The Worst Gift Idea of the Holiday Season [Segway Scooter]

Tech Central Station ^ | December 21, 2001 | Brock Yates

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Yes. Starting to look like Buehls, but I guess they're okay.

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Not to mention the Segway's warp-9 Dork Coefficient.

Nah! I'll pass! I'm waiting for them to get the transporter up and running.

:~D

[Lazamataz]

I could see a new sport being built around these things. Possibly a variation on that Afghan dead goat game (which totally rocks and just needs to be Americanized slightly by Vince McMahon.)

I'm thinking a modernized version of Roller Derby.

And that sport was basically about seeing Amazonian-style women -- corn-fed girls, all of them -- smack one another around for essentially no reason.

[B Knotts]

ROFL

WBF: World Buzkashi Federation.

[Lokibob]

A whole bunch of points are being missed here. When the personal computer was first proposed at IBM, the forecasted a market of less than 10. LOL

Kaymans business plan calls for the Segway to be introduced by post office employees and police. When the public sees them aboard a Segway, they will want one too.

Go to your local park. Look for the 12-14 year olds. Seems they are already aboard scooters. Give them 5 years, send them to college, and good old dad will be buying a Segway instead of a car.

Granted that at $1.25 a gallon for gas, there isn't a great market for the Segway, but at $3-4/gallon, desire goes way up for the short trips.

A quick and dirty cost benefit analysis ( I admit it is dirty, who knows the maintenance cost) makes the post office recoup the cost of the Segway in 4 years.

Geek factor goes down when everybody is dressed like a geek. Look at back packs.

[FreedomPoster]

Do they still make the IT?

I'm pretty sure that was the pre-release name. It's now the Segway Human Tranporter, or the Segway HT, but never the SHT, for some reason.

I want one for my treadmill.

[big gray tabby]

I'm intrigued by the Seg-way. If it makes sense I'll have one.

Y'all need to think before you go around wedgie-fying folks. Some of us have been waiting since our post-high school growth spurt for someone to try that again.

Warp 10 kooky chick identifier: Vespa scooters.

[FreedomFarmer]

Don't worry.

It'll never be popular until someone figures out how to have sex on it.

[patlaw_guy]

Kamen seems to have forgotten that in most of the country, it rains somewhat often, and it gets cold in the winter. Who wants to pay $3K to drive IT around in the sleet in Chicago in February? And if you're going to brave the elements, you can get an E-Bike today cheaper--it's like a battery-powered moped & it's not a terrible idea. I think that's what Iacocca has been up to lately.

[FreedomFarmer]

New sport?
How about Cheese Racing.

[IowaHawk]

"Warp 10 kooky chick identifier: Vespa scooters."

I'll send your regards to Mrs. Hawk. And I promise not to wedgie-fy Segwayists as long as they're drinking a beer, or have an 8" height advantage.

[IowaHawk]

A scooter that attracts women: Lambretta 200SX

[Lazamataz]

A scooter that attracts women: Lambretta 200SX

LOL!

[Frankss]

Take out the batteries-put in a McCulleck 2-stroke gasoline chainsaw engine,mag wheels with BIG tires and loud exhaust, yeh!

[AStack75]

Not to mention the Segway's warp-9 Dork Coefficient.

That's probably the biggest reason it'll never sell. Do they really think that cops are gonna want to be rolling down the street in one of these chasing a bad guy? I just don't see that ever happening. This conjures up a similar image as it does when I see grown men riding around in those gas-powered scooters.

[geaux]

Have you ever seen the bicycle cops? THOSE guys look like dorks.

[eno_]

It'll never be popular until someone figures out how to have sex on it.

That self-balancing capability could be just the thing! Now I wonder how much weight the handlbars will bear...

Coming up in the news: mixed randy couple lands in ER for misc-Segway-nation mishap.

[big gray tabby]

No doubt the bike attracts chicks, but do men who like those bikes attract chicks?

I suggest, "No."

[Long Cut]

Warp 9 Dork Coefficient! LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!
I love it!
As I posted on a previous thread on the topic, a manufacturer ignores the "Coolness Coefficient" at its peril. A pertinent fact: no tricks can be done on a Seg-gay. Therefore its attractiveness to kids is limited. As for the female-impressing factor, IT has absolutely NO primacy over the Harley-Davidson, the 'Vette, Or my personal favorite, the '68 Shelby GT-500.
I still picture going past a dork on a Seg-gay in/on one of the above, with open pipes roaring, and the lovely blond Mrs. Cut next to me.

[Timm]

Totally agree. That being said as a single city dweller (who loves his car) I'd buy one in a second. I can think of a lot of times it would be just great for scooting around the city on short hops.

Yes, and a Segway is a significant step forward compared to a bicycle. It's much heavier, vastly more expensive, slower, has a much shorter range, is harder to repair, will be more expensive to maintain, can be used on fewer surfaces, has no legal rights to the roadway, is harder to store, and provides no exercise!

Sorry Mitch, I don't mean to harsh on you in particular. I'm still giggling about all of the hype surrounding this exorbitant electric scooter.