# Will the Segway ("Ginger") change the world as we know it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 3, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719 "2001-12-03T23:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/101 "2001-12-07T01:39:01Z")
Doc Nickel wrote: > [@](#): > > I _am_ saying there’s a lot of areas in the US- and the World- where normal local weather will play a very significant role in the use of a Segway type scooter. I know you were mostly talking about snow, but in warmer climes, the rain can be just as big an impediment to **any** non-passenger-enclosing vehicle as the snow would be. Sure, a Segway or a bicycle or a motorcycle can be ridden in the rain, but its a miserable experience that most people would rather avoid. (I sometimes commute to work on my motorcycle, but if the morning sky looks like there’s even a **chance** it will rain I drive my car instead.) What we need is … **enclosed bicycles** that keep the rain off! (And enclosed Segways, too, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/102 "2020-07-03T09:19:01Z")
Gonna go with “no.” ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/103 "2020-07-04T07:14:52Z")
Since this zombie has been reopened, I want to say that while it’s true the segway has not changed the world, the standard meme now that the segway was an unmitigated flop is misleading. There are countless transport devices (the hoverboard et al) that use a balance system pioneered and popularized on the segway. We might dismiss all these things as toys, but actually here in east asia _millions_ are used by commuters, building security etc. And anyway, even as toys what’s wrong with a popular toy? And this wheel system has also been employed on many robots. So while the exact form factor of the segway was not so popular, who would expect it to be anyway ~20 years later? But machines something like it are popular and useful. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/104 "2020-07-04T14:01:25Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In a cramped space like a factory this thing is WAY more useful than something like an electric wheelchair or a conventional scooter. The small footprint, self-balancing, and easy controllability at very low speeds makes all the difference. I predict you’ll see them in every large factory, much like you see hand trucks and mini-forklifts. > > I think there is also huge potential for helping professionals who have to walk on the job - beat cops, postal workers, park wardens, parking enforcement officers, etc. That’s hundreds of thousands of people. This was, by far, the most prophetic post in the thread. In fact, this is pretty much what most Segways are limited to. The only place I’ve ever seen one is in an airport, a large warehouse, factory, of a large, spread out company campus, and I’ve seen one example where they were being rented to tourists, but I have never seen one being used by just a schmoe to get around. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/105 "2020-07-04T16:10:11Z")
And possibly the _least_ prophetic post in the thread: > [@edwino](#): > > It is 80 pounds and $3000 now. The computing price will come down in the next few years by where the price will be negligible. Knock off $1500. Then, with demand increasing and fabrication price dropping, say $1000 or less. Better, lighter batteries come out every year and their prices drop as well. Look at what a notebook can do now versus even 5 years ago. Knock a few hundred bucks and a few dozen pounds off. > > Next, add innovation. Perhaps sensing devices to prevent accidents. Perhaps built in communication devices. Perhaps faster, more manueverable, and lighter. It has the potential to be big. > > Now imagine a place like Ho Chi Minh city, Hyderabad, Manhattan, or Shanghai in 20 years, with cars forbidden in the densest parts of the cities. In place of thousands of cars, motorcycles, and scooters, you have these things. With demand, there will be secure parking for them. It may be nice. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/106 "2020-07-04T16:46:07Z")
Well, the points about weight and price were true. Segway has a little model now that weighs only 28 pounds and you can buy a new one for less than a thousand bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/107 "2020-07-04T18:28:25Z")
The Segway personal transporter has ceased production. The company now sells a variety of electric scooters, motorcycles and bicycles, and a smaller, kmee-high version kind of like a hoverboard. Apparently the traditional Segway only made up 1.5% of the company’s revenue at the end. I wouldn’t call it a failure - it lasted almost 20 years and led to lots of derivative products. But it never even came close to ‘revolutionizing’ individual transport. And as predicted in that thread, almost immediately after showing up on city sidewalks it was banned from sidewalks in many cities. And one of the owners of Segway accidentally drove his off a cliff and died. Now that’s bad PR. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/108 "2020-07-05T15:56:37Z")
I remember the absurd hype over these things, like when Steve Jobs announced that “It” was going to be a world-changing invention, and we were going to see cities banning cars in favor of Segways. Nothing remotely close to that happened, and people correctly pointed out the problems with the Segway being revolutionary. The people hyping it up definitely expected the form factor of the Segway to be around for decades, and for that specific type of machine to be popular, not just devices something like it or that use some tech first deployed in it. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/109 "2020-07-05T16:21:09Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I remember the absurd hype over these things, like when Steve Jobs announced that “It” was going to be a world-changing invention, and we were going to see cities banning cars in favor of Segways. […] The people hyping it up definitely expected the form factor of the Segway to be around for decades I was with you until that line. You’re seriously suggesting that Steve Jobs, a man who became famous for making iterative improvements to the form factor of his computers, phones, music players etc, and in 2000 had already worked on at least 7 series of computers, was wedded to the idea that the segway form factor would not change for decades? Come on now. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/110 "2020-07-05T16:32:30Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > You’re seriously suggesting that Steve Jobs, a man who became famous for making iterative improvements to the form factor of his computers, phones, music players etc, and in 2000 had already worked on at least 7 series of computers, was wedded to the idea that the segway form factor would not change for decades? Come on now. I’m seriously suggesting that he expected the Segway to look like a Segway and not like a scooter, motorcycle, hoverboard, or other radically different form factor, yes. If you look at an original Iphone vs a current gen one, they’re both shaped like a modern smartphone. If you look at a 2000-era Mac, it’s still recognizably a desktop or laptop. Trying to say that the scooters count as Segways is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/111 "2020-07-05T16:46:41Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > If you look at a 2000-era Mac, it’s still recognizably a desktop or laptop. Trying to say that the scooters count as Segways is just silly. Wow. So you’re actually biting the bullet and suggesting not only that the Apple I is more similar to the iMac than [a scooter](https://images.app.goo.gl/ZCmenfvXt6mKoJXv7) is to [the segway](https://images.app.goo.gl/GXLuNnpagUQhzozg9), but that the very suggestion that they represent comparable evolutions is “just silly”. Look, I’m agreeing with you about the segway being overhyped. I just think it’s a bit much to suggest that people like steve jobs would have imagined that the design of the segway would remain static for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/112 "2020-07-05T19:13:07Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Wow. So you’re actually biting the bullet and suggesting not only that the Apple I is more similar to the iMac than [a scooter](https://images.app.goo.gl/ZCmenfvXt6mKoJXv7) is to [the segway](https://images.app.goo.gl/GXLuNnpagUQhzozg9), but that the very suggestion that they represent comparable evolutions is “just silly”. You realize people can read my post, and you quoted it, right? An Apple I is from 1976, not 2000, and is not usually referred to as a ‘Mac’, thus it does not qualify as a 2000s era Mac. Also, the first pic you posted is labeled as “[17 Inch Electric Hoverboard with Handle]”, not a scooter, so I’m not sure why you’re claiming that it’s a ‘scooter’ when the pic itself clearly says that it’s not. > [@](#): > > Look, I’m agreeing with you about the segway being overhyped. I just think it’s a bit much to suggest that people like steve jobs would have imagined that the design of the segway would remain static for decades. Good thing that I didn’t suggest that, then - ‘static’ and ‘would not change for decades’ are your words, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/113 "2020-07-05T19:45:03Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > You realize people can read my post, and you quoted it, right? Yes I hope they do. > [@Pantastic](#): > > An Apple I is from 1976, not 2000 Right, so it’s analogous. You were suggesting that people, such as Steve Jobs, in 2001 would not have thought that the form factor of the segway would change even up to now in 2020. People who made a living themselves by constantly radically updating their own models. If the quibble is over 24 years vs 19 then let’s say the Lisa vs the iMac. > [@Pantastic](#): > > the first pic you posted is labeled as “[17 Inch Electric Hoverboard with Handle]”, not a scooter, so I’m not sure why you’re claiming that it’s a ‘scooter’ when the pic itself clearly says that it’s not I’m not sure why you think me using the word ‘scooter’ instead of ‘hoverboard’ is in any way significant, when my point about the basic form factor still being popularly used remains either way. And, do you have any comment on how similar the form factor is? Are you going to continue to suggest that any comparison is “silly”? > [@Pantastic](#): > > ‘static’ and ‘would not change for decades’ are your words, not mine. Fine. Your actual words were: _“The people hyping it up definitely expected the form factor of the Segway to be around for decades”._ I don’t see how it’s substantively different in the context of our discussion. If my paraphrasing is not what you meant, then what exactly did you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719/114 "2020-07-16T18:05:45Z")
Meh. I’ve been more wrong than **that** before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-segway-ginger-change-the-world-as-we-know-it/96719.md?page=5)