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Segway Revolutionizes Polo
Mirkon writes "The Register is carrying a story on an example of how technology is making sports better: Segway Polo. The San Francisco Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group has instructions on how to build a mallet (PDF), and a video clip of Segway Polo in action (MOV). A revolutionary device, indeed."
I'm not impressed.
Finally, a decent use for those things.
For all you Segway lovers, hereis a torrent of the SegwayPolo movie.
This was really a good example of a toy with no practical future. I, like many others, were excited about the buildup and then it's debut. I'd say the cost definately prevented it's adoption.
It's funny to see it revolutionize polo though, I don't remember that in the things Kamen promised it would revolutionize.
Found this image on [H]ardOCP: off-road segway
;)
For those of you using lynx: it's a segway with huge spiked tires on a sled hitched to the back of a Hummer H2. Go figure.
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
12:07 pm Mayor bans use of Segways on a Polo field.
Drat, foiled again.
Segway golf would be a more acceptable option.
Open Source Sushi
Kent Brochman: "And that makes the 3rd Segway scooter accident to claim over 1000 lives"
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
kinda funny : the tone of the register was rather mocking, considering the segway drivers a bunch of rich-asses with to much time on their hands, and the segway a silly, expensive toy that never could deliver what was promised.
/., it becomes a revolutionary device that makes sports better.
On
Probably, the submitter intended irony, but failed to convince
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
I had a hard time getting my own segway. (the p version, the I version costs almost twice as much). Apparently amazon doesn't ship these things outside of the USA. Fortunately, a friend in the US helped out by buying the thing for me (and one for himself I might add) and have it shipped.
:-)
You don't want to know what it cost me to have it shipped. (Twice, once from amazon to my friend, and then from my friend to Europe)
I actually thought about setting up a business as a reseller of these things. Fortunately my girlfriend stopped me
Want to know why McDonalds accepts credit cards all of a sudden?
Please login to access my lawn
Call me fussy, but I'd prefer unicycle hockey over that any day.
Unicycle hockey is much faster and more agile than that. There is an advantage in that you have both hands free for holding the stick which serves to make it less awkward looking.
Cheers,
Roger
Do you have any better hostages?
Is the segway battery strong enough for a entire game of polo ?
Sound familiar?
Reading the whole book is recommended, but for those that don't...
I am waiting for the lawnmower version, like those old push mowers. Now that would be cool!
"Segways cost about $5,000 USD at that price a small car or motor bike is a much better bet for urban transport."
yes, but can you use them to play slacker lawn polo and get a cool video posted on slashdot?
where are your priorities?
...years later, this is still funny...the best part is the movie...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
You have a girlfriend AND a segway!?
... Can I be your friend?
The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches. -- ee cummings
I was under the impression that you can't fall off from a Segway.
At least 2 guys fell off in the movie clip!
I also note the helmet, although I can't decide whether it was to protect them from being RAN OVER by a Segway (be it their own, or their friend's), or from the evil looking mallets they were swinging with menace.
In high school my friends and I got bored and decided to start playing bike polo.
Materials required: Croquet mallet, Broomstick, Softball, Bike, Field.
Slap the broomstick onto the mallet head, grab some friends and find a field. Set up goals and start playing. The only rules are that you can't put your feet down unless you fall and you can't use your mallet to balance. Hours of fun for far less than the cost of a segway.
Find me in ~/.sig
But then again, how far can you drive a ball with a segway? Wouldn't standard clubs work better?
-Dizzle
"I most likely AM so interested in myself."
Here.
Full text for the lazy:
8:30am
I checked the voltmeter and it looks like it charged up nicely overnight. I haven't worn kneepads or a helmet in ages, they make me feel kind of awkward. After waving goodbye to my wife I'm off to work which is about six miles from here. I can't wait, this thing is so cool. I feel ten years younger.
8:45am
Holy shit, where did all these kids come from? I thought the district bussed them to school. I can't ride on the street because everyone keeps yelling for me to go faster and I can barely maneuver the sidewalk with all these kids. Someone just called me "Spaceman." I thought kids loved technology. Sorry to the girl I knocked over, but in all fairness I did yell, "heads up!"
9:08am
Okay I'm officially late for work now, but I did find a bike lane. What's with this town? I thought all the granola-loving bikers forced the city to put bike lanes on every street. There's maybe a mile's worth from my place to downtown. The bikers were pretty nice. One man said to the rest, "Let the dude on the rascal get through." I don't know what a rascal is, but they did let me get through.
9:19am
Holy fuck is downtown packed and no one is letting me through. The way I tip cabs around here you'd think they would let ride on the side of the lane. The doorman at my building yelled at the crowd to let the "handicapped guy" through. I was going to correct him, but they were already letting me past. I did get to ride up the handicap ramp and park in the building. Now I need an AC outlet. This trip nearly drained the battery.
9:22am
I'm not the fittest guy in the world but they need to make these things a little lighter. You drag a 70lbs Segway up the stairs and tell me how your back feels.
12:04pm
I'm taking my Ginger, I mean my Segway, to lunch. I tried to get a co-worker to ride with me, but we fell and nearly broke our necks. I hope no one tells my wife that my hand got caught up in Jane's skirt as we were trying to get up. She didn't say anything and I think she really didn't notice. A guy on one of those old time italian scooters yelled, "yuppie" at me and disappeared into traffic. Real mature.
12:12pm
I had to ride all the way to that bike store in the Village to pick up an extra-long Kryptonite lock. Looks like the "no bikes" sign applies to the Segway as well in restaurants. I barely have enough time to stop and get a sandwich before getting back to work. I have to call my lunchmates and tell them I didn't get into an accident. If I keep yelling, "Beep, beep coming through" every block I can actually make some time. This thing really needs a horn.
5:15pm
A cop called me over from the bike lane and told me unless I have a handicap permit I'm going to have to get motorcycle plates and a city sticker for this. He let me go this time, but he said if he sees me again mucking up traffic on my "razor scooter" I'm going to get arrested. I ran over a really big guy's toes pulling into the bike lane. He was really pissed. Four more people called me "Spaceman" on the way home. At least the doorman didn't call me handicapped again.
5:55pm
I'm home and I came this close to hosing off the dog crap on the wheels before I saw the electric shock warning sticker. The first thing my wife told me as I pulled into the garage is that I look and smell like shit.
6:15pm
I just called and the Shaper Image won't take returns. Great. I gotta get some good pictures of this thing for ebay. My 14-year old is gonna use it to get to her Lacrosse practices until I can sell it. I overheard her call it an "electric ass-mover." Her friend responded by saying, "Oh, that geekmobile thingy your dad dropped three grand on?"
as a Segway. The Segway is cheaper to maintain. The polo field is easier to clean up with the Segway, but requires additional fertilization.
Doesn't the fact that 'revolutionizes polo' is in the topic let us know that it's useless? I mean if that's the best you have...
At least horses can do other tricks. They're darn pretty, too.
I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missourah!
I used to play what we termed "bike polo" with a bunch of guys who, for the most part, worked at a local bike shop. The rules were: you had to have a girls' bike frame (very low top tube) that was 18" or smaller, a banana seat, & the biggest handlebars you could find. You used a hockey stick to hit a lacrosse ball around a parking lot into the other team's net. Fair play to jam your hockey stick into an opponenet's spokes, fair play to check the ball carrier, no time outs. You couldn't score from the grass around the lot, but the ball was still in play.
The games usually ended when there was only one or 2 people on each team, and keep in mind that the people who played were between about 16 and 40, so they didn't fit on the bikes very well. It was so much fun to watch.
- "Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy sick and mean!"
It's just my opinion, but I think the Segway is a great metaphor for the 21st century American. Its introduction was preceeded by a plethora of sensationalism about how it was going to "change the world", and then it turned out to be only mildly interesting, yet profoundly impractical, expensive, buggy and high maintenance. This of course, didn't stop some people from plunking down five grand for this vanity-driven embarassement of a vehicle, who now desperately seek to find realistic use or justification for their decision.
The Segway epitomizes the concept of the consumer economy, not unlike the Hummer. A piece of vanity equipment whose ultimate underlying purpose is to project the owner's own sense of insecurity upon others.
This is the legacy of the baby boomers in America. In their quest to prove to others (as well as themselves) that money and materialism = happiness, they've perfected this growing trend of high-end vanity-oriented accessories. I hope it works out for 'em.
And just the other day I was wondering if it were possible for Segway users to look even more r[i]diculous...
You know bicycle pants? Just wait until you see the new Segway clothing...
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Segway soccer is looking to become the newest Robocup league. Though it sounds a little silly, it is significant in that it will be the first Robocup league to feature competition between humans and robots, which brings Robocup a little closer to its goal of having a humanoid team that can beat the World Cup team by 2050.
Just what we need, more 'l33t'ness
Boys from the City. Not yet caught by the Whirlwind of Progress. Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs.
I was recently in Washington DC on vacation, and noticed segways running around the capital on several occaisions.
After three days of walking to all the museums and monuments, I would have given my first born for a Segway...
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
I would imagine that the whole "entering battle standing straight up on something that lifts you 1/4 metre up into the air" might be a bit of a drawback too.
I'm no military expert, but I would assume that a device that makes you a *bigger* target might be a drawback when people are shooting at you.
A bike can certainly carry a heavier load than a Segway. It's all about where you place the load, my friend. Your back, one of the higher spots on the bike, is NOT a good place to put it. Saddle bags, luggage racks over the front and rear wheels and, perhaps, something over the handle bars would be a bit more effective that trying to balanace a fully loaded pack on your back whilst bicycling.
What is your penile percentile?
a sport is, but this qualifies.
;)
Two team trying to control a ball while on a playing field seems like a sport to me.
It also looks hard.
"releases of off-gases at plastic plants,"
you
ve never mucked a stable, have you?
While your bitching, please take into account the care, feeding, and maintainencs of the horse, saddle, cleaners etc . . .
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on