Tech flashback: Seeing the Dyson ‘Hairblade’ become Supersonic

Almost three years ago, I blogged about the ‘futuristic’ Dyson hairdryer, the ‘Hairblade’, and how most innovations are born from frustrations. For us girls, it can take ages to dry (or frazzle!) our hair in the morning when rushing for work, annoying our partners or housemates along the way with an irritating 20 minute ‘wooshing’ noise.Now, three years after the leaked patent papers hit the internet, a cool £50 million investment into the technology has seen the ‘Supersonic’ (not Hairblade!) finally become a reality and available to purchase from June.However, despite promising us a “silent” hairdryer, the focus seems to be much more on the damage prevention from the lower temperature that cannot exceed 150 degrees. Instead of completely silent – as we were previously told would be the cure to our frustration - Dyson has compromised by saying that speaking voices will be audible over the sound of the motor.Although it’s great to see the hairdryer come to life with some sound decrease, it’s slightly questionable whether £50 million investment feels worthwhile enough when it doesn’t deliver what we’d all been hoping for. However Dyson has promised us some added bonuses such as availability in two colours – pink and white - and precision drying attachments within the box.The Supersonic won’t be hitting our stores until the summer, but at a premium cost of £299 you would have to think carefully about how genuinely annoying your current hair dryer is and whether that molten-like temperature is truly causing long term damage to your hair. With a cordless version potentially on its way - and at the break-neck speed tech prices fall and innovation speeds up – you might be worth waiting until Dyson can seal the deal with a fully silent hair drying experience.Photo credit