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Segway HT Starts Selling
Ninja Master Gara writes "The much-hyped "IT", Dean Kamen's Segway Human Transporter, started selling Monday with a no-refund deposit of $495 on the $4,950 people mover for deliveries starting March 2003 on first come first serve basis.
"The Segway Human Transporter is one of the most famous and anticipated product introductions of all time," Jeff Bezos, chief executive and founder of Amazon.com, said in heralding the availability of the vehicles on the online retailer's site." It's also the most overhyped and overpriced toy ever, and I'm kicking myself for posting it since that just contributes to the problem.
I'll go out and watch yet another way motorists can take you out...
Julie Moult is an idiot.
It's also the most overhyped and overpriced toy ever, and I'm kicking myself for posting it since that just contributes to the problem.
Why did you post it then?
Really though, if you want to get around in areas that a car is not practical, use a bicycle, or walk, and get some exercise while you're at it...
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
IT is most likely the Stirling Engine that Kamen has been working on for a long while.
The cheap modern Stirling engine of Kamen's dreams would indeed be an incredible development is it ever comes to fruition.
Once more unto the breach dear friends...
"It's also the most overhyped and overpriced toy ever, and I'm kicking myself for posting it since that just contributes to the problem."
Yeah, far be it from you to listen to your loyal readership who take the time and effort to search the Internet for "Stuff that Matters" to others than just yourself at the same time helping to make your bottom line look a little better.
Overhyped and overpriced is certainly your opinion which I could personally do without. Do you know how much it costs to make one of these? Do you know the specifics of the R & D went into these? I think not.
Do you realize how fantastic an achievement in technology this is? Well, I guess not if you think it's just a "toy". (BTW, Nice lame-ass attempt to trivialize it.) The engineering that went into creating a device that balances the human body while moving forward, backward and turning and most importantly anticipates sudden movements to maintain that balance is fantastic!
Perhaps more important (and certainly undervalued by many) are the potential advances that this type of technology could lead to that we can't foresee right now. (Like this wheelchair that Kamen also invented.
For a nerd who supposedly likes anime, science- fiction, technology, etc. You seem just a little negative and short-sighted.
But of course, these are just my opinions.
Co-founder and designer at Music Nearby: http://musicnearby.com
...I could buy a top of the line custom built titanium bike and have money to spare. The bike would be smaller, lighter, cheaper, easier to maintain, not run out of power, go faster, access more places and give people exercise. Ooops! I said the nasty E word, exercise!
Seriously, it's amazing how much money can be made off of human laziness. People are willing to pay 5000$, along with the effort of maintaining these things, to not have to move their legs
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
Uhmm. You have it the wrong way around: 32 states have so far passed legislation that explicitly allow it on sidewalks.
San Francisco plans to fight back, according to this Examiner article. Senior-citizen activists and walkers protested they don't want to share their space with a 95 lb machine traveling 12 mph.
Well while they might be mechanically able to travel at 12 or even 14 MPH, if you check the Segway website they are now using a reference speed of just 9 MPH on sidewalks (presumably it would be even less on dirt paths). If anything I think that is too slow.
Considering marathoners go about 12 MPH, and sprinters go about about 20 MPH and they are both legal on the sidewalk (and most of them weigh over 95 lbs - except the women marathoners) why do they insist on keeping these things so slow if they are supposed to be just as safe as a pedestrians? I never could figure out why they think it will succeed at a speed half of what you can bicycle at comfortably. (Yes, I know bicycles are banned from sidewalks in most places but that is rarely enforced - and bicycles are generally allowed on running paths.)
The point of the Segway was to reduce the number of cars on the road. Cars kill thousands of pedestrians every year, not to mention reducing air quality and making any activity that requires breathing the air outdoors less pleasant and potentially unhealthy. (Though I guess the greenhouse effect has some net positive effect on providing more walkable days weather wise - assuming you don't want to walk along the beach.)
Work for Change & GET PAID!
For the money, I'd rather have a Yamaha Zuma, (MSRP $1699). (or Honda or Suzuki equivilent) Plus, it runs on gasoline so I don't have to plug it in for 8 hours to recharge it. I can just pull up to any service station and get another 100+ miles for $2.
So let's recap:
Segway HT: Range 10-15 miles. Top speed 15 mph. Must find electrical outlet to recharge with. Cost - 5,000.
Gasoline Scooter: Range - 100+ miles, easily refilled with gas. Cost - 1,700.
Bicycle: Range: variable. Fuel: biomass. Cost - $200.
Strange, the less it costs, the more sense it makes.
bance.net
Considering marathoners go about 12 MPH, and sprinters go about about 20 MPH and they are both legal on the sidewalk
Dude, legal maybe but come on.. When have you ever seen someone sprinting 20MPH down a busy sidewalk? I may have come close a few times trying to catch the early bus but that is NOT an easy task. I imagine if more people were actually sprinting down the sidewalk it would become a nuisance and probably illegal.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
I think the key point that just about everyone I've seen posting so far is missing is this.
The Segway was not developed primarily for the consumer.
If you look through their website, they have already implemented the Segway mostly in industrial and commercial applications.
They're only starting to sell the Segway to consumers now because this is the second phase of the project.
Although the applications of the Segway in some communities as a personal mobility device may be limited, I doubt that we will fail to see it successfully implemented in various divisions of labor.
AA
She's 65, lives close to a downtown core, and her eyesight is getting bad enough that driving a car is becoming problematic, or will in the next couple of years. Segway would be a good solution for her.
Try to look outside yourself when you judge the worth of a product.
On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
I have not ridden one, but I was very impressed with how Disney employees managed them in very heavy crowds. They were able to zip around and through some of the heaviest of gawking tourists (toughest kind of crowd) without any issues. If Disney trusts them not to cause lawsuits, I think that says a LOT!
I agree with you about the sweaty thing being a nice aspect, but what I whish we would do is, instead of making ways for us to get around without sweating, why don't we make it more convenient to clean up after getting sweaty? I live 12 miles from where I work, in Connecticut, so I know about traffic, and it is this traffic that makes me wish I could ride my bike to work, but being the profuse sweater that I am, I could not got to work once I got to work (did that make sense?) There is a company health club (really big company...) but it is 2.5 miles from my desk. If one of the bathrooms in my building (or even anywhere near my building) had a shower, I would ride my bike to work whenever there is no snow on the ground... but instead I sit in traffic getting pissed off, just like everyone else, and then I spend an hour exercising after I get home. Doesn't make much sense, does it?
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
The only reason Segways are economically viable right now is that laws have been passed to let them use city sidewalks. Most cities haven't caught on to this yet, and won't catch on until March. But already city officials in both New Jersey and San Francisco are upset about Segways. This is the tip of the iceberg.
The point of the Segway was to reduce the number of cars on the road.
Yes, I know that's the hype they've been using in their round-the-country marketing sessions. How unusual, when all the other corporations just try to make money. BTW, what's up with that Buy-Segway-Give-Me-Commission link in your sig?
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...
The news story we are commenting on is not "Segway invented." It is "Segway for sale." If someone is thinking about buying a Segway, that person should consider the speculation about reliability, insurance, state laws, public acceptance (whether or not the thing is *perceived* as safe). Because you could end up with a $5000 vehicle you use everywhere, or you could end up with a $5000 doorstop.
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...