First of all, calling the Segway a failure is assuming a lot. I think that it is quite the other way. My main piece of evidence to back that up would be that the Segway has been above 200 on amazon.com's top seller list since it was made publicly available (Dec 2002). Considering how many electronic items amazon sells, there would have to be a fairly large number of units sold to keep it up there. As for the price being a barrier, I think that with time it will drop (case in point: DVD players. They started out at very high prices and now they are down to less that $100 ea). As more units get out there, more people will buy them, and the more people that buy them, the more flexibility Segway has to drop the price. Segway is also due to release the 'P' series, a smaller, lighter, lower performing model of the 'I' series that is currently available. These, in my book, are more practical because 1) they are more suitable for home owners (the 'I' series was originally intended for industrial use), and 2) they are going to be cheaper (latest prices are said to be about $3500, which is an excellent deal considering the technology within).
Dean Kamen has gone to great lengths to create a safe system. This was done for two reasons: 1) to reduce liability, to make a safe machine, and 2) to give law makers less of a reason not to pass laws allowing the segway on streets (Segway friendly laws have been passed in 38 states). It seems that Segway is doing well just on consumer sales. They are also marketing them to companies. Amazon has bought over 100 of them to use for produce picking, the military is taking a serious look at a souped up model of the 'I' series, as well as several postal carriers have purchased them for routes where it is too short to drive a truck and too long to walk. Aside from that, a couple of national parks are looking at purchasing them, Seattle, WA (they are trying to create a green fleet for their city services), and several oil companies.
It looks to me that they are doing fairly well, considering this is a new technology. I think that the WIRED article was unfair to them and inaccurate (they were not able to cite any evidence that Segway is doing bad; Segway has not released any sales figures, but it can be estimated from looking at units sold across the country).
OK..I'll get off my soapbox...If you want any more info, check out
http://www.segwaychat.com/, an online community of Segway enthusiasts...Almost any question can be answered there.
Bill B.