Segway's Breakdown

Wired Magazine ^ | March 2003 | Gary Rivlin

[MississippiMan]

The immediate market I see for the SHT is as a rental unit at theme parks and other large places that involve lots of walking. They'd have to have some theft-prevention tech implemented, but it would be easy enough to rig them with a key or a SmartCard, or quite soon, it would be practical to implement a biometric solution to be sure that only the authorized user could make it work.

I think it would do gangbuster rentals at such places. I'd sure rent one each for me and my family. There would arise a logistical problem, such as the parks making accommodation pathways for them, etc.

MM

[Hank Rearden]

I like the idea, but thought the $4500 price was economic suicide. Hardly anyone will purchase them at that price.

Apparently, they conned Atlanta into paying $9,000 apiece (see article above) - only stupid government would be that damn dumb.

Of course, it's other people's money, so Stupid Government doesn't care a whit. They get to spend money on toys.

[Plutarch]

What isn't being said is that the industrial concerns probably thought that Segway's would be Worker's Comp injury magnets. "I fell of my Segway that they made me ride".

[PackerBoy]

I guess the lesson here is don't invent any new and expensive toy on the eve of a major recession. Perhaps the technology is just ahead of its time and hasn't found the killer app.

I respectfully disagree. The recession certainly hasn't helped the Segway any, but it did not kill it. I think the lesson is:

Don't spend millions and millions of dollars developing, testing, manufacturing and marketing a dylithium crystal-powered cheese straightener when the world is happy using a blunt knife.

[PJ-Comix]

It's called a bicycle.

Plus you actually get to exercise when using a bicycle.

[July 4th]

When the things were on Good Morning America, everyone riding them was wearing a helmet. I kept thinking, there's no way anyone wants to ride these things and look like that. Nerd toy, big time.

[PJ-Comix]

Right now I'm selling a device (without all the hype) a hundred times more useful than the Segway. Plus at only $10 everybody can actually afford it. (I sold a few hundred bucks worth yesterday and had a blast doing it).

[js1138]

a dylithium crystal-powered cheese straightener

The marketplace decides what sells and the market is fickle and unpredictable. From a purely rational point of view I don't understand motorcycles. They're expensive, noisy, dangerous, make you look like a criminal or a fool. But I assume they're fun. How is that different from a Segway, other than the noisy and criminal part?

[Cold Heat]

A scooter is a scooter!

People do not need or want a scooter that costs a fortune. It is that simple.

If it cost under $300.00 or so, it might have a market.

[PJ-Comix]

The Segway was definitely over-hyped. Meanwhile there is a new product that is supposed to come out that is a hell of a lot more useful that than Segway---moistened toilet paper wipes. I read somewhere that they are due out on the market. Meanwhile, am I the only one out there who furtively places some toilet paper underneath the water faucet at public restrooms? Somehow dry toilet paper doesn't completely work. (I still shudder thinking about how folks over a hundred years ago either used a newspaper or, before that, nothing at all.)

[PJ-Comix]

A scooter is a scooter!

Some woman once tried to sell me the latest in what was supposed to be the most advanced technology at the time: A "home maintenance system." After much hype about how it would revolutionize maintaining my abode, she finally showed me a photo of it---An ordinary vacuum cleaner with a few extra bells and whistles.

[Cold Heat]

Amazing what they ask for in dollars for a rug sucker!

[Cold Heat]

Wet s*$$ paper has been available at Walmart for more than a year. It cost a bunch.

If it catches on, the bidet may come back into style.

[js1138]

No, but you're the only one talking about it in public.

[PJ-Comix]

Wet s*$$ paper has been available at Walmart for more than a year. It cost a bunch.

Then I guess I'll just keep on running a faucet of water on balled up toilet paper. It's cheaper.

If it catches on, the bidet may come back into style.

It may already be doing so. There is a big sign in Miami on the West side of I-95 touting bidets. It really gets your attention because the billboard is somewhat gross. It says someting like: "Use A Bidet For A Healthier Tush" or something like that. I'll be driving by that billboard this Friday and make a note to memorize its exact words. BTW, Howard Stern now uses a bidet and often touts its benefits on his show.

[SamAdams76]

Meanwhile, am I the only one out there who furtively places some toilet paper underneath the water faucet at public restrooms? Somehow dry toilet paper doesn't completely work. (I still shudder thinking about how folks over a hundred years ago either used a newspaper or, before that, nothing at all.)

I don't go that far but I do put a minimum of three layers of toilet paper on the seat of the toilet before sitting down. I try to avoid public toilets as much as possible because I just don't consider them clean. Thank God I'm a guy and don't have to worry about the more frequent bodily function - the world is my urinal!

When I was in the Marines and out on field operations, toilet paper was a scarcity. I resorted several times to using leaves or whatever I could find on the ground. Not a very pleasant experience. We were told when visiting the Middle East not to shake hands with anybody as they use their right hand for toilet paper in that part of the world. Maybe an urban legend but none of us were going to assume otherwise!

(How did we ever get on this subject?)

[PJ-Comix]

No, but you're the only one talking about it in public.

Wet toilet paper: The product that Dares Not Speak Its Name.

[PJ-Comix]

When I was in the Marines and out on field operations, toilet paper was a scarcity. I resorted several times to using leaves or whatever I could find on the ground. Not a very pleasant experience.

Especially if the leaf in question is Poison Ivy.

[PJ-Comix]

Amazing what they ask for in dollars for a rug sucker!

Yeah, I can either get a used one for just $20 at the Swap Shop or at the office of President of the University Of Miami.

[js1138]

You're a brave pioneer. If the product already exists, perhaps you could make a few bucks as a spokesperson. Snappy slogans are forming in my mind...