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This is IT?

Posted by michael on from the world-shattering-public-relations dept.

Dave (picked at random) and 8000 other slashdot readers wrote in to tell us that they too had been overcome by the relentless hype machine that is IT, Ginger, Segway, whatever. Read about IT in your favorite hype-dispensing media outlet, each of which thinks that it has an exclusive on the story of IT. Flash diagram of IT. Time. NY Times. Reuters. And don't forget to watch the advertisement, errr, "demonstration" of IT on Good Morning Consumers tomorrow. Update: 12/03 13:37 GMT by T : Segway's webmaster John Grohol points out the segway website as well.

9 of 1,787 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I think it's dumb. by zhensel · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It looks gay."

    Frankly, I don't see how this is possible. As an 'IT', it is neither male nor female and is thus not capable of homosexual activity.

  2. Re:Why can't anyone see the implications of this? by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does IT run Linux?

    ;)

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  3. This is IT? by RQuinn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn it, I was hoping for a child-eating clown

  4. Does this make sense??? by pagercam2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Electric Scooter $3000 or $600 Bike + $2400 Beer.
    IT = 8MPH, Bike = 15MPH
    IT = no excersize, Bike = 300+ Cal/hr
    IT = No beer, Bike 2400 micro brew or 4800 Bud/MGD
    IT = requires power, Bike = burn off beer gut (see above)

  5. What it'll do for me by TomatoMan · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's not that big a deal, really. All it will do is enable me to:
    • Use public transportation again because it solves the mid-range travel problem of getting to/from the bus terminal/train station
    • Save about $4000 a year on parking fees in Boston, since I'll be able to put the car out in the burbs somewhere where parking is cheap
    • Get around town generating absolutely no pollution

    ...little things like that. So I don't see what the hype is all about either. I mean come on, it doesn't even fly!
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  6. Hackable? by MobyDisk · · Score: 5, Funny

    This thing is a hacker's dream. It looks quite modern - microprocessors, firmware, etc. Not purely mechanical. The speed limit is set by the circuitry -- which means it is all hackable.

    Imagine programming one of these things to spin you around, then accelerate to breakneck speed (perhaps literally) This could be quite fun!

  7. Re:Begging Questions and Urban Planning by dzurn · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the TIME article:
    By traveling at three or four times walking speed, and thus turning what would have been a 30-minute walk into a 10-minute ride, Kamen contends, Segways will in effect shrink cities to the point where cars "will not only be undesirable, but unnecessary."

    As for weather, here in the Midwest we occasionally use outerware to mitigate the effects of the elements on our epidermis. That comes highly recommended. And your mom told me you should wear a hat, too.

    I believe (but haven't seen for myself) that most businesses today are currently wired for "electricity" available at convenient locations we call "outlets". And a space the size of one car-parking spot can probably hold one or maybe up to two of the Segway behemoths.

    I really get disappointed when people who are smart in one area ...
  8. How cool is this guy? by RainbowSix · · Score: 5, Funny

    He also owns an island off the coast of Connecticut. He calls it North Dumpling, and he considers it a sovereign state. It has a flag, a navy, a currency (one bill has the value of pi) and a mutual nonaggression pact with the U.S., signed by Kamen and the first President Bush

    I don't care what "IT" is, Kamen owns an island with a monetary denomination of pi!

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  9. Stillborn by rve · · Score: 5, Funny

    This invetion will go the way of the Sinclair horizontal bike.

    It is awkward, expensive, makes you look like a dork, and isn't really more useful than something you already had.

    Mind you, I'm never wrong about these things. When the CD-ROM was invented, I accurately predicted we would never hear from such a useless invention again. After all, it was more expensive than the PC you plug it in, and all of that for half a GB of read only data, while no one could have any conceivable use for read only data.

    I also accurately predicted that Java would be just a fad. After all, who would need a slow interpreted platform independant language while only one platform would exist a few years on.

    this time I'm right tho.