I'm sure not gonna defend the TSA. I never thought federalizing airport security was going to really solve anything. Government, in general, doesn't solve problems. They just have really good meetings scheduled and write reports. But the TSA is "security by committee" and I've never been a big fan of the committee approach to anything. Consensus is the death of leadership.
But that said... what's so dang wrong with the Segway? There's some pretty nifty technical stuff going on there. While the machine has some interesting technology, and has some good applications that could work, they've been made by naysayers to look as if they're only for dorks. Their only problem is a marketing one. TSA's problem isn't marketing, it is substantive. It is actually the reverse of the segway's problem.
Well, they cost too much for what they do, they have limited range and frankly they are pretty dorky! You're right about the technology though, it's very sophisticated although not foolproof. I understand they are unstable when the battery gets low and there was a recall for that. The only place I see them now is at rental places in Hawaii and that's about it. The reason I compared the TSA to them is because they were both hyped to high heaven and they both failed.