RTFA. This is a huge billboard, not an individual-targeting device. It polls the majority of cars passing by and uses the resulting demographic data to select targeted ads.
can one really determine from someones listening habits what they are into shopping for. I listen to NPR and punk rock... I have trouble stereotyping both of those to a similiar set of products. I mean really, someones internet usage shows what they are interested in, their radio only know their music preference.
Advertising agencies which selectively advertise on certain stations based on listener demographics would tend to disagree with you here. Sure, it's not an exact science, but every bit of information about a person helps fine-tune their demographic a little more and produce better ad targeting. NPR and punk rock, combined, tell a lot about you as a consumer, really -- from these two facts, we can glean some pretty good probabilities about your age and political leanings, for example.
That's a cool idea, but unfortunately it will never happen. Have a look at AdBusters. They've got a number of great ads ready to air, but no network will show them because they run against the commercial grain of the rest of the sponsors. Rest assured, the media giants do *not* want to waste all their hard work kissing Microsoft's ass just to throw it away for a few million worth of ad revenue.
They have been built, but they're incredibly impractical. I think something like 4 working jet packs have been built. There's a bit of cloak-and-dagger intrigue around those, too -- one was stolen, and one of the pilots was murdered over it. Look around on Google, I'm sure you can find a synopsis -- it's interesting stuff.
Anyway, they measure their flight times in seconds and only a few people in the world can fly them.
Are you kidding? If you're seriously asking this, then you've missed a pivotal aspect of Bond's character. He's all about the bluster and confidence to just march right in and announce himself. James Bond does not skulk -- it's not nearly suave enough. It's a macho thing -- Bond has to look his enemy in the eye, man to man etc.
On a related note, many people protest that you do not shake a martini unless you want to "bruise the gin." Bond knows this -- he asks for it shaken because he's an iconoclast.
That's a very good point. It encourages a somewhat radical interpretation: that the best way to get MS off their ass is to basically actively encourage all the script kiddies to use every exploit out there as much as possible until it's fixed. Sowing the seeds of dissent is a very worthwhile endeavor.
This argument that because 100% security isn't possible, we should just give up on the whole idea is specious. Companies are responsible for doing their best to provide a product that's not full of holes. Their moral liability is determined by what constitutes a good-faith effort to that end. Their legal liability depends on the legal fiction you clicked "I agree" for.
I don't think that's accurate -- I think the industrial applications are just a good way of getting established, ramping up production, building a brand, etc. Kamen would definitely like to see a huge consumer market for these.
I was going to say, "Hey, welcome to Slashdot," but then I recognized you as our biggest poster. Still, I've noticed that you never seem to learn, Mr. Coward.
15 (really 10) miles of charge
Doesn't seem very far to me. I think I'd be endlessly charging the thing.
It would be nice if it was a bit longer (and battery technology is always improving), but I think it seems adequate enough. By this I mean, sure you've got to plug it in, but I think you wouldn't find yourself waiting around for it to charge unless you were just careless and forgot. Plus it sounds like they're being pretty smart about power management (microcontrollers on each battery pack to allow quick charging and then micromanage for uniform usage and load balancing).
Payload: 250 lbs
Geez, there is a significant portion of the population that weighs in excess of 250 lbs. I guess it's just not for us, er them, huh?
You could use the exercise, fatty.
NiMH batteries
The website states they get 300-500 full charges before needing replacing. That's only about a year and a half or so before an expensive part needs replacement if you're using it daily (and for the price you'd better be).
Probably more than that -- you're unlikely to fully discharge the batteries so often. But I can see this as being an acceptable maintenance cost for something that doesn't need oil changes and the like. I wonder what the hit on your electric bill will be like, though.
Insurance
I didn't find anything involving insurance. How would a device like this be underwritten? Personal property? Auto? What?
Loss, or liability? Really, it's up to the insurance companies as to what plans they'll offer. I'm sure they'll come up with something fairly soon -- hell, you can get insured against alien invasions. As for liability -- do you get insured against hitting someone with your bike?
Pricetag
Besides, the price tag is WAY too high (even if it were 1/10 of what it is now I would be unlikely to buy).
1/10? Sounds like you just, uh, don't want one. Look at, say RealDolls. They sell for around the same price, but most of us wouldn't buy one at 1/10th the price. That doesn't mean they wouldn't be worth that price, to someone who wanted one.
Of course, the price is too high right now. Would you expect any different? There are so many valid reasons for this:
Hype, hype, and more hype. So much free advertising has been generated for this product, they'd be fools not to capitalize on it.
Scarcity. They're still just beginning to ramp up production, which means there's less Segways to go around. Keeping the price high while supply is low is a good way to avoid running out of stock completely (a good sign that you've screwed something up).
The Segway has been rushed to market. And with good reason -- every day you can't buy a Segway, the public's memory of the aforementioned hype fades, and the product's credibility lessens. So, less emphasis will have been placed on making the things cheap as opposed to getting them out the door.
These things take time. New technology is always expensive, partly due to the whiz-bang factor and partly due to the fact that manufacturing processes take a while to refine and streamline.
These things are going to get cheaper. Significantly so. Kamen is too idealistic to let Segways just be a toy for the rich.
Can you comfortably walk 12 MPH for, say, three miles to a restaurant you like, have enough time to eat, and walk back again, all on your lunch break?
It's faster than walking. Sure, you might replace some of your walking with it, but you'll also be able to do things you weren't able to do before, and that's a win.
You go to your friends house and he lives up a flight of stairs? you get off, stand next to your segway, it a button on it and it will walk itself up the stairs
I had been wondering about that one -- thanks for answering it for me, finally. It sounds like it would be cool to watch.
At last there's a better way to blow 5 grand than a RealDoll. Well, I don't know if it's more useful but at least you can let your mother use your Segway.
Slashdot Mirror
Everyone is a terrorist until proven otherwise.
RTFA. This is a huge billboard, not an individual-targeting device. It polls the majority of cars passing by and uses the resulting demographic data to select targeted ads.
Advertising agencies which selectively advertise on certain stations based on listener demographics would tend to disagree with you here. Sure, it's not an exact science, but every bit of information about a person helps fine-tune their demographic a little more and produce better ad targeting. NPR and punk rock, combined, tell a lot about you as a consumer, really -- from these two facts, we can glean some pretty good probabilities about your age and political leanings, for example.
I mean, have you listened to the radio, ever?
That's one. What's the other?
That's a cool idea, but unfortunately it will never happen. Have a look at AdBusters. They've got a number of great ads ready to air, but no network will show them because they run against the commercial grain of the rest of the sponsors. Rest assured, the media giants do *not* want to waste all their hard work kissing Microsoft's ass just to throw it away for a few million worth of ad revenue.
Anyway, they measure their flight times in seconds and only a few people in the world can fly them.
So does the psychoanalist become Clippit?
btw I was in Russia a while ago, and Stoli is like the bottom-shelf stuff there. Pretty funny.
On a related note, many people protest that you do not shake a martini unless you want to "bruise the gin." Bond knows this -- he asks for it shaken because he's an iconoclast.
I love redundant ambivalence. Didn't want to commit yourself too firmly to the quantity "a handful?" :)
I can see the ads now:
Everybody in Freon.
But that would be like Windows without bugs! (Moderators: please note that this post is all clever and "meta." Ooh.)
Any assertion (no matter how idiotic) follows from a comment on Slashdot.
Like if you live in America, it may vary a hell of a lot. It's a nice theory, though.
That's a very good point. It encourages a somewhat radical interpretation: that the best way to get MS off their ass is to basically actively encourage all the script kiddies to use every exploit out there as much as possible until it's fixed. Sowing the seeds of dissent is a very worthwhile endeavor.
This argument that because 100% security isn't possible, we should just give up on the whole idea is specious. Companies are responsible for doing their best to provide a product that's not full of holes. Their moral liability is determined by what constitutes a good-faith effort to that end. Their legal liability depends on the legal fiction you clicked "I agree" for.
I don't think that's accurate -- I think the industrial applications are just a good way of getting established, ramping up production, building a brand, etc. Kamen would definitely like to see a huge consumer market for these.
It's Supercomputer, thanks for askin'!
I was going to say, "Hey, welcome to Slashdot," but then I recognized you as our biggest poster. Still, I've noticed that you never seem to learn, Mr. Coward.
Doesn't seem very far to me. I think I'd be endlessly charging the thing.
It would be nice if it was a bit longer (and battery technology is always improving), but I think it seems adequate enough. By this I mean, sure you've got to plug it in, but I think you wouldn't find yourself waiting around for it to charge unless you were just careless and forgot. Plus it sounds like they're being pretty smart about power management (microcontrollers on each battery pack to allow quick charging and then micromanage for uniform usage and load balancing).
Payload: 250 lbs
Geez, there is a significant portion of the population that weighs in excess of 250 lbs. I guess it's just not for us, er them, huh?
You could use the exercise, fatty.
NiMH batteries
The website states they get 300-500 full charges before needing replacing. That's only about a year and a half or so before an expensive part needs replacement if you're using it daily (and for the price you'd better be).
Probably more than that -- you're unlikely to fully discharge the batteries so often. But I can see this as being an acceptable maintenance cost for something that doesn't need oil changes and the like. I wonder what the hit on your electric bill will be like, though.
Insurance
I didn't find anything involving insurance. How would a device like this be underwritten? Personal property? Auto? What?
Loss, or liability? Really, it's up to the insurance companies as to what plans they'll offer. I'm sure they'll come up with something fairly soon -- hell, you can get insured against alien invasions. As for liability -- do you get insured against hitting someone with your bike?
Pricetag
Besides, the price tag is WAY too high (even if it were 1/10 of what it is now I would be unlikely to buy).
1/10? Sounds like you just, uh, don't want one. Look at, say RealDolls. They sell for around the same price, but most of us wouldn't buy one at 1/10th the price. That doesn't mean they wouldn't be worth that price, to someone who wanted one.
Of course, the price is too high right now. Would you expect any different? There are so many valid reasons for this:
- Hype, hype, and more hype. So much free advertising has been generated for this product, they'd be fools not to capitalize on it.
- Scarcity. They're still just beginning to ramp up production, which means there's less Segways to go around. Keeping the price high while supply is low is a good way to avoid running out of stock completely (a good sign that you've screwed something up).
- The Segway has been rushed to market. And with good reason -- every day you can't buy a Segway, the public's memory of the aforementioned hype fades, and the product's credibility lessens. So, less emphasis will have been placed on making the things cheap as opposed to getting them out the door.
- These things take time. New technology is always expensive, partly due to the whiz-bang factor and partly due to the fact that manufacturing processes take a while to refine and streamline.
These things are going to get cheaper. Significantly so. Kamen is too idealistic to let Segways just be a toy for the rich.It's faster than walking. Sure, you might replace some of your walking with it, but you'll also be able to do things you weren't able to do before, and that's a win.
I had been wondering about that one -- thanks for answering it for me, finally. It sounds like it would be cool to watch.
GTA3: Vice Segway
Oh yeah, I went there.
At last there's a better way to blow 5 grand than a RealDoll. Well, I don't know if it's more useful but at least you can let your mother use your Segway.