Segway Buyers Are Going Nuts! (1 Viewer)

[Adam Barratt]

I can see it could have advantages in an industrial setting, but I don't think it would be the answer to those suffering hip or knee problems. Just standing there would become uncomfortable very quickly, I'm sure. For a third of the price of the Segway a mobility scooter would allow them to sit down (and have a greater range).

Adam,

 

[Eric_E]

I'm just tired of the cultish obsession these people have with the damn things, and the hyperbole that's always thrown around any time they're mentioned. I remember when the Segway, Kamen's "invention that would change the world" was unveiled, and virtually everyone scratched their head and went, "huh?" Talk about a letdown. Now if he had unveiled workable cold fusion or something, that would change the world. But this thing? Um, no.

 

[Philip_G]

tired of cultish obsession? stay away from mac users then

 

[Allen_Appel]

What kind of reactions do people in this forum get when they reveal the costs of their HT equipment? "You spent how many THOUSANDS of dollars on a !@$%*ing TV?" If there's anything that's promoted laziness and weight gain in Americans, it's television. I'd like to know how many people criticizing the Segway actually walk to work, the grocery store, the video store, school, etc. instead of hopping in their cars. What do they consider "walking distance"? Four blocks? Two miles? Imagine how an affordable Segway would change the availability of parking in cities. Elderly people who can no longer drive could get around easily. Would you suggest motorized skateboards for them? While I can't afford one nor have much use for it in the suburbs where I live, I don't see it as just a toy for the idle rich.

 

[Will Pomeroy]

Elderly people who can no longer drive could get around easily.

The elderly already have motorized wheelchairs; that didn't revolutionize anything, as far as I can remember. I think the elderly would be more comfortable sitting down anyway.

I bet a car outperforms them in snow and rain, too.

 

[Michael Varacin]

I'd like to know how many people criticizing the Segway actually walk to work, the grocery store, the video store, school, etc. instead of hopping in their cars.

Well, I bike to work quite often, 18 miles one way. When I lived in downtown Milwaukee, I would bike or walk to the store...up to 5 miles I guess. Unless I needed to buy something big and heavy, then the car was needed.

I pass a guy every morning on the way to work...he must be in his sixties, and he is riding a bike also.

I think it's things like this that give Americans the bad rap with the rest of the world.

Like I said...I'm just waiting for them to be available in supersize for an additional $.39

 

[Allen_Appel]

While wheelchairs are an option for anyone, even the terminally lazy, most people who are capable of being ambulatory prefer to do so. The Segway offers motorized transportation for people too "proud" to sit in a wheelchair. The Segway's gyroscopic balancing and motion is the revolutionary aspect of this product and hasn't been around for years. Nobody is suggesting using them in the snow or rain instead of driving, although it beats walking, if that's the only option. I have great admiration for those who bike or walk, but let's face it, that's a very small minority of Americans, and I think the Segway is a better alternative to driving.

 

[Carl Johnson]

If the Segway was cheaper, less expensive and had a longer range I'd consider using it for my five mile trip to work. I do my share of physical labor on the job so there's no way I would consider biking or walking on a daily basis.

 

[EdR]

What boggles my mind is that so many people can be completely enveloped by a simple gimmick! Just because this segway can balance itself using gyroscopes (nothing new) somehow makes people think its going to revolutionize the world! Electric scooters (the tricky 'have to balance yourself' kind have been around for years, and you don't see people snatching them up, even though they do the EXACT SAME THING!

I'd like to see one. The example you posted isn't even in the same ballpark. Of course gyroscopes aren't new, I hope no one has suggested that. It's possible that they are being used in a novel way, though, isn't it? I don't know of a scooter that has sensors that constantly monitor the riders position and respond accordingly. Apparently it's quite difficult to fall off of a Segway, since it has actuators that keep it balanced.

Of course, I am buying the story that it works as they say, that indeed it does balance for you...but I have yet to hear anyone who's ridden one say otherwise.

FWIW, I don't think this device will transform society, not by any stretch, but I also don't think it deserves the backlash exhibited in this thread. People too easily confuse a product's users with the product itself. So what if Segway owners are going off the deep end anyway?

 

[Seth_S]

I agree. While some people have made a good argument that spending thousands on Home Theater equipment and DVDs could be viewed as excessive, the Segway strikes me as making the statement, "I'm too rich to be bothered with walking." When you take into account the geography of cities and suburbs, it can only travel distances/areas that can just as easily be walked or biked. It also seems like the device is too slow to safely travel on streets, and too fast for sidewalks.

 

[Francois Caron]

Back in 1960, Mad Magazine's Dave Berg published an article showing what could happen if the push for walk-free transportation went overboard. Although Berg depicted motor scooters as being responsible for the final downfall of American society, I couldn't stop picturing the Segway in its place.

Here's the last panel from that article.

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

I don't think these are going to make people fat. People who are comfortable being fat will get fat regardless and people who keep fit will continue to do so.

I like the car analagy. Have you ever seen a lot of pre WWI cars? They often carried three or more spare tires. And you need them all sometimes. And you had to start it by hand. And only the richest of the rich could afford the engine rebuilt that was needed every 10,000 miles. But now they are everywhere. Has any man changed the face of the world as radically as Henry Ford?

My biggest wonder about them is what will stores do? Will they be allowed in the grocery store or will you have to lock it up outside? Or are they heavy enough that they can't easily be stolen? Will there be twenty Segway spots in the lot from now on?

jeremy

 

[EdR]

When you take into account the geography of cities and suburbs, it can only travel distances/areas that can just as easily be walked or biked. It also seems like the device is too slow to safely travel on streets, and too fast for sidewalks.

It's not allowed on streets, AFAIK. I believe it can go as slow as you like, in fact I think you can stand on it without moving and be balanced.

 

[Christopher P]

This may be true, but only in a few select circumstances. Everywhere I go is far enough away I can't imagine not using my car or the bus. I can see the Segway being used as a small suppliment to driving, but no way can I see it being a substitute. And then you can only use it during good outdoor conditions, and only on sidewalks and such. I can hardly imagine in what situations this would be a preferable alternative for me, not to go to work, not to go out at night, etc...but that's me.

I think of this thing more as a toy, much like many of our HT's, but consider....many of us likely use our HT's nearly every day. We sink alot of money in to out TV's and such, but how much use do we get out of them? Likely alot, or we wouldn't make the investment.

Chris

 

[Justin Lane]

But wasting non-replenshiable resources, like gasoline, and dirtying the air to drive around the corner is lazy and wasteful...and yet few people think twice about doing so.

Maybe I am missing something here, but I continually see people talking about how "green" and environmentally friendly is the Segway. Do people realize electricity used to charge the Segway is not created magically. Most energy in this country is not nuclear or hydro in origin, but comes from those good old non-replenishable fossil fuels (mainly coal). When it comes to energy creation there is never a free ride. Pay me now or pay me later.

J

 

[Seth_S]

If the history of cars has taught us anything, people are going to go as fast as possible when on them. Like with bikers, the streets will become ski slopes for Segway owners.

Going back to my previous point about geography, many suburbs don't have sidewalks, and since you can't use them in the street, you therefore can't use a Segway in the suburbs (obviously this isn't universally true for all suburban areas, but true in many).

 

[Seth_S]

Exactly. A home theater is about recreating the movie theater experience in your home, and that cost money. Even the academic world agrees with this. In my film classes the professors rent 16mm prints of all the films we watch - they rarely use DVDs because they want us to experience the films as the directors intended us to.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Most people who drive a car to pick up a video don't have sidewalks that extend all the way from their home to the video store. If they are driving a car 3 blocks for this, they ought to consider a bicycle, but these people will be a small minority anyway. And for those who could take a Segway to the video store, they may have small children, additional groceries and parcels to carry, or other reasons to not take a Segway.

Here are the facts:

1) A Segway is too fast for sidewalks in busy areas.
2) Segways are too slow for streets.
3) Typical suburban sidewalks don't extend outside of residential neighborhoods to commercial areas.

They just don't fit the infrastructure that is present where 99.9% of our society lives.

I feel that most Segway advocates would like to see our society's infrastructure and laws modified to fit something that they think is really cool, not that is extremely practical (take a frickin' bicycle). But they'll complain that us rational folks have some kind of grudge against them because they are so rich and we are so poor.

If you want to take your Segway everywhere, move to a rare 'New Urban' area where it fits well. But don't waste resources elsewhere, there are other far more important matters for mainstream society to concern itself with and spend its money on!

Segway is a solution in search of a problem. :rolleyes

 

[Seth_S]

I was just thinking. Let's say you use your Segway to go to the video store or work. Where do you put it once you get there? Seriously, you can't chain it to a poll, and it seems a little bulky to bring inside with you.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Seth,

A Segway has a digital security key that has not been hacked.

Of course, some yahoo and his cousin with a pickup truck probably won't know that...