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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.
A reasonable bicycle can be had for around $100 and will get you anywhere you want to go, and get you into better shape as well. You won't sweat on your bike if you travel at segway speeds either.
I really don't see the appeal of this $3000 upright motoroized wheelchair--what will it do for me that my bike won't?
Can it hop curbs? Is it easy to lock up on the street? I just don't get it, sorry.
If you haven't heard, the was banned in San Francisco. Ouch.
The judges claim they banned it because it is "unsafe for city sidewalks", but they also 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".
Personally, I don't think Segway is the "future of transportation". I'd much rather see PRT everywhere in the future.
I dunno, there's electric motorscooters that have a vastly superior range over Segway, run around $2,000 less, and are as easy to ride around on as a bicycle.
I mean, when Segway's MSRP is being beaten out by Hammecher Schlemmer, it doesn't take a genius to tell who's trying to pull a fast one.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
I just came back from a trip to Disneyworld and they have 32 Segways for what seemed like managerial staff and patrolling the parking lots. Even considering how stair-free WDW is, and what large distances might need to be crossed, when I saw the first Segway in the Epcot plaza, first I thought "this is the best tech they can show off? Pffft."
/.,right? B)
Then I thought, "hmm, big distances to cover, maybe not the worst idea I ever heard."
Then I saw the huge Segway display at Innoventions and realized it was just more smart marketing by Dean Kamen. The yokels were all saying "gaaaahlee where's the gas tank?" and similar comments, then getting lessons in gyroscopic stabilization and Michelin tire alchemy from the well-rehearsed cast members. Hey, if they can get high visibility at Epcot, that's better than
I've tried one...yeah they are neat, but at 80 pounds, just too heavy to lug ino my car trunk or public transport and when compared for value with a $150 electric Razor, it loses. But as someone said above..bring em down to $500 and I'll consider it.
Oh, BTW, I lost all respect when I saw them selling whirling Buzz Lightyear lights, glow sticks and flashlight ight-sabers off the Segways at Epcot at night. Gah.
"The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
A lot of people may not know this, but the segway, in addition to being a means of transportation, is also a testbed for technologies used in Dean Kamans latest invention, the iBOT. Its a new wheelchair thats being tested by the FDA, but most of its technology has been proven in the non medical(meaning it didnt have to be tested by the FDA) Segway HT. The iBOT is a revolutionary wheelchair with that can climb stairs and raise a person up to normal eye-level. link link link link
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
What do you mean "how do we know it isn't a plant"? Of course it's a plant.
I don't mind the dupes. I don't mind the mistakes. But blithely posting underhanded ad pitches on the front page cross the line.
I like Slashdot, and I've never before stooped to bitching at the editors... But I can't take it anymore: what the fuck is the matter with you guys? I know VA Linux stock ain't doing all that well, but for christ's sake, you have jobs unlike a lot of Slashdot's readership. If you don't care about this site-- which seems to be the case-- why don't you step down and let someone else take over?
Slashdot is increasingly becoming a tool of the guerilla (sp?) marketers. Editors should get a clue on a story before posting it. What do these guys get paid for, anyway?
But back on topic, am I the only one who wouldn't be seen dead driving one of these? It's so geeky in a very uncool way. And since you can't really carry anything on it which you could carry yourself, it screams "lazy prick" and is impractical. I predict after the early adopters, the people who think it's neat and people who collect artifacts of the modern age buy one, the company will quietly go out of business.
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I agree. If I lived in a city where you had to drive 7 miles just to buy groceries, I'd shoot the city planner, guy in charge of zoning, and the asshole developers who built the residental areas. Do you even have sidewalks (and if you do, did they plant shade trees?), or mass transit?
No mass transit here (Tampa Bay area). Not much chance of a subway - there's water 3.5 feet down. Busing sucks.
There is a nice sidewalk (8ft wide) between my house and the grocery store. I just happen to live in the very back of the neighborhood. However, many of the houses around here (North Pinllas) are in my situation, with considerable distance to shopping, despite this being an overdeveloped county.
This article [sfweekly.com] contains many of the best reasons that this device is a complete waste of time.
That is the worst article I have ever seen in SF Weekly, and that's saying a lot.
A tsunami of Lard? What the hell, like everyone who is going to use a Segway wont just drive in a car? Why is a scooter going to make people fat when they have to stop using it out of safety concerns if they start to weigh in over 110kg.
Their arguments are this, "Segway makes you fat, and cracks marble walls." They have no evidence of either, as I read it. Are they claiming she ran into the wall, or did her segway do it after she jumped off? Either way, it's a stupid remark that seems like she didn't do it because there is zero documentation on her "vandalism."
There are no reasons why it was a waste of time, there were a few speculations and a lot of bitterness. I think whoever wrote the article was probably just pissed his bicycle shop is going to take a hit.
Because if it does become popular, its gonna need to handle much more...
Yeah.. because efficient transporation makes people fat. News flash, people get fat for other reasons. Fat people don't ride bikes, unless it's for excercise. Their fat long before the Segway came along. End of story.
This FUD is worthy of Anti-Microsoft or Anti-Linux posts, you should be proud.
Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
There are also cheap gas powered scooters like Honda's Metropolitian or Elite 80, both with MSRPs around $2000. Their engines are sufficient to drive them to full road speeds, they have a rather long range on their 1 gallon tanks, and can be quickly refuled at any standard service station.
Personally, if I wanted efficient, small, no-effort transportation, I'd look at one of these. They are far more practical than a Segway as well as cheaper.
The interesting thing about talking to Mr. Kamen while he was standing on the Segway, aside from the fact that he was of course towering a full head above everybody else in the crowd, was the fact that he is one of those people who likes to lean towards you as he talks. As I learned firsthand, talking to one of these people who happens to be standing on an electric scooter that is controlled by leaning your body means that you are constantly being semi-run-over by the thing, in direct proportion to the intensity of the point the other person is trying to make! He kept having to back the thing up a couple feet, like it was an overly-friendly horse that wanted to lick my face (instead of an overly-pricey scooter that wanted to run over my feet).
(I would have liked to have a go with his scooter though, as I was not relishing the prospect of having to slog all the way back across the show grounds to the car yet again!)
mcb
In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
If the Segway replaces walking for the average person, then the "it will make Americans fatter" argument has some merit unless the users' lifestyle is adjusted to compensate, i.e., more trips to the gym via Segway. If it replaces driving, then we will see environmental benefits. If it replaces biking, we are midway between the two.
I just don't see the point of this technology. It is the most over-hyped invention I've ever seen. I'd rather spend a couple grand on some neat technology that helps me get smarter or at least has some entertainment value (travelling between point A and point B has to get pretty boring pretty fast). I see no value in the Segway.
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
Weight capacity: 250 pound (110 kg) person with 75 pounds (34 kg) of cargo.
It's gonna have to do a lot better than that if it's going to succeed. Let's face it, the folks most likely to want one are those who sweat five gallons walking across the street.
The local ambulance company here just got a special ambulance for handling extremely heavy patients. (Extra-heavy rear suspension, extra-large stretcher, electric winch to pull the stretcher in, etc...) They won't even dispatch it unless the patient weighs more than 500 pounds...
The crews assigned to it hate it because they don't get to take a break all day. They run from call to call from the moment shift starts until the shift ends. Regular ambulance crews are still getting calls to handle extremely overweight patients, because there's just so damn many of them.
The way I figure it, if they don't build it to handle at least 450+ pounds, they're going to be dealing with lawsuits because they're breaking, or ADA lawsuits because it won't handle weight-challenged people.
Buy a biycle. Cheap, fast, and actually good for you. Get one with front suspension and some nice riser handlebars. Maybe even a suspension post seat and a cargo basket. All of this will cost you less than a $1,000 U.S. dollars.
How many people do you know that can admit to getting too much exercise?
This guy is way out there
- Stairs and landings. The thing weighs what, 60 lbs I think? That's a lot of heft to get something up a flight of stairs (I'm assuming you can't drive up and down stairs on it).
- Theft... this one is pretty obvious. I need to chain it up when I go in somewhere. If it doesn't get outright ripped off I'd be concerned some dumbass will take a bat or a crowbar to it and leave it hopelessly damaged.
I'll tell you when I *would* have liked a segway, is when I was a stock picker in a warehouse. With like a square mile of aisles to zoom up and down that would have been handy. Of course, I don't have that job anymore.This man says he lives near downtown Seattle, how is he dealing with riding his Segway in the rain. They do get rain almost every day of the year (well not every day of course but still its very rainy there...)
siri
Did some digging and came up with a nifty little comparison. both vehicals are electric, so it all comes down to the nitty gritty.
Segway
Range: Appox 15 miles/charge
Speed: 12mph
Cost: $4,950.00 [Amazon.com]
Viento Scooter
Range: Appox. 50 miles/charge
Speed: 30mph
Cost: $2,999.99
There are three main advantages the Segway has over our competitor. 1) It's really compact. 2) It's "sexy" 3) You can drive it on sidewalks, however flawed I may find that. Oh, and auto stabilization for those who didn't learn to ride a bike. That's nice until you realize for about $2,000 less you gain speed, range and utility, only sacrificing some size, percieved coolness and the legalities of driving on sidewalks while gaining Speed, range and utility.
And no, I'm not considering the supposed saftey of the Segway, because people can still be idiots whatever they drive. Mixing a maximum 250lbs at 12mph on a sidewalk full of pedestrians is a BAD idea. But hey, the Segway is still cool. (I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find a neato looking scooter too).
Revolutionary? It's not as if alternatives didn't already exist.
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I live up on a slight hill about 3.5 miles from work.
For about a year, I had an older (mid-70's model) "Tomos" 2-cycle 50cc "scooter". (Similar to this, but older and needed pre-mixed fuel.)
Except during the winter when the wind on my face and hands were a bit too cold, I really preferred to take my trips to work and to the grocery store on my scooter. I liked the open-air feeling of gliding on the scooter, and also felt better about not lugging a 3000 lb. car just to carry myself. I was getting about 50 miles to a gallon of fuel + a cup of oil.
One thing that I didn't like about the scooter was having to drive on the street (along the side, like a bicycle) while cars whizzed by me at 45+ mph. On the uphill stretches going home at night, that got scary sometimes. (My uphill speed was about 15-18 mph; flats around 25; and downhill around 32 mph.)
I also didn't like having to worry about the bike's chain maintenance (needed frequent cleaning), and the fact that it was a 2-stroke polluter (today's 4-stroke mopeds should be pretty good in comparison).
When an axel bearing crunched away I couldn't find a convenient place to fix it, I gave it up.
Since then, I've been thinking about buying another, more modern moped. But I just sorta never did. I toyed with the idea of getting a real motorcycle, and got my class-M permit; but I really didn't want a bike because I would have to be IN traffic, and I prefer not to be in between two cars (or SUV's as is likely to happen around here).
When the Segway was first revealed, I thought "neat, cool gadget". But I dismissed buying it for myself.
But, I've been missing that open-air gliding feeling for some time now. The Segway would allow me to get that feeling back (though at 12 mphs, it's a bit slower than I would have liked compared to when I used to pull 20-30). And, since I can used it on sidewalks, I would feel much safer. Since the sidewalks around here (L.A. suburb) are pretty much open, I think I can safely travel at the top speed for most of my travel.
The only concern I have now is the TCO. While a "full charge" is 11 to 17 miles of range, and costs about $0.10, that translates favorably to my car which gives about 20 miles to the gallon at $1.70. But the batteries are rated only for 300-500 full-charge cycles, or about 3,000 (worst case) to 8000 (best case) miles. The power train is supposed to be a "lifetime" design needing no servicing, so I'm hoping that the supposed 5-(active use)-year lifetime of the Segway holds.
It's not clear how much a battery replacement will cost... But I'm guessing it'll be about $1,000. So that then pushes the cost up to as much as $0.55 per mile. Even if the battery is $2,000, that's favorable compared to my 3,000 lb. car.
I can already tell some of my co-workers will approve, and some of them will scoff and ridicule me. But I used to own a scooter, and I liked it. And I've pre-ordered a Segway, and I expect to like it when it arrives. (Yes, it is a small leap of faith.)
The Segway HT is not about what it can do now, but about what it promises about the future of human transportation.
It reminds me of some of the criticisms levied against the first cars: it costs too much, the horse carriage is better, it requires changes to the roads, laws are not ready, it will disturb pedestrian circulation (remember laws from the turn of the last century forcing someone WALKING in front of a car to warn people it was coming?), etc.
However, it should be mentioned that the automobile is only one of a large number of transportation innovations to come out of the turn of the century. What about the Stanley Steamer?, the light rail trolley? the ordinary? the interurban? the zepplin? Heck, the compact car was first unveiled at the '49 New York World's Fair "The World of Tomorow" and needed 25 years and an oil embargo to even get market share.
The point I am making is that the objections have some validity, but it doesn't invalidate the usefulness and promise made by the Segway about future human mobility.
The segway would not bother so many people if it were not so overhyped as something revolutionary. It is not all that revolutionary in terms of battery powered transportation. Small battery powered vehicles have been a niche market for over a decade now and don't appear to be on the virge in the near future.
I have yet to hear anyone mention the problem of tripping. Since the segway balances on the two wheels, hitting a curb would stop the lower half of your body. The top part of your body keeps moving forward. The segway says "oh crap" and tries to catch you by moving the wheels forward and under you. But the wheels CAN'T move forward because they are stuck. So you fall forward at your former velocity+gravity. Insert face into concrete.
If you 'trip' a segway, it should firmly plant your face into the sidewalk. I'd either like to know how they violated physics or why this hasn't been mentioned yet?
Anyone willing to try it? Just drive over a curb you can't climb at a good speed.
you're kidding right? most people don't weigh 250lbs don't...i weigh under the average of 180lbs...if you read my site, you'll see i've actually unexpectedly lost weight since getting the segway ht since i have more time to exercise as opposed to sitting in traffic. the segway chassis can support 7 tons (that's what they tested it to as i recall) the weight limit has more to do with operational safety and recommended guidelines. cheers, pt