Why hate on Segways?
02-01-09 | 01:01 PM
#51
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
Dean Kamen?
The man whose Slingshot water purification system has pretty much perfected the Stirling engine, a no-emission power source and can make pure medical-grade water out of anything wet (even urine or toxic waste, with no filters to change or chemicals to add and no noise) and can produce a million liters of water in a thousand days with no human intervention and could save countless lives in Third World countries?
The man whose company, Deka Research & Development, is working on prosthetic limbs that include a hand/arm combo that allows the user as complicated as operating an electric drill or as delicate as picking up a grape with its fingers all the while being light (because it's made of titanium) and comfortable for the user to wear?
The man whose robotics competition aimed at schools, called FIRST, which handed out $10 million in scholarships last year alone?
That guy?
Yeah, he's clearly an idiot.
The man whose Slingshot water purification system has pretty much perfected the Stirling engine, a no-emission power source and can make pure medical-grade water out of anything wet (even urine or toxic waste, with no filters to change or chemicals to add and no noise) and can produce a million liters of water in a thousand days with no human intervention and could save countless lives in Third World countries?
The man whose company, Deka Research & Development, is working on prosthetic limbs that include a hand/arm combo that allows the user as complicated as operating an electric drill or as delicate as picking up a grape with its fingers all the while being light (because it's made of titanium) and comfortable for the user to wear?
The man whose robotics competition aimed at schools, called FIRST, which handed out $10 million in scholarships last year alone?
That guy?
Yeah, he's clearly an idiot.
But they all know about the Segway. It's that dork-o-matic scooter that's too wide for our sidewalks and too slow to keep up with street traffic, used by people who are too lazy to ride a bike yet with enough extra income to spend on one.
That's the public perception. Facts only go so far when most people don't know all the facts to begin with.
02-01-09 | 04:29 PM
#53
Señior Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 13,748
Likes: 10
From: Michigan
Bikes: Windsor Fens, Giant Seek 0 (2014, Alfine 8 + discs)
Kamen is one of the most responsible entrepreneurs on the planet right now. He's doing insane amounts of work to make the world a better place. He's been in the news dozens of times.
The reason people don't know who he is is that most people don't remember squat unless it's holding a gun or has tits.
__________________
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
02-01-09 | 09:56 PM
#54
Been Around Awhile
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 30,657
Likes: 1,975
From: Burlington Iowa
Bikes: Vaterland and Ragazzi
The reason people do know him is because of his over blown rhetoric about his over priced, over weight product being the ultimate solution that is still in search of a problem that it solves.
02-01-09 | 10:27 PM
#55
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
How does the fact that many people haven't heard of him invalidate the argument that he's not an idiot?
Kamen is one of the most responsible entrepreneurs on the planet right now. He's doing insane amounts of work to make the world a better place. He's been in the news dozens of times.
The reason people don't know who he is is that most people don't remember squat unless it's holding a gun or has tits.
Kamen is one of the most responsible entrepreneurs on the planet right now. He's doing insane amounts of work to make the world a better place. He's been in the news dozens of times.
The reason people don't know who he is is that most people don't remember squat unless it's holding a gun or has tits.
I never said that that wasn't the case.Nobody remembers that he invented the insulin pump, adapted an engine to water purification, or anything else besides the Segway. He's "that Segway guy", the one who loudly proclaimed that the world would be turned upside down by some secret device. Before its launch, nobody even knew that this thing would have wheels.
Where I think he failed was in generating the hype that preceded the Segway's introduction. It was like a circus sideshow where you're hoping to see the Eighth Wonder Of The World, which turns out to be a guy born with twelve fingers.
What I'm saying is, public perception matters. He could be the most genius human ever to exist, but if the public thinks he's crazy, then that's all he'll be remembered as. They don't see him with a new water purification system, they see him drinking his pee.
It could still be improved, though. Change the power source and it could run for a lot longer. Maybe pay some attention to Honda's hydrogen efforts and adapt it to the Segway chassis. The guy who uses one at summer camp wouldn't have to bring out the old golf cart anymore.
*edit* And, like ILTB mentioned, improve its weight. The lightest one is 70 lbs? What typical Segway rider -- someone who's at least able to stand up, but doesn't walk or bike so much -- is going to succeed in lugging one back home after it's run out of juice?
Last edited by BarracksSi; 02-01-09 at 10:31 PM.
02-01-09 | 10:39 PM
#56
Been Around Awhile
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 30,657
Likes: 1,975
From: Burlington Iowa
Bikes: Vaterland and Ragazzi
Or which typical Segway rider is going to pick it up and wrestle with it to put it in the trunk of a car, let alone carry up a flight or two of stairs? Maybe an SUV will be "needed" to transport the beast.
02-01-09 | 10:53 PM
#57
bragi
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,911
Likes: 3
From: seattle, WA
Bikes: LHT
Segways are carfree devices that probably have a mininal impact on the environment. They seem to mix pretty well with other modes of transportation. The inventor, Dean Kamen, seems like a sincere and caring guy--even if he does drink his own pee.
So why do we (most bike commuters) hate on Segways so much?
So why do we (most bike commuters) hate on Segways so much?
02-01-09 | 11:12 PM
#59
Schuylkill Trail Bum
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 937
Likes: 197
From: Conshohocken, PA
Bikes: 1997 LeMond Alpe d'Huez ... 1986 Shogun Prairie Breaker PRO
Dean Kamen?
The man whose Slingshot water purification system has pretty much perfected the Stirling engine, a no-emission power source and can make pure medical-grade water out of anything wet (even urine or toxic waste, with no filters to change or chemicals to add and no noise) and can produce a million liters of water in a thousand days with no human intervention and could save countless lives in Third World countries?
The man whose company, Deka Research & Development, is working on prosthetic limbs that include a hand/arm combo that allows the user as complicated as operating an electric drill or as delicate as picking up a grape with its fingers all the while being light (because it's made of titanium) and comfortable for the user to wear?
The man whose robotics competition aimed at schools, called FIRST, which handed out $10 million in scholarships last year alone?
That guy?
Yeah, he's clearly an idiot.
The man whose Slingshot water purification system has pretty much perfected the Stirling engine, a no-emission power source and can make pure medical-grade water out of anything wet (even urine or toxic waste, with no filters to change or chemicals to add and no noise) and can produce a million liters of water in a thousand days with no human intervention and could save countless lives in Third World countries?
The man whose company, Deka Research & Development, is working on prosthetic limbs that include a hand/arm combo that allows the user as complicated as operating an electric drill or as delicate as picking up a grape with its fingers all the while being light (because it's made of titanium) and comfortable for the user to wear?
The man whose robotics competition aimed at schools, called FIRST, which handed out $10 million in scholarships last year alone?
That guy?
Yeah, he's clearly an idiot.
.
02-02-09 | 12:21 AM
#61
Thread Starter
Sophomoric Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,192
Likes: 13
From: Dancing in Lansing
02-02-09 | 06:38 AM
#62
Schuylkill Trail Bum
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 937
Likes: 197
From: Conshohocken, PA
Bikes: 1997 LeMond Alpe d'Huez ... 1986 Shogun Prairie Breaker PRO
Well, if "the news" is conspiring to keep us in the dark about a zero-emission power source which could end most of our greenhouse gas output, Al Gore needs to give the news a good shellacking asap.
02-02-09 | 05:51 PM
#64
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
https://www.loopygadgets.com/opel’s-flextreme-concept/
https://www.fuel-efficient-vehicles.o...2wheeleies.jpg
02-02-09 | 09:15 PM
#65
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, GA
Bikes: 2007 Fuji hybrid
Segway tours in downtown Atlanta are pretty popular. They make for a caravan of tourists riding single file down crowded sidewalks, causing awkward, chagrinned interactions w/ the pedestrians as they all have to step aside and wait for the Segways to pass. Just such a gimmick. What's wrong w/ walking?
02-02-09 | 10:25 PM
#66
Two H's!!! TWO!!!!!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,270
Likes: 12
From: Toronto, ON
On the sidewalks they're not good due to being too wide and too fast.
But I'd much prefer sharing the road with Segways than with cars, if Segway operators behaved predictably and didn't try to pull any of that silly poop like stopping and zigzagging without warning.
But I'd much prefer sharing the road with Segways than with cars, if Segway operators behaved predictably and didn't try to pull any of that silly poop like stopping and zigzagging without warning.
02-02-09 | 10:30 PM
#67
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paV5jEnR2Oo
sorry... 
Can it really be that hard? I mean, jeez, if a chimp can learn to ride one...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pFv8CAniYQ&NR=1
Last edited by BarracksSi; 02-02-09 at 10:35 PM.
02-03-09 | 11:33 AM
#69
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 40,863
Likes: 3,115
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
02-03-09 | 12:03 PM
#71
genec
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 27,072
Likes: 4,533
From: West Coast
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
Can it really be that hard? I mean, jeez, if a chimp can learn to ride one...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pFv8CAniYQ&NR=1
02-03-09 | 12:33 PM
#72
multimodal commuter
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,810
Likes: 597
From: NJ, NYC, LI
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Okay, I have to admit this thread has been educational. I had thought Segways were for physically impaired people. Now I'm beginning to think they are for people with other kinds of disabilities.
02-04-09 | 06:10 PM
#75
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,606
Likes: 2
From: Bellevue, WA
Rollerblades probably work much better than a segway in all potential police uses - faster, smaller, able to go up stairs and curbs, cheaper, more approachable, and it still gives the officer a height advantage.