat into the ‘truly needless creations’ ring with the Galaxy Surfboard, which connects surfers to Twitter.

Fashion designers have their grossly impractical catwalks of curious creations. Supercar manufacturers make concept cars that achieve little more than tooting their own horn. So, why can’t tech companies do something similar? Why should surfing be ignored?

That was surely the thinking at Samsung when its Brazil arm released a video of Gabriel Medina – local superstar surfer – hitting the waves.

As his father and coach looks on, Medina makes a mess of some waves. But, no worries, as his surfboard is souped-up like never before, receiving weather data, texts from the shore and even tweets from his fans around the world.

It’s as ludicrous as it is pointless. Although as a marketing tool? Why not.

It’s not as weird as some products that have actually been developed, after all. Like a worryingly large array of smart bottles of water, which I guess you can take with you when surfing. Or, better still, this smart floss dispenser.

Main surfing image via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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