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www.segway.com
check out the videos, cant stop laughing - see the end of the first vid where they're moving round the office :)
Personally i think its a must have accessory for me this year, about the cost tho...... nasty shock :(
:)
i thought great where's the order form thinking would be a few hundred $$ :(
I have seen some rad, bad and sad inventions before but this one has to take the "who the hell thought that was a good idea" award 2003
Seriously, would anybody be seen dead on one of those?
I think I'd rather take the bus :)
Happy to say I didn't jump on that wee trend.
the thing that gets me it that it really doesn't look at all balanced.
I'm sure if you cranked the accelerator on that thing the wheels would shoot from beneath your feet and leave you sitting on frozen peas for the rest of the day - Ow!
.... also, it looks a little like those early lawn mowers with the spiral blades fixed to the axle - Hoededededed-rah as Eddie Izzard would say.
:)
more *streetcool* than my tiny electric aluminum scooter
I'll take the scooter, thanks. ;) Then I could spend the rest of the leftover money I didn't spend on a Segway doing something worthwhile. I can't believe the human race has gotten THIS lazy...
Make it legal for sidewalk use? Of course! Because walking is just so 20th Century... Nobody who's anybody would be caught walking anywhere these days! And let's not even think about riding a bicycle...
my dad bought me one of the scooters for xmas for getting to the pub & back... modded with a diff motor it flies :) too fast for my beer ladened reactions
As for the stability, you cant crank the acceleration - there is no acceleration control. You lean forward, and the wheels start spinning ahead underneath you to keep the balance. Lean back and the reverse happens. Its nearly impossible to knock one of these things over.
That all said, I wouldn't be caught in one of them either. But then again, a few years back and cell phones were pretty nerdy.
You have to realize that you arent the target market for these thingies. Think about elderly....
Well heck, if large numbers of elderly people can afford one of those, I don't see what all the fuss about Medicare prescription drug coverage is... hehehehe
IMO, the target market for those things are exactly the people you see writing testimonials on the Segway website: rich yuppie geeks (and *maybe* the postal service). ;)
lawman
NHTSA I guess classified it the same as motorized wheelchairs, and it is true that states have made moves to allow it. On the legal end, I'm sure trial lawyers are drooling at the prospect of lawsuits over collisions. Progressive has introduced a line of liability insurance for it.
On the technology side, the problems are not about balance or acceleration but about the same thing that has stymied electric cars: batteries. It takes four to six hours to recharge the NiMH battery, and as currently designed replacing the battery requires removal and replacement of several bolts.
Consider the recent rumor that Segway, finding trouble justifying the device for consumers in the current economic and geopolitical climate, is focusing on institutional sales-- delivery companies, stadiums and amusement parks, the postal service, etc. Well, Public Service of New Hampshire (an electric utility) found that on a full charge, the Segway would only last through half a meter-reader's shift. USPS testing results in New Hampshire and Florida were similar; delivery personnel would need to return to their trucks constantly. I don't think we'll see full-scale deployment until this question is worked around, which may not be for a good long while.
I want to be able to go from 0 to 60 in 6.3 seconds.
Does anybody else see this as a bad thing for the USA? Just another way to make the public lazier and keep the consumers consuming.
Really I mean why can't people just walk? If you have a medical condition I can understand that - but I'm guessing my old grand Mother isn;t going to hop on one of these anytime soon. If your a mail man - walk! its part of the job you signed up for - and who knows you might even get in shape.
This is not a good thing - although I am pretty sure it won't catch on, but we'll see.
Currently, 64.5 percent of U.S. adults, age 20 years and older, are overweight and 30.5 percent are obese
Does anybody else see this as a bad thing for the USA?
BINGO! If, to borrow a phrase from the Segway site, your destination is "too close to drive and too far to walk," get a bicycle. I understand very few people want to walk 5 miles to pick up a newspaper or what have you, and it seems silly to drive to the corner store... but there's nothing wrong with hopping on a bike and getting a little excercise if that's the case.
If you're disabled, electric scooters with much better battery capacity have been available for years. Same for mail routes and meter readers... this gizmo is a solution in search of a problem, IMO.
Kent Brockman, reading the news on tonight's episode of "The Simpsons."
But seriously, if people aren't exercising, its not because we have cars and segways in the world, its because they are lazy. And I would argue the availability of low quality food without enough education on the difference is a factor.
