# IS The SEDGEWAY Scooter a FLOP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 19, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000 "2004-02-19T13:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/41 "2004-02-21T05:26:11Z")
I heard interviews withthe inventor about a year ago, and he was relatively unconcerned about lackluster sales. To him , the point was the development more than the profit. Yes, the application of the Segway’s stabilization system to this “scooter” does not seem to be something that poeple are particularly interested in right now, but it is an impressive display of the technology. Even though we might never consider buying one, and can’t imagine society transformed by them, when we first saw it run, we all said, “Cool!” Such a responsive equilibrium-maintaining technology is going to have a million applications that people WILL pay for, and Segway have put themselves on the map as the people who can deliver it NOW. All the hype was exactly that, to get attention for the company. I promise you that wheels are turning in the minds of engineers who have a practical idea for applying the Segway’s breakthrough, and that’s when they’ll make some dough. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/42 "2004-02-21T11:49:35Z")
[Nobody’s seen this?](http://tlb.org/scooter.html) If this guy can build one with a $149 off the shelf gyroscope and 500 lines of code, what’s with all the hoopla about “technology”? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/43 "2004-02-21T12:08:04Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > [Nobody’s seen this?](http://tlb.org/scooter.html) > > If this guy can build one with a $149 off the shelf gyroscope and 500 lines of code, what’s with all the hoopla about “technology”? Er, this: **you will fall, hard, and probably on your face.** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/44 "2004-02-21T12:12:16Z")
Yeah, but it’s not the _technology_ that prevents that, it’s “redundancy and foolproofing”. At least according to the guy who built it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/45 "2004-02-21T13:40:24Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I would put my killer robots on treads so they could roll over piled up dead bodies. > 🙂 What, and miss the megacool _Terminator 2_ moments when a robotic foot crashes down on a human skull? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/46 "2004-02-21T15:34:08Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > What, and miss the megacool _Terminator 2_ moments when a robotic foot crashes down on a human skull? Crush under a metal foot or grind to dust beneath an armoured tread… I guess it’s a matter of taste. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000/47 "2004-02-21T17:13:42Z")
Just thought of this – do you remember the Robert Heinlein story “The Roads Must Roll”? If I recall, the mechanics who serviced the huge rolling roadways used motorized unicycles, which used gyroscopic stabilizers to stay upright. That would be cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sedgeway-scooter-a-flop/230000.md?page=2)