A Seque About the Segway

[jamesq]

When the Segway PT was released a few years ago we (meaning my friends and I) had a big laugh over it. Lets face it, despite being a technological marvel on par with an iPod (and here I mean it's user interface), it is faintly ridiculous.

How so? Well it doesn't go very fast, it wastes a lot of energy in the simple act of staying upright - energy that could be used as motive force. It exists in this grey area between motor vehicles and pedestrians, which means it doesn't really belong on a road or a sidewalk. Finally, for this Canuck, it's a vehicle that would sit in the garage for half the year (admittedly so does my bike, but my bike didn't cost $5000+).

There are several psychological problems with the Segway that make it bad for mixing with pedestrians - basically it increases your "aura" in crowds. By "aura" I mean the personal space we keep around ourselves. It's what keeps everybody from slamming shoulders in a crowd - you subconsciously make constant minor adjustments as people get closer to you. The Segway breaks that, making it a danger to other pedestrians.

I think you could make a really wicked bike out of the Segway hardware. It's basically just a throttle, motor and battery - all in a light enough package that you can pick it up. A bicycle with this hardware would be more efficient in terms of power, lighter and legal on roads. Why the Segway manufacturers haven't repurposed some of the hardware to this purpose I don't know - maybe they're making the Segways as fast as they can and they've maxed out their suppliers.

Here's the thing though - despite the problems, sales for Segways have gone up every year. And I think they're going to skyrocket soon. What you need is a large population of people who lack full mobility but don't want to give it up. For an added bonus they should all live in warm climates with light density urban buildup. Having a selfish, own-the-road, mentality will be a big help.

In other news, the leading edge of the Baby Boomers started to retire this year. I imagine a lot of them are going to be moving to retirement communities in the south.

Comments

[rocket-ron.livejournal.com]

In the UK, corporate training events quite often use Segways as a team building exercise. They're more than faintly ridiculous, so provides team members an opportunity to laugh at their bosses. Personally, I imagine that the designers of the Segway were all high on drugs when they came up with the idea and are now chortling at the ridiculous people who actually buy it.

[madeileen.livejournal.com]

Interesting to note: Segways have recently been used by medical and security personel at large public events like parades. They are easier to manouver than bikes or horses, and you can work all day and be a whole lot less tired.

[ersatz-marduk.livejournal.com]

That makes sense.

Then again, keep in mind that it makes sense to the mind that's now envisioning their usage by hitmen in... drive-by Segings.

[(Anonymous)]

I forget whose blog I was reading at the time.
But he said that twenty years ago, what he saw recently at the Amsterdam airport would have been considered a scene from a science fiction movie. Security guards with submachine guns moving around on Segways.

[jamesq]

That does have a SF-ish feel to it doesn't it. For a modern version of the same feeling, imagine the guard on a floating energy disk and wielding a blaster.

Or maybe just one of these.

[nikitaa.livejournal.com]

Why sit when you can stand?

Toyota introduces the i-REAL (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/drive-slow/toyota-i+real-concept-car-309614.php) - a concept "car"



(You just can't make this sh*t up!)

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