When I was at the Palm Springs, California airport the two fat cops on duty rode around on them all day.
Screw the Segway, I want one of these:
Toyota iFoot
The parking garage patrols on my campus use them–they glide up and down the ramps all day, giving people tickets. Damn them.
Despite being novel, the machine wasn’t particularly useful or practical. I’ve ridden one (a friend of mine had the opportunity to promote the segway for a few weeks for free by wheeling it around campus) and the cost of it is ridiculous ($3000?) considering its size and awkwardness. Someone would probably get hurt if you tried to go through any kind of crowd.
Also I don’t blame the president or anyone with having trouble on it at first. It’s hard to keep your balance, it’s like you’re going to fall over every second you’re on the thing.
I don’t know who convinced the media that this would revolutionize transportation.
There was an article in NewScientist last week about the Segway; apparently it is being used as the basis for a number of mobile robot projects, which sort of makes sense.
I agree: it died because it was a solution looking for a problem.
Anybody remember mopeds? You know, that miniature motorcycle thing. When you get right down to it, Segways are just a l33t high-tech version of a moped. They haven’t caught on for the same reason that most people don’t own mopeds, scooters, etc: lack of passenger space, lack of cargo space, no protection from the elements, probably not allowed on the sidewalks, and driving them on the road is suicidal. Plus they’re bulkier and more expensive than any of the other similar products.
Basically, the Segway is a new & improved buggy whip.
The main reason more people don’t own two-stroke scooters is because for decades they were essentially banned in North America because they violated environmental regulations.
But Segways are pretty much banned on sidewalks just about everywhere, although there is one guy who zips around Manhattan on one.
British Dopers might remember the Sinclair C5 of the mid 80’s, which had interesting parallels: a similar solution to a similarly non-existent problem, some nifty technology, but was greeted with mass derision and sold like cold pies. My first response on seeing the Segway was “Son of C5!”.