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Buy a Segway... Please
aedunn writes "Wired has an article about everyone's favorite Human Transporter - Segway. Seems as though the company is looking at some hard times. Among other things, the article cites Segway's price, low speed and tightened spending in the corporate world as reasons for Segway's slow sales."
You do of course know that this site is paid advertisment for the segway- this guy is a paid spokesman. Its amazing how advertisements are passed off as news or something else more and more often these days, and noone seems to notice.
Disabled people will spend four figures on something that restores lost mobility and independence.
Yeah, but how many disabled people can stand and balance well, but not walk? Sure, there may be a few...but I just don't see how such a device could really be that useful.
It is definately being marketed towards the rich, lazy, white people of America.
Fatalities suck, but death is something we'll never eliminate. We'll put up with a certain amount to have our precious cars.
Pollution is being handled with hybrids and fuel-cell developments. The cars 50 years from now won't be polluters at all.
Noise? You get used to it. Deal.
Cost? Cost of what? Bottled water costs more than gas and you can get cheap ass used cars off of ebay. What cost?
Traffic? Yeah it sucks. It can be managed though. Besides that gives you more time to sit in your wonderful car and read, listen to the radio, surf the web...etc (I'm talking during gridlock conditions here not just when your waiting for a neighborhood streetlight to turn green). Besides, take a look at my hometown's Big Dig project in Boston. We put our entire central artery undergrown. Despite the MASSIVE and OBSCENE budget and time overruns, hundreds of cities around the country are interested in doing the same thing.
The space they take up? Do you know how large the US is in terms of space? We're the 4th largest country on the planet. We're not running out of room anytime soon. That being said, if cities are to be redesigned for any reason it surely won't be to accomdate Segways but to accomdate Hummers instead.
Despite the hate, SUV sales contine to grow, grow grow, grow!
So in conclusion, the Great American Love Affair with the Car is one of those very few immortal relationships. It would be best to try to make our most beloved form of travel better than to resort to undignifying and demeaning forms of travel such as tiny useless ultra-expensive scooters.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Actually, it is a 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo, was raced before I got it, so, not sure if it is completely street legal...hehehe. I'm proud to say, that as of last tune up...I'm now up to 10 mpg!!!!
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........