http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,186660-1,00.html

A deifnitly powerful mode of conviviality for all asunder !

A deifnitly powerful mode of conviviality for all asunder !

And you know what? If I knew what that meant I might even agree with you :p

I don't think it will "do to the automobile what the automobile did to the horse drawn carriage" but it is a neat little thing. The main downside I can see now is the winter and inclement weather. In -30C temperatures I for one would rather be sitting in a car ;)

It will revolutionize the lives of fat aging men who are too damned lazy/unfit from years of sitting around the office to bother using their legs anymore.

In other words, it's bringing the carefree lifestyle of the disabled to those who might as well be. Why do anything when something else can do it for you?

As for me, I plan to be dead by the time I'm 45.

I can think of only one thing more useless than IT:

An electric nosehair clipper

That thing is a piece of sh*t!! Why pay $3000 to walk when you can do it on your own for free? I think it'd be cool if it ran on water or something but all it is is a scooter that won't fall over! Dean Caiman's gonna go bankrupt once that thing goes out onto the market. And that's too bad because someday he might actually invent something that's actually useful!


What a disapointment!

Tennis shoes seems to be a more reasonable price in comparision. Here's someone trying to get rich off the idea that walking is effort. Duh....

sandshoes don't make it

"the body and walking with thought all conveniently immobilised by a cable car of desire to go forward without waste."

"the mechanism and the meaning of The Segway displaces your thought of direction and drives the vehicle by virtue of a complex cybernetic system of destability (the moment between one step and the next) and stability (peace of mind) "

"heh what about segway cars

wherein evrybody is driving ? "




pcd2k01/12/5sand shoes don't make it 32point

A friend astutely pointed out that people riding the Segway look very much like the villains in the movie "Dark City" in they way that they float about in total absence of limb movement.

Consequently, if I ever see someone wearing a bowler hat and a trenchcoat while riding a Segway, I might turn and run in terror.

The only use I can see for it is cheating during marathons.

Of course you would have to be in disguise.

Perhaps a Bowler hat and a trench coat Mwhahahaah!
(Run Porfiry run!)

Seriously, it would be different if walking was a burden, but I don't think it is, if anything it's usually breathing thats the burden while walking past heavy traffic.

As for the suggestions of Mail delivery, have you ever had a big mailbag slung over one shoulder??? It would be better to have a little cart.

It's not really a tool for the aged, as most of the time they would prefer sitting.

Alright, so you could possibly end up with a whole new olympic sport developed to the racing of them. (Yes get those wheel arches out, with hydrolic suspension and go faster stripes, But where do you hang the furry dice?)

I Know I wouldn't be able to run from a policeman on one if I did something wrong... laughing and running is too difficult.

Maybe it should come with a pedal-powered generator to recharge the batteries as you go. :D

It will revolutionize the lives of fat aging men who are too damned lazy/unfit from years of sitting around the office to bother using their legs anymore. -Porfiry I want one:D

Yes, but would the Baron Harkonnen give up his antigrav belt for a wheeled walker?

Nah, I'd take the belt over the worthless hunk of metal any day o thu week.

But I'm not the Baron Harkonnen, that's my opinion.

Maybe its a replacement for crutches? Broken leg, cruise the Segway? Hmmm, then again Dean came out with a wheel chair that is based on the same technology:

http://www.dekaresearch.com/ibot.html

And here it is the most worthless piece of crap (next to Franklin's Fan Chair, of course) ever invented. Legs are superior!

Coming at a time when the government has finally realized that obesity is a
problem ... and when walking is often recommended for a healthier lifestyle ...

Oh well, that's our species ... love it or leave it. :D :D :D :D

PS Isn't it wonderful that one of the things discovered in a rather expensive
space program is how important the exercise we take for granted, moving about
in 1g., is to the body.

I just can't seem to understand how or why everybody is so cynical and pessimistic about such an amazing invention ?

I bet no one can tell me about another 2 wheeled mode of transport that stands up on its own ?

Then I wonder how many of you have the science knowledge required to understand how ones body weight and direction influences the motion/direction of the Segway ?

This all reminds smth of a non-pleasant sci-fi movie, where future is depicted like--- humans are degenerated, machines do all for them, they cannot even walk, legs have atrofated(become unusable)[segaway:D]
They don't reproduce and in the end it is just containers filled with aged human bodies, who shout for their death, but life support system doesn't allow them to die. And later.....
Machines get rusty and all stops, a dead planet, a freak show for aliens.

Maybe I was too pessimistic about our future:D, but segway- I better go to gym and pump my muscles, so tht I can walk, not eat hamburgers[americans:)] and buy a cart to go about my apartment.
It is maybe good for sick people, but healthy ones have got to stop moaning and get on!
Get on guys[girls], be natural and don't degenerate.

BTW, you of course know that astronauts without any training lose their bone mass, cells and spoil their health up there.
Why? because they don't use their muscles!
!Good Luck!

The heralded Segway has claimed its first Atlanta victim. A member of the Central Atlanta Progress Ambassador Force toppled from one of the personal scooters on Cone Street near Luckie Street about 8:40 p.m. Thursday. (Full text here ( http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/0502/03segway.html))

The guy fell over. But notice the scooter remained upright. :)

I personally do not see that the IT will ever be a big thing. Nice for a novelty, prehaps. I just do not see the population of the world going this way. Not when a pair of tennis shoes cost a whole lot less.

Ginger is what will turn us into fat little grey looking aliens from lack of excercise, soon we all will be popping pills for nutrients instead of eating thick juicy steaks, wait a minute I do that now nevermind.

Originally posted by The Metatron
Ginger is what will turn us into fat little grey looking aliens from lack of excercise, soon we all will be popping pills for nutrients instead of eating thick juicy steaks, wait a minute I do that now nevermind.

Yes it is Ginger's fault that you can't resist that extra burger. Ever heard of looking after yourself?

The Segway is intended to fill a transportation "gap" between the automobile and walking. At speeds of 18 mph it should be faster than walking and less tiring than running from place to place. A motorized replacement for the bicycle, that can travel indoors where a bike cannot. If large urban areas were devoid of automobiles, as some European cities are going to, then it makes sense. The placement of it's wheels give it a "footprint" that can be used indoors, inside office buildings. Here in Texas, things are too spread out to be practical for the Segway. Everyone drives an automobile. How much do golf carts cost? I can see it replacing those is some places. If cities were actually built with them in mind, it could be useful. Due to so many buildings being made for wheelchair access, the Segway could exploit those designs. But only if you need to make constant trips of a number of blocks at a time. Most of us just drive our car and walk the rest of the way. It will take some planned communities to put the thing in proper perspective.

I do think it would be fun to ride. They should sell tickets.......

Known for its love of geek chic as well as its congested streets, San Francisco might have been expected to embrace a new, environmentally friendly personal vehicle that promises to pull people out of their smog-spewing cars. Instead, the city on Monday becomes the first large municipality to outlaw the Segway Human Transporter on its sidewalks — more than a month before the chariot-like vehicles are made available to the public. (Full text here (url=http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-01-20-segway-ban_x.htm#)):m: Peace.

man, i wish i wasn't a proletarian.

Dean Caiman's gonna go bankrupt once that thing goes out onto the market. And that's too bad because someday he might actually invent something that's actually useful!
Well if I'm not mistaken the segway is an off shot of the ibot which is a rather useful wheelchair.

Dean Caiman's gonna go bankrupt once that thing goes out onto the market. And that's too bad because someday he might actually invent something that's actually useful!

Here are some of Dean Kamen's accomplishments to date:

Kamen founded DEKA Research & Development in 1982 to focus on creating breakthrough products that improve the human experience. Kamen 's patented fluid management system is the core of the Baxter HomeChoice™ PD peritoneal dialysis machine, a compact and portable device with a patented fluid management system that replaced the otherwise stationary and cumbersome version-and freed patients from hospitals and seclusion.
http://www.uppergreatplainstechnology.com/kamen.htm


DEKA engineers worked with Johnson & Johnson to successfully generate added flexibility in the first intravascular stent proven to reduce blockage in arteries. As an alternative to open heart surgery, the Palmaz-Schatz™ balloon expandable stent dramatically reduces cost and patient discomfort.

http://www.dekaresearch.com/jjCordis.html

a chemotherapy pump called the Therakos UVAR XTS.

http://www.dekaresearch.com

Hydroflex™, irrigation pump

INDEPENDENCE™ 3000 IBOT™ Transporter
http://www.independencenow-europe.com/ibot/index.html

And perhaps one of his most important accomplishments:

http://www.usfirst.org/

Somehow, I don't think the man's gonna go bust you ninny!

Perhaps, one day, you might do something useful with YOUR life.

The fenders are coated with a 0.5-millimeter polymer layer called Sollx, a new chemical "film" developed by General Electric (GE) that covers plastic surfaces like Saran Wrap. When plastic with Sollx emerges from a mold, it gleams like freshly painted metal, in a variety of colors. It's also more resistant to scratches and chemicals than any comparable painted finish.

http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,46142,00.html

The commercial opens with a wide shot of the upper bodies of some basketball players doin there thing at a neighbor hood outdoor court complex.....sweat flyin.....someone takes a break and reaches for a sports drink.......lot's of action.......just when you think it's a gatorade or other electrolytic drink ad.....the cameras pan down into the melee to reveal that these ball players are all riding unicycles! Man they're good! Then.....suddenly the action stops....as first one....then the rest of them pause. The basketball bounces away.....maybe hits a dumfounded adolescent spectator on the head while he sits, unphased, staring at the same spectacle that the B-ball players are seeing..........camera pans right.........now, suddenly, squarely in focus......on an adjacent court, overweight pasty dudes, balding, obviously "baby boomer" types with sweatbands....riding their Segway scooters and trying to play B-ball! Camera pans back left now.....One of the unicycle players chuckles and the others crack up at the sight. He says to the others: "back to business".......back they go to their graceful, gritty..........and impressive performance......wow.....can they really do that with unicycles??? One guy stands up on his for a shot and actually jumps with it....landing perfectly. Just then.....revolving freeze frame......camera focuses in on the brand name of the unicycle.....it's a Razor brand "balance" unicycle with manually adustable ride control suspension.....slick. Then the new Razor maxim hits the screen ........"Balance, got it?"

(what you have just seen has already taken place in a parallel Universe slightly out of phase temporally with our own.....p.s. the prospective market in the other universe has not all already sunk some coin into a conventional razor scooter and have never heard of unicycles before and the campaign is wildly successful.....dammit.)



Peace,

TechStuf out :rolleyes: