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My Segway HT "Month-iversary"
Phillip M. Torrone writes "I didn't realize it, but I've been using a Segway HT for one month as of 01/04/03. To put it simply--it's been great and the HT has exceeded all expectations, I'm cautiously optimistic that this was a great purchase and look forward to the next 30 days. You can read, see and hear about my experiences here: http://www.bookofseg.com." I have yet to see one of these in real life, but they do look fun.
And what else does P. M. Tyronne endorse?
:)
XBox live, for one...and the iPod...and large doses of Flash, apparently. This gentleman is a one-man press release
The domain "bookofseg.com" is registered to Phillip Torrone. (listed on the about page as well). According to his site , this guy works at Fallon , an advertising company devoted to "generating disproportionate results for our clients through a unique combination of rigor, relentlessness, and surprise" .
What I'm getting at is, how do we know that this site isn't just a plant by Segway's marketing agency?
Incidentally, does anyone know how much weight the Segway is designed to handle?
From the How Stuff Works Website:
Weight capacity: 250 pound (110 kg) person with 75 pounds (34 kg) of cargo.
(Good link about more Segway stuff without all of the marketing hype at Howstuffworks, too.)
I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
If you ever have to ride at night, in the rain, or carry stuff, expect to pay extra for lights (as required by law), full-length fenders (unless you like the "dragged through the mud" look), and luggage racks, possibly panniers or a trailer for larger loads. If you go the Boy Scout method and have lights, speedometer (bikes have to follow the same rules of the road including speed limits (I learned the hard way in downtown)), luggage rack, fenders, airhorn, and a rear-view mirror, expect to pay closer to $850.
Either way, you're right, bicycles are far more practical and far less expensive than a Segway.
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The site addresses security. It's usually a good idea to at least skim the site before you comment.
Just last week, Reuters bought and CNN published as a front page story this Amazon /Segway press release. Reuters must not employ any of those hard-driving investigative reporters we loved in old 30s movies.
For example the "story" "reports"
- "pre-orders already place the high-tech scooter in the top half percent of sales" Yeah? Each Segway costs $5000, while the average Amazon item costs maybe $50. So if Amazon sells 100 Segways in a month, it's in the same percentile as a book that sold 10,000 copies in the same month--that's pretty impressive sales for a book, pretty lousy sales for an item that got the publicity buzz Segway did, an item featured on Amazon's front page.
- "It's selling better than many of our digital cameras" Yeah? And is Amazon the only retailer selling digital cameras, the way it is the only retailer selling Segways? In fact, do you know anybody who would go to Amazon to buy a digital camera?
- "Frazier declined to provide actual pre-sale numbers" I am sure the carefully phrased hype provided is much closer to what CNN readers care about.
What got left out of the "news story" is also interesting. There is no mention of the financial stake that Amazon has in pumping up Segway sales by releasing phony hype aimed at making the product look more popular than it is. Jeff Marshall at Mercury News has some interesting background on the financial ties involvedSome Reuters Clark Kent may have added one note of reality in the final sentence: "in San Francisco a debate is raging over whether the human transporter should be allowed on that city's streets. " That debate stopped raging a week before this press release came out. According to the Dec. 20 SF Chronicle , after extensive public discussion 9 of 11 supervisors have voted to ban the Segway, enough to overturn the mayor's veto if he decides to try one.
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...
1970 vintage, 4-function pocket calculator that cost him $400 new
It was probably a "5-function" device: the square root key was the thing that had geeks tossing out their slide rules en masse.
The ban was by the "supervisors," presumably the city council equivalent. Not judges who don't (or at least aren't supposed to) make policy.
commented that the Segway is "a national threat at least as grave as Iraq" because of laziness. I don't think Iraq is that dangerous, so I don't know exactly what that comment is suppost to mean =) Also they said they didn't want to see a "potential tsunami of lard".
These comments were made by an editorial writer for the SF Times, not any government official.
No, they use highly efficient 4 stroke engines. Look it up before you shoot your mouth off. Sure to their light weight and small size, they have amazing fuel effciency, much better than a car.
I honestly dont understand how this got passed, but you can bet someone will be run over in one and that will be the end of it.
This list of pro's and con's seem pretty fair and balanced. (At least, when taken from a pedestrian or bicyclist's point of view.)