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The Segway, Five Years Later

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the makes-a-guy-a-few-bucks-at-gen-con-every-year dept.

abb_road writes "The Segway was introduced with a promise to transform cities; BusinessWeek has an article on what the Segway has accomplished in 5 years, and how 'personal transportation,' and the company, have changed. From the article: 'The first Segway — a clean-running, technologically dumbfounding, fun-as-hell-to-ride device that was pretty much impossible to fall off of — was introduced to so much fanfare five years ago that the public-relations agency that helped engineer it still uses it as a case study in how to create a media frenzy. It may be an even better case study in media backlash. The initial euphoria had hardly worn off before a new consensus emerged: This was all much ado about a $5,000 scooter.'"

10 of 340 comments (clear)

  1. Cities redesigned by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does anyone have the list of the cities redesigned to accomodate the Segway?

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    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
    1. Re:Cities redesigned by rblancarte · · Score: 5, Funny

      Does the banning by San Francisco count?

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      It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
  2. Segway Not Impossible to Fall off by SirStanley · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's surprisingly not hard to fall off of a segway if you've never been on one before. You have no idea that you can't stand on it before it's been turned on. (I did that fell over caught myself)

    In addition. The Turning controls are on one of the handles and if you're drunk and jousting on Segways (Which is REALLY FUN btw.) falling off is pretty easy as well. I leaned to far forward which makes you go very fast I was attempting to charge through a hallway and while going fast I realized that I was quickly drifting towards the wall. I attempted to fix this but twisted to hard on the steering grip and it very quickly spun me in a 360 into the wall.. Which actually hurt pretty good. You don't have to be a president to fall off of one.

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    --------========+++Dont Feed The Lab Techs+++========--------
    1. Re:Segway Not Impossible to Fall off by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's surprisingly not hard to fall off of a segway if you've never been on one before. You have no idea that you can't stand on it before it's been turned on. (I did that fell over caught myself)

      George, is that you?

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Segway Not Impossible to Fall off by CagedBear · · Score: 5, Funny

      Olympics 2008:

      ... and the Irish team remains the one to beat for the the drunken Segway jousting competition.

  3. Case study? by E+IS+mC(Square) · · Score: 5, Funny

    >>it still uses it as a case study in how to create a media frenzy. It may be an even better case study in media backlash.

    Well, its looking only half the picture. Best case study would be "How to create media frenzy, completly fail to deliver it, and still remain in business"

  4. Maddox took care of this 3 years ago. by Mikachu · · Score: 5, Funny

    How to render the Segway obsolete...

    BAM! Third wheel.

  5. i heart slashdot by NoData · · Score: 5, Funny

    Only here would a caveat about drunken Segway jousting be modded "informative."

  6. Re:As Does Chicago by ConsumerOfMany · · Score: 5, Funny

    These tours are also conveniently known as the "tourists who we will beat up and mug" pre-screening process........

  7. If Paris Hilton can fall off a Segway ... by kiddailey · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... it can't be impossible! :D

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxtc75biScU

    She almost had a shish-ka-Paris with that mop strapped to her backside.