# Oh no, IT is back in the news! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816 "2002-08-21T00:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/1 "2002-08-21T00:32:35Z")
I logged out of Hotmail and though I usually ignore the simpering excuse for news that gets posted on the MSN logout page, [this](http://msn.com.com/2100-1103-954339.html) caught my eye. > [@](#): > > **Rumors: Segway isn’t really Ginger** > In the latest twist to the long-running Ginger saga, it’s now being rumored that the two-wheeled device unveiled by inventor Dean Kamen last December isn’t in fact the real deal. > > \ > > Metcalfe told the New York Times earlier this year: “Some months ago when speculation was running high, I said that Kamen’s IT was more important than the Internet, but not as important as cold fusion, had cold fusion worked out. The IT I was talking about, which I did not disclose, was NOT Segway. That’s all I can say.” (See [www.nytimes.com/2001/12/20/technology/circuits/20DIAR.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/20/technology/circuits/20DIAR.html) - registration re quired.) The Times article offered little more. I remember discussions of what IT was were quite prolific a while back, so I assume that some folks may know a bit more. Anyone with the Dope? Rhythmdvl Resuscitator of long dead topics, yet promises never to ask about gry, the missing dollar, or ever mention Alex Chew. ---
**Author:** ![mazzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mazzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazzer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/2 "2002-08-21T01:51:17Z")
Slow news day. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/3 "2002-08-21T13:06:14Z")
I personally think there are only about six of those Segways in existence, and the lack of demand vs. cost of manufacture (not to mention the fact that they’re illegal on just about **all** public roads and pedestrian sidewalks) keeps any more from being made. Remember, the Segway was called ‘Ginger’ to compliment its inventors other creation, a wheelchair that could climb stairs, which was code-named ‘Fred’. Don’t see many stair-climbing wheelchairs around these parst, either. ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/4 "2002-08-21T13:22:49Z")
The wheelchairs are still going through FDA approval process as far as I know. I expect they will be pretty desirable to people that need them when they are available. If I was wheelchair bound, the increase in mobility provided by Fred would be almost impossible to resist, damn the cost. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/5 "2002-08-21T14:06:19Z")
**I personally think there are only about six of those Segways in existence…** Since the Atlanta Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service are giving them a tryout, I think there may be a few more than six of them out there. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/6 "2002-08-21T16:55:52Z")
My gut reaction is that Kamen (the inventor) is just trying to keep himself in the news. The company that makes Segways is almost bankrupt; most people can’t affort to spend $20,000 on a toy. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/7 "2002-08-21T17:10:01Z")
I ran into four parked at an Italian restaurant in Manchester, NH, of all places. Boy, they aren’t small. If the owners had parked them outside instead of inside the restaurant, we could have fit 2 more tables into the already packed room. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/8 "2002-08-22T14:46:50Z")
A friend of mine writes for _Current Biography_ magazine. She has just submitted an article about Dean Kamen to the editors. I forwarded this whole thread to her, because I thought she might be interested. Here’s what she has to say about it: "If the Segway isn’t “IT,” a good possibility is the Stirling engine. This is a hot-air engine invented in 1816, but no one has ever been able to produce one that didn’t cost roughly as much as the U.S. military budget. Kamen and his team have been working on the development of a relatively cheap Stirling engine for years, and if successful, the device could possibly be used to fuel cars, provide electricity, purify water, etc. The effect would be particularly powerful in developing nations, where other energy sources are scarce to nonexistent for most of the population. It’s not surprising that someone would have seen Segways in Manchester, N.H., since that’s where Kamen’s research and development company, DEKA, is based, as well as Segway, which he founded to produce and market the Segway human transporter (scooter). The police department of Manchester is reportedly testing Segways as well." ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-no-it-is-back-in-the-news/124816/9 "2002-08-22T15:01:34Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s not surprising that someone would have seen Segways in Manchester, N.H., since that’s where Kamen’s research and development company, DEKA, is based, as well as Segway, which he founded to produce and market the Segway human transporter (scooter). The police department of Manchester is reportedly testing Segways as well." Doh. I guess that make sense, then! Forgot about where DEKA’s based … I was thinking Connecticut, for some reason.