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A Hypothesis On Segway Hate
theodp writes "Admit it, IT is ingenious. Also, IT is surprisingly effective for certain uses, including real cops and mall cops. And if you tried IT, you probably smiled to yourself. So why all the Segway hate? Paul Graham looks into The Trouble with the Segway and offers a hypothesis about what prompts people to shout abuse at Segway riders: 'You look smug. You don't seem to be working hard enough.' Not that someone riding a motorcycle is working any harder, adds Graham, but because he's sitting astride it, he appears to be making an effort. When you're riding a Segway you're just standing there. Make a version that doesn't look so easy for the rider — perhaps resembling skateboards or bicycles — and Segway just might capture more of the market they hoped to reach."
but the Magicians Alliance would never allow it.
I record my sleeptalking
What does this have to do with information technology?
"Too lazy to come up with a relevant answer, ya fucking homo." (before you mod this down rtfa.)
I don't use a Segway, I do unicycling, even to go to work.
It's more fun ! Not really easy to learn, no really as efficient as a bicycle, quite a lot more tiring, but a lot of joy on each trip, and many smiles on pedestrian faces. And as both hand are free, I can read/hold an umbrella. And it's a kind of everyday-sport, better for health than just standing on the segway :-)
Parking is like sex. All the good slots are taken so occasionally, if nobody's looking, you stick it in a disabled one.
Meta will eat itself
I don't see any advantage over a scooter or a bicycle on the streets.
I do not understand the need for one in a crowded mall full of walking people. Why does a security guard need the ability to make his butt grow even wider from the lack of exercise?
And everyone hates us ... the skateboarders!
And as both hand are free, I can read/hold an umbrella.
Okay, with that imagine in mind, I think I'd also smile if you were passing by. Particularly if it weren't raining and you'd still be holding that umbrella. ;)
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...[M]any smiles on pedestrian faces [and] I can read/hold an umbrella.
I'd smile too, if I saw you trying to read an umbrella...
I don't know about you, but I am typically not intimidated by the average Segway rider. My natural instinct is to figure out a way to make them fall over, typically I think of Segway riders as being weak/lazy.
Smug is definetly the right word though.
An inventor is a man who asks 'Why?' of the universe and lets nothing stand between the answer and his mind.
Get a skateboard. It's faster, cheaper, healthier, more portable and slightly less abuse from the general public.
Every time I see "Segway", I don't see the word "Segway", I see the word "Smegway". Only because a smeghead would buy one of those.
"This is the same reason why people don't like Lisp hackers." Thus, it becomes a real Paul Graham article.
Game... blouses.