Free Republic

Scooter's Catch On With Cops, But Not Consumers (AP) LOS ANGELES Thieves used to break into as many as five cars a week in the parking garage at Los Angeles' Union Station. Then the Metropolitan Transportation Authority came up with a simple solution: They put a security officer on a Segway Human Transporter. "The first day that one of the security officers was on the device was pretty much the last day there was a break-in," said Robin Blair, a transportation planning manager for the MTA, which owns about 19 Segways. Although the electric, self-balancing Segway scooter never quite caught...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) — Europe is become a key new market for Segway LLC, with a pilot project underway to tie the self-balancing, two-wheeled devices into France´s mass-transportation system and sales picking up, particularly in Italy. "It feels like we're constantly on back order," said marketing vice president Klee Kleber. "We're constantly rushing shipments over there." Segway's smallest model is its most popular overseas, a situation opposite to America's, chief technology officer J. Douglas Field said. The smaller model's tires measure 3 inches less in diameter than the larger model's. It...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

Recall Alert U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 September 26, 2003 CPSC, Segway LLC Announce Voluntary Recall to Upgrade Software on Segway™ Human Transporters The following product safety recall was conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Name of Product: Segway Human Transporter (HT) Units: Approximately 6,000 Manufacturer: Segway LLC of Manchester, New Hampshire Hazard: Under certain operating conditions, particularly when the batteries are near the end of charge, some Segway HTs may not deliver enough power, allowing the rider to fall. This can happen if the rider speeds up...

<p>The maker of the Segway Human Transporter has agreed to recall the motorized scooters because riders have been injured falling off when its batteries are low. The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall Friday, saying that three people had been injured. One suffered a head wound and needed stitches.</p>

The long-anticipated Segway is finally hitting the streets. After taking a test ride, all we can say is, Man, is this cool or what?Get used to it: Your kids are going to want one--and the urge might sneak up on you, too. The Segway Human Transporter may or may not change the face of urban transportation, save the environment and bring back Elvis, but it is a pisser to ride. Once the most-hyped secret invention since the A-bomb, code-named It and Ginger, the Segway sprang from the almost impossibly fertile mind of medical technology innovator Dean Kamen (who, it's worth...

<p>Inventor Dean Kamen promised that his superscooter would change the world. Then reality hit - hard.</p> <p>It would be premature to call the most talked about scooter in the history of humankind a huge bust. But the Segway has always been ahead of its time. For a decade, Dean Kamen fiddled and tested and tinkered with his invention, finally stage-managing its public unveiling in December 2001. He figured 2002 would be the year that the Segway Human Transporter launched a transportation revolution. Executives at companies like FedEx and Amazon.com would behold his high tech superscooter and wonder how they'd managed all these years without it. The US Postal Service and police departments across the nation would overwhelm the company with orders. And behind Segway's institutional customers, Kamen envisioned a long line of consumers from around the globe, checkbooks in hand. Maybe not all 6 billion of us would clamor at once to own one, but to him that seemed only a matter of time. After all, he was hawking the Segway as not merely a faster way to get from here to there but also a solution to urban congestion, air pollution, and dependency on fossil fuel. To prepare for the onslaught, Kamen leased a 77,000-square-foot factory near his home in Manchester, New Hampshire,and began puzzling through the logistics of running round-the-clock shifts. He hired scores of lobbyists, who spent much of last year trying to persuade state legislatures to rewrite their laws to permit his scooter to operate on city sidewalks. Before he'd sold a single one, Kamen blithely forecast that by the end of 2002, his enterprise would be stamping out 10,000 machines a week. Meanwhile, his best-known backer, venture capitalist John Doerr, predicted Segway would rack up $1 billion in sales faster than any company in history.</p>

You can’t ride your Segway in the City by the Bay anymore. As of today — just about a month shy of going mainstream — the Segway Personal Transporter has been banned from San Francisco sidewalks for safety reasons. San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr., who a year ago joined the hoopla celebrating Segway’s introduction, let pass a city ordinance banning the high-tech scooter when the city’s Board of Supervisors recently voted 9-2 to outlaw the Segway on city sidewalks, spokesman P.J. Johnston said. Brown earlier had said he opposed the ban, and would veto it, “because he thinks...

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Segway LLC's Human Transporter, the self-balancing electric scooter that has kept technophiles abuzz for the last two years, ranks among the best-selling items on Amazon.com Inc.'s Web site, the online retailer said Monday. The machine will only be shipped beginning March 2003, but pre-orders already place the high-tech scooter in the top half percent of sales, Steve Frazier, vice president of electronics, tools and kitchen goods sales at Amazon told Reuters. Amazon started taking orders for the Segway Human transporter last month, requiring a $495 deposit toward the Human Transporter's price of $4,950, and putting enthusiasts one...

As revealed on US breakfast telly this morning, Dean Kamen's Segway< is on sale from today via the Amazon 'early adoptors' club. Delivery is US-only and your $4950 machine actually ships in March at the earliest (although in a bid for even more publicity, 30 consumers will be hand-picked to receive their Segways before Christmas).

Segway scooter done So all the people who had preordered a Segway from Amazon just received a note from Amazon saying, "We've recently learned from our supplier that the item you requested to be notified about, Segway Human Transporter (also known as "Ginger" or "IT"), will not be available in the foreseeable future" and then recommends that shoppers look for the item on Amazon's used and auction sites. Ha ha I got to ride one and you won't! blah When: 9/12/2002 Company: Segway Severity: 100 - new hall of fame inductee! Points: 200

Statehouses Quickly Passing Segway Scooter Laws Inventor Claims 'IT' Will Revolutionize Transportation Posted: 4:41 p.m. EDT June 14, 2002 It's not here yet, but lawmakers across the country are clearing a path on the sidewalks for the introduction of the "Segway" scooter. The battery-operated 69-pound devices that zip around at about 12 miles an hour were introduced last year -- with claims that they would revolutionize transportation and change the way people live and work. Legislators hope they can help ease traffic congestion. It'll still be months before they become widely available, but the company that makes them has...

ATLANTA (AP) - Purse-snatchers beware: Atlanta police are riding shiny new $9,000 scooters - and it will take at least a brisk jog to get away from them. The city's finest unveiled a battalion of Segway Human Transporter vehicles Tuesday. The battery-powered, two-wheeled scooters can top out at 15 mph. Inventor Dean Kamen introduced the gyroscope-stablized scooters last fall after keeping them secret for months under the code names IT and Ginger. Police in Atlanta - a traffic-snarled city that never met a motor vehicle it didn't like - are borrowing six of the scooters from Kamen's company for a...

Scooter gets closer to OK for public use Senate committee tests personal devices, opens hearings on legalization LANSING -- The day when Michigan residents will be able to ride their personal scooters down the sidewalk moved a little closer this week. A Senate committee tested and opened hearings on legalizing the space-age transporter, also known as the "electric personal assistive mobility device." "It felt very comfortable," said Sen. Bill Bullard, R-Highland, after taking the device for a spin behind the state Capitol. "And I'm not the most coordinated person in the world." Bullard, sponsor of the bill to legalize the...

What do New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and seven other states have in common? Their legislatures have been lobbied by a million dollar program to pass a crazy law. This all started a few months back when news reports from coast to coast were attempting to describe a gizmo invented by Dean Kamen code named “IT” or “Ginger.” Later we learned that the thing was to be called “Segway” and was a type of "human transporter" they say will change how Americans get around.(1) The consumer model of the Segway weighs in at...

The once-secret product "Ginger," also known as "IT," has been declared so revolutionary that it would "change the way cities are designed," according to one high-tech luminary, Apple Computer's Steve Jobs. But some cities aren't sure they're ready for this computerized "human transporter," a sort of high-tech scooter that can carry a rider at up to 10 mph -- potentially at odds with pedestrians on busy sidewalks. And its New Hampshire inventor, Dean Kamen, has feared his product might be regulated right out of the reach of consumers. Fear not. The Segway Human Transporter, or HT, has apparently rolled over...

<p>The invention formerly known as "It" wasn't a huge hit when it debuted last December. For many, the year-long hype surrounding It completely overshadowed the reality.</p> <p>"It," billed as a revolutionary device that would change the world, turned out to be a souped-up scooter.</p>

CONCORD (AP) — New Hampshire is ready for the popular new Segway scooter to shuttle residents around towns. Gov. Jeanne Shaheen yesterday signed a bill allowing the machines on sidewalks and roads. “It has the potential to revolutionize transportation in this country,” Shaheen said before signing the bill. “It also has the potential to make a huge difference in New Hampshire.” The Segway, invented by Dean Kamen of Manchester, is a one-person, battery-powered scooter whose speed and direction are controlled by the rider’s shifting weight. Supporters tout it as an invention that could significantly reduce traffic and pollution in urban ...

TIME MAG is planning to report on Monday: The Segway is a self-balancing people mover... Developing Hard... The NEW YORK TIMES is set to front Segway in Monday runs... Developed at a cost of more than $100 million, the vehicle is a complex bundle of hardware and software that mimics the human body's ability to maintain its balance...

The wait is over. After nearly a year of wild speculation, New Hampshire’s own Mister Wizard, Dean Kamen, will reveal what “IT” is on national television Monday morning. Kamen, a Bedford inventor, entrepreneur and the founder of a national student robotics competition, sounded remorseful yesterday that the big announcement of his latest invention will not happen here in New Hampshire. Instead, it will be ABC’s “Good Morning America” that will reveal the secret, he confirmed. “What’s true is on Monday we will be in New York, and I must say I’m a little disappointed that we have to do ...