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The Worst Gift Idea of the Holiday Season [Segway Scooter]
Tech Central Station ^ | December 21, 2001 | Brock Yates

Posted on 12/21/2001 7:40:14 AM PST by IowaHawk

Here we go again. Yet another mechanical miracle guaranteed to break the American love affair with the automobile. Following limited success via mass-transit buses and light rail, bicycles, jogging shoes and assorted urban people-movers, we now have the Segway HT as the latest antidote to shatter our century-old habit of relying on the ol’ flivver in the garage for routine travel.

In case you’ve missed the rhapsodized coverage of the Segway HT by the elite media —which never misses a chance to remind us that our automobiles are our greatest enemy —the Segway HT (“Human Transport”) also known as “Ginger” is a gadget that can turn a couch potato into an Olympic sprinter with the twist of the wrist. “Hey, was that Donovan Bailey crossing the intersection?” “Naw; Rosie O’Donnell on the way to the studio.”

Consider that the Segway HT, which looks like your neighbor’s power mower without the blade and the bag, will haul a normal-sized biped at speeds up to 12.5 mph, which is roughly three times the velocity attained in normal walking. An impressive pace, which can be maintained for up to 17 miles before re-charging the battery.

It’s presumably operable by anybody smart enough to grip the handlebars. Lean forward and it moves ahead. The more you lean, the faster you go. Same for reverse. A twist of the hand and the Segway will turn on a dime. It will not tip over. It’s all in the gyroscopes and tilt sensors that make up what its creators call “Dynamic stabilization.”

Dean Kamen, the inventor and leader of the Segway design team headquartered in environmentally aware Manchester, NH, is one bright guy. He holds over 150 patents in the fields of medical devices, climate control systems and helicopter technology. This is his first crack at ground-based transportation, based on the conventional wisdom that the automobile is a lousy people hauler in urban situations where 80% of the world’s population hangs out.

So Kamen, backed by big investors Credit Suisse and First Boston and aligned with industrial giants like Delphi Automotive, IBM, GE Plastics, Michelin, etc. set out to create a device that won’t make the car smaller, but the pedestrian larger — at least in the context of mobility.

Kamen & Co. reckon that every day Americans drive 1.35 billion miles on trips of five miles or less. If only 10% of those miles were traveled with Segway HT’s, maybe 6.2 million gallons of gasoline — or 2.6 billion gallons per year would be saved. And of course the environment, air quality, urban space, etc. would also benefit.

Great idea. On the computer screen. Imagine hundreds of thousands of citizens zipping along the sidewalks of America’s major cities on spindly little Segways. A beautiful vision, right? Now think of Beijing or New Delhi, where insect-like swarms of bicycles sluice along the major thoroughfares. Think about the last time you dodged a kid blazing down a big city sidewalk on a 10-speed. Think about the center cities of Athens, Rome and a hundred other European towns where automobiles have been supplanted by screeching mobs of motor scooters. Filthy, noisy, crude little beasts compared to the Segway HT, but similar in theme and mission. And don’t think about one-handing a Segway while clutching an umbrella in Seattle or Portland or donning a snowmobile suite for winter travel in Chicago or Boston. And don’t think about the added strain on the already-over loaded electrical power grid when millions of Segways plug in for a re-charge every day. (Remember, at the end of every electric-powered-vehicle fantasy stands a smokestack.)

The Segway HT is a thoroughly ingenious device. But so was the General Motors EV1 electric car that turned out to be a hopeless failure. Short range, low power and absurd battery recharging cycles killed it. The Segway may have terrific potential for postal delivery, warehouse mobility, law enforcement, theme park touring, etc. and a bright future in developing countries, although supplanting the lighter, cheaper bicycle and the faster motor scooter may be difficult, especially at a proposed cost of about $3000.00.

The technical brilliance of a concept does not assure success. Example: The Honda Insight hybrid will get over 50 miles per gallon in city driving with ease. It is tiny, quick and nimble. It is the cleanest mass-produced vehicle on earth. Environmentalists celebrated it as a breakout automobile. The media was charmed by it. It is a relatively cheap (about $20,000), reliable, weatherproof, comfortable commuter vehicle. It will run 100 mph on the highway and still get over 40 mpg. It will carry two passengers rather than one. It is the best urban automobile available along with its larger, slower four-seat rival, the Toyota Prius. Yet the Insight, for all its environmental wonderment, has sold only 4,000 units in America this year. But Honda planned on moving 6500 of the little beauties, meaning that on-paper enthusiasm for this environmentally friendly vehicle far surpasses its marketplace appeal.

Were I a member of Mr. Kamen’s talented team, I would be advising him to take a very hard look at the Honda experience before I geared up for really big production.


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To: IASKTHEREFOREIAM
Yes. Starting to look like Buehls, but I guess they're okay.
21 posted on 12/21/2001 8:19:19 AM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
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To: IowaHawk
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

22 posted on 12/21/2001 8:19:33 AM PST by cuz_it_aint_their_money
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To: dead
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.

23 posted on 12/21/2001 8:20:00 AM PST by Lazamataz
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To: dead
ROFL

WBF: World Buzkashi Federation.


24 posted on 12/21/2001 8:23:12 AM PST by B Knotts
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To: IowaHawk
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.

25 posted on 12/21/2001 8:23:58 AM PST by Lokibob
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
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.

26 posted on 12/21/2001 8:24:35 AM PST by FreedomPoster
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To: IowaHawk
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.

27 posted on 12/21/2001 8:25:54 AM PST by big gray tabby
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To: IowaHawk
Don't worry.

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

28 posted on 12/21/2001 8:30:42 AM PST by FreedomFarmer
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To: IowaHawk
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.
29 posted on 12/21/2001 8:32:05 AM PST by patlaw_guy
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To: Lazamataz
New sport?
How about Cheese Racing.
30 posted on 12/21/2001 8:37:28 AM PST by FreedomFarmer
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To: big gray tabby
"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.

31 posted on 12/21/2001 8:44:41 AM PST by IowaHawk
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To: big gray tabby
A scooter that attracts women: Lambretta 200SX


32 posted on 12/21/2001 8:51:56 AM PST by IowaHawk
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To: technochick99
A scooter that attracts women: Lambretta 200SX

LOL!

33 posted on 12/21/2001 8:53:32 AM PST by Lazamataz
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To: IowaHawk
Take out the batteries-put in a McCulleck 2-stroke gasoline chainsaw engine,mag wheels with BIG tires and loud exhaust, yeh!
34 posted on 12/21/2001 8:55:52 AM PST by Frankss
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To: IowaHawk
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.

35 posted on 12/21/2001 9:28:02 AM PST by AStack75
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To: AStack75
Have you ever seen the bicycle cops? THOSE guys look like dorks.
36 posted on 12/21/2001 9:39:30 AM PST by geaux
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To: FreedomFarmer
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.

37 posted on 12/21/2001 9:42:08 AM PST by eno_
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To: IowaHawk
No doubt the bike attracts chicks, but do men who like those bikes attract chicks?

I suggest, "No."

38 posted on 12/21/2001 9:42:30 AM PST by big gray tabby
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To: IowaHawk
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.
39 posted on 12/21/2001 9:45:00 AM PST by Long Cut
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To: mitchbert
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.

40 posted on 12/21/2001 9:58:31 AM PST by Timm
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