This question was spawned by this thread . Anyone actually recall the Segway Human Transporter? It seemed pretty interesting when it finally came out (following all the hype). I don’t think I’ve seen one in over a year. I used to live near the Segway office and would now and then see an employee come and go on one. I honestly can’t recall seeing one in a long time. Seems a shame, given the ever worsening gas problems. Have they taken off in other parts of the world? Actually, does this belong in General Questions???
Saw one (repeat, one) the other day.
And I saw one (1) this morning driving into work. First one I’ve seen ‘in the wild’ for a long while. I think most people here in the Bay Area who have one also have a bike and given the choice, the bike wins.
I saw one at a fair about a year ago, and one at Disneyland once. As far as I can tell, they work just as well as hoped, but aren’t overly popular. So it goes.
Had a kid in the ER awhile back with a nasty lower extremity fracture from crashing one. Can’t say if he was fooling around on it or not. I do recall there was some questions about how safe they were, not in the sense of unstable, but that they weigh a good deal, and if it gets away from you it’s bowling time, YMMV
Larry
It’s expensive and has all the shortcomings of a bicycle and motorized wheelchair combined and none of the benefits.
If you are unable to ride a much cheaper bike/motorized bike because of health problems, you probably would prefer something where you wouldn’t have to stand.
You’re not getting exercise, it attracts attention so it’s likely to get stolen if you leave it outside, you can’t bring it indoors in most places (especially not in bad weather).
The whizbang revolutionary multi-thousand-dollar stability system is not particularly superior to a third wheel on a strut.
A lot of people would feel silly using one.
It doesn’t make a very good golf cart.
Oh and on top of all that Dean Kamen is a total doucheburger. 
Actually I don’t see why you would ever get one. I think if I had an infinite amount of money it’ll be on my list of “things to buy” way after a unicycle and a tye-dye novelty oversized defibrilator.
Saw two meter readers tootling up Taylor Avenue and much steeper Lee Street on Queen Anne Hill on them once. They had side packs on theirs so they could keep all their clipboards, tools and whatnot handy. They could stop at every below-sidewalk meter, take their readings and be off to the next one quicker and easier than with a car or truck since parking on Queen Anne and many other areas is hard to find. They spent less physical effort going up and down our steep grades too.
I later learned that Segway had been offering cities discounts for just these types of jobs. It seems like a great idea to me.
I meant to add that I hope Seattle is still using their fleet. I saw this about two years ago and I moved to the 'burbs not long after.
I see them on campus sometimes. A couple of the parking cops ride them, and a couple of the engineering nerds.
Like Sattua, this is where I see them: the Physical Plant people love to use them (espically in the summer) since not only is it faster than walking but they can carry more tools in the ‘saddle bags’ and putter right up (and into to keep the Segways from ‘walking off’) the building they need to go to. A bit hard to do that with the pick-up trucks they normally use (and still use when they need more equipment/people than a Segway can carry).
<< BUFFERS=20 FILES=15 2nd down, 4th quarter, 5 yards to go! >>
I tried one out last year - easy to learn and lots of fun to ride. But I’m not sure where I’d use one, and the price seems a bit steep.
They use them in Newark Airport for maintenance employees. I thought that was a decent use for them.
The problem is that this is about the only practical use for one. The Segway is basically a l33t high-tech version of a motor scooter. If a Moped isn’t practical for you, a Segway won’t be, either.
I agree with you, but does anything compete with the Segway in the limited market that it is useful for?
Dean Kamen has invented all manner of things that have made the world a vastly better place, including portable dialysis machines, stair-climbing wheelchairs and water purification systems.
The Segway is kinda dumb, though.
I saw one in this past week, but for the life of me I can’t remember where. I don’t remember thinking, “Hey, that’s illegal here” so I’ll guess in once in Santa Cruz.
Also, the security at Chicago’s Millenium Park uses tem.
I didn’t hear “Hello, Michael” in either instance.
There’s a company that rents Segways out to tourists in Savannah, GA. You can also rent scooters from another company.
In Savannah , all the nice stuff is about 2 blocks from all the other nice stuff. Savannah is a great town for cheap compact travel devices that are easy to park anywhere.
Mrs. Flag and I opted for the scooters.
One passed me on a sidewalk in Palo Alto last week, ridden by some guy who seemed overly pleased with himself; it didn’t have any external signs of it being job-related.
About a month ago, I was walking alongside Lake Merritt in Oakland, and a pack of five Segways came by, presumably rentals from Segway of Oakland which was a couple of miles away. Looks like rentals start at $35 for one hour.
We had a number of them in Atlanta a couple of years back, like 2002 or 2003. We have special city employees who wear bermuda shorts and pith helmets, and their job is to give directions and admonish beggars to leave tourists alone. Apparently somebody figured the cherry on top of this whole farce was to put them on a Segway.
I met a guy who uses one to get around on a daily basis - he is a polio survivor, and he can stand with few problems, but walking is difficult for him due to lopsided muscle development/atrophy on one side. He liked his Segway for the smaller turning radius, and because it made him feel slightly more active than just sitting on a scooter the whole time. (Plus I imagine it’s better for maintaining his remaining muscle strength.)
He let us try his out - it was pretty cool, and not difficult to learn to use. But I can’t see shelling out a lot of cash for one.