Segway's Breakdown

Wired Magazine ^ | March 2003 | Gary Rivlin

[discostu]

Well it runs with 5 so maybe it will help. Hard to tell, it seems to mostly work by slight tilting, lack of a sense of balance could make it pretty irratic.

I still think this thing might have recreational applications, it seems to me that it would be pretty fun to pad these up and use them as the new bumper cars. Maybe even soup them up and race them.

[VetoBill]

Too bad, because there are a lot of partially handicapped people who could use this technology for shopping and such

Put a seat on it and maybe it would be handy. People with knee and hip problems will most likely not relish standing for long periods of time on this machine

[dead]

I'd buy one for $400. Maybe $500.

[bootyist-monk]

I rode a Segway at Comdex. I have to admit, it is an impressive piece of technology. Within a minute of being on the thing, you are already comfortable with crusing around. I intentionally tried to tip it over, and the Segway countered every move I made and stayed rock solid. It was weirdly amusing. Also, you just sort of think your way forward and back and it responds, which creates a very intuitive interface.

However, I don't see it as being anything other than an expensive toy in the US. Had the Segway come out during the dot.com heyday, I have a feeling that they'd be everywhere, and as required around their offices as a foosball table or Aeron chair. Timing is everything, and Kamen may have missed the wave of stupid, self-important, changing-the-world money that is now licking its wounds and trying to pay for a Palo Alto mortgage that is upside down by six-figures.

Now, if he could sell the thing in China at the right price, Kamen could probably make another fortune.

[Way2Serious]

I've been in factories where it's a ten-minute walk from one end to the other. Somebody mentioned airports as another obvious one. Hospitals are another. Big distribution centers could use these things for stock-pickers. In all those settings, the Segway could be sitting in a charger station when not being used, so the whole battery-life thing goes away, too.

Disney is using them at its resorts to get janitors and service weenies to rooms within minutes of a trouble call. Some things Disney does better than anybody else. Cruises, resorts and theme parks is one of them.

[js1138]

There already is a wheelchair version. It was designed prior to the scooter and I believe has recently been certified as a medical device.

[Adams]

I believe the core technology in Segway; the gyropscopic stabilization and two wheeled architecture, will one day find a use as the motive unit for robots, maybe 20-30 years from now.

Think of Rosie from The Jetsons, and that's where you may eventually see the future of the Segway technology.

[CFC__VRWC]

I've been in factories where it's a ten-minute walk from one end to the other. Somebody mentioned airports as another obvious one. Hospitals are another. Big distribution centers could use these things for stock-pickers. In all those settings, the Segway could be sitting in a charger station when not being used, so the whole battery-life thing goes away, too.

Disney is using them at its resorts to get janitors and service weenies to rooms within minutes of a trouble call. Some things Disney does better than anybody else. Cruises, resorts and theme parks is one of them.

These are about the only places that I could see using these things. Besides all of the other drawbacks pointed out on this thread (weight, bulk, limited range, etc.), lots of major cities have either passed or are considering laws banning Segways on their sidewalks. Even here, in amusement parks and large industrial complexes, I have to wonder if golf carts couldn't be just as easily used (as they already are), trading off somewhat increased size at a fraction of the cost.

I just can't see these things catching on with the general public as a transportation solution when you can buy a decent used car for half the price of a Segway.

[Jim Noble]

I live in New Hampshire.

I'm keeping my Chevy Suburban.

[r9etb]

"I wouldn't have predicted the mountain would be so big," Kamen says, "and that there would be so many hills to cross to get to the top."

FReepers predicted all of these mountians, beginning on day 1. Any reasonable person should, could, and would have predicted them.

[DoughtyOne]

As someone else mentioned, he had developed an exotic wheelchair prior to the Segway. It can go up and down stairs and lift onto two wheels and balance. I'd don't know much more about it, but it sounds like it could be pretty neat. Pretty expensive too...

[DoughtyOne]

I agree with your comments. It may be that Kayman will find a way to reduce the price and it will begin to sell. Otherwise your outcome is the only likely one.

[CFC__VRWC]

"I wouldn't have predicted the mountain would be so big," Kamen says, "and that there would be so many hills to cross to get to the top."

Don't those words pretty well sum up the whole dot com bubble mentality? Completely unreasonable expectations, mixed with a bunch of hype by people who really should have known better.

[r9etb]

Don't those words pretty well sum up the whole dot com bubble mentality? Completely unreasonable expectations, mixed with a bunch of hype by people who really should have known better.

I thought of that, and also the folks at Iridium and Globalstar (bankrupt after launch); and Teledesic (bankrupt, never launched), who had stars in their eyes over the possibility of global satellite communications.

The basic idea is pretty cool; however, except for a few very minor exceptions, there are better and cheaper alternatives for the service they're trying to provide.

[Way2Serious]

These are about the only places that I could see using these things.

I think their biggest marketing challenge is to get people to stop referring to them as "these things."

[meatloaf]

I wonder if the Segway would be useful in Walmarts and grocery stores where they already provide electric carts for handicapped.

[DoughtyOne]

With Kayman's luck some old fart will be the first one to rent one and excellerate instead of stop when headed into a group of people. That one incident will get them banned from inside businesses.

[CharacterCounts]

The initial pre-debut hype didn't help either. This was going to literally be the greatest invention since slice bread. I was expecting something on the scale of nuclear fusion. After the hype, the actual product looked like a disapointment.

[Nick Danger]

Disney is using them at its resorts to get janitors and service weenies to rooms within minutes of a trouble call

Exactly. Any job where travel time in lots of little chunks eats up a good portion of the day, Segways could reduce the number of people needed to get the job done. Eliminate one salary, and you've paid for three of them. There is a lot of that out there, but they need to start thinking "lots of short trips" instead of continuous travel like postal carriers and cops, or small numbers of large trips like commuting. Segway does not map well to those requirements. It's a "get on it, go 300 yards, get off, do something, get back on and go another 300 yards" kind of thing, where the person's time is worth money, and where walking is 'dead time.'

[Dan Cooper]

I believe the core technology in Segway; the gyropscopic stabilization and two wheeled architecture, will one day find a use as the motive unit for robots, maybe 20-30 years from now.

Think of Rosie from The Jetsons, and that's where you may eventually see the future of the Segway technology.

Good prediction! Compared to the bipedal Asimo robot Honda has been touting in their television commercials, a two wheeled robot using this technology would be much faster and would also be more nimble than a four+ wheeled vehicle.