Posted on 12/02/2001 6:56:41 PM PST by Enlightiator
The Time article:
None of which has anything to do with what I said. Cities ARE (present tense verb refering to what is happening right now) designed for cars. They haven't always been, they won't always be, but they ARE now.
When it is 20 degrees outside and the windchill is well below zero I'm supposed to be happy riding a scooter? Will they have the heavy duty scooter to pull my boat, or better yet pull it out of the launch ramp? When I crash into something, even at the maximum 17mph, I'm supposed to survive? Driving 20 minutes in from the suburbs at 60 or more mph vs. 17mph means I leave 3 times earlier each morning?
I think I keep my Dodge Ram for now
I can guarantee Barbara Streisand along with the balance of the lefiies will soon issue an edict that we should all use these to save the planet, conserve energy, blah, blah, blah all the while driving Humvees.
My apologies, I had totally missed that. I had somehow gotten the impression that you were laughing at the idea that people would need these things. I deeply regret bringing this discomfort to you. A short explanation of what made me react so strongly to my misperception of your attitude.
When reading about this IT I keep thinking about my late mother, who would have loved one of these things, for giving her a facsimile of the ability to walk around her own property. (which of course would eliminate the difficulties mentioned by you and others, such as how to prevent theft, and how to get it where you wanted, and where to store it.)
My mother had been a very vigorous woman, and emphysema reduced her to the point that she could walk only a few steps, and had to use one of those 'little rascal' scooters. She had been a gardener, and had a beautiful landscaped yard, which she could not access with the cart. She would sit in her chair and look at her lovely flowers, and get more and more depressed. When she finally died, it seemed that she didn't care about anything any more.
In addition to that, and more selfishly, I have congestive heart failure, and have been fortunate enough to live for a number of years longer than my life expectancy at the time of diagnosis. I can easily forsee a day when I might be as handicapped in walking as my late mother.
I didn't. What's your worry? It's obvious that you're not so sure that you might not fit. Otherwise you wouldn't have needed to state your position/reply to a post that I didn't direct at you. Perhaps it was something you wrote that you thought might be considered as bashing technology. Can't control the reader's thoughts.
Hmmm, though...I wonder how long it'll be before Wal Mart and huge shopping malls have those for their customers. I also wonder how the heck you could push a shopping cart around while steering a Segway.
IMO though, some people will fid them extremely handy for some things. That's not much, but it's a start. The technology will evolve further.
No it implies it is the vehicle which takes you the short distance between two points.
But you do raise a valid point, this thing won't be at all useful for the handicapped. If you can stand up and manage the subtle muscle movements that keep this thing steering you're probably AOK to walk. Add the incredible lack of storage space and this thing is hands down whipped by the go cart things in the grocery stores (which my wife had to use when recovering from achiles tendon surgery) which are available for private ownership for cheaper than these things. Anybody that thinks this is a solution for the handicapped doesn't understand what the real difficulty is for the handicapped, it's not the moving around, the problem is being verticle for prolonged stretches. Most motion handicapped (as opposed to sensory handicaps) folks are no more capable of standing in one place for an hour than navigating Wal-Mart for that same hour.
I agree. But I don't blame the marketers/press. I blame the people that haven't learned how it works in America. They still "buy" into they hype. Get all worked up. Then it doesn't meet expectations. On this forum -- a political forum -- I would think that people would understand that. I mean, how often do politicians live up to their hype. How many honor their oath of office and the Constitution? How many voted for any one or more of the twenty-thousand unconstitutional gun laws? The Senate allowed Clinton to remain in office despite that being a direct violation of the constitution?
Another rate hike coming to a USPS office near you!
I still betcha they'll be made in China and sold thru Wal-Mart!
Just like a lot of our Politicians. :-)
About ten years latter the LCD pocket calculator hit the market at $200 each and the slide-rule went the way of the buggy whip. That's not to imply that Segway will revolutionize transportation. Nanotechnology will do that and revolutionize, and/or, obsolete a hundred other industries.
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