TIME magazine Lists the Segway as "Top Ten worst Tech failures..."

[Kyle]

Time magazine lists the Segway as "One of the ten biggest Tech failures of the last decade"

http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...898641,00.html

I think that finically, yes the Segway wasn't the best investment but in terms of engineering and pushing the limits on society it was one of the best Tech inventions of the past decade. What are your thoughts?

[MrForbes]

Their 50 Worst Cars list is also pretty far removed from reality

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Their 50 Worst Cars list is also pretty far removed from reality

Yea I noticed that also, I wonder if this is just one persons opinion or a poll with supported data that TIME put together.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Kyle

Time magazine lists the Segway as "One of the ten biggest Tech failures of the last decade"

http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...898641,00.html

I think that finically, yes the Segway wasn't the best investment but in terms of engineering and pushing the limits on society it was one of the best Tech inventions of the past decade. What are your thoughts?

I don't agree that the segway at all influenced or changed society, but I agree that from an engineering standpoint it was not a failure.

[Bongle]

I think the main problem with the Segway was that Dean (or his company) decided to hype it to an unnecessary degree, claiming that it would transform society and the way cities were designed. If it was just a quiet release of a device that was targeted at the places where it has a genuine niche (postal workers, cops, corporate campuses), then it would have been in all kinds of "top 10 really cool devices you've never heard of" lists.

Given that its been in steady production for nearly a decade, I can't imagine they're losing money on them. I'd put it in "the top 10 devices that are quietly doing better than TIME magazine thinks they are" list.

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Bongle

I think the main problem with the Segway was that Dean (or his company) decided to hype it to an unnecessary degree, claiming that it would transform society and the way cities were designed. If it was just a quiet release of a device that was targeted at the places where it has a genuine niche (postal workers, cops, corporate campuses), then it would have been in all kinds of "top 10 really cool devices you've never heard of" lists.

Given that its been in steady production for nearly a decade, I can't imagine they're losing money on them. I'd put it in "the top 10 devices that are quietly doing better than TIME magazine thinks they are" list.

Segway LLC NEVER SAID ANYTHING pre-unvailing about the device. NOTHING. It was all 3rd parties like Jobs, Bezos, and other aformentioned parties. It was people running amuck looking for a quick sound bite and something to cover besides shark bites that summer...

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Joe Matt

Segway LLC NEVER SAID ANYTHING pre-unvailing about the device. NOTHING. It was all 3rd parties like Jobs, Bezos, and other aformentioned parties. It was people running amuck looking for a quick sound bite and something to cover besides shark bites that summer...

I'm pretty sure I remember an interview with Dean Kamen on a morning primetime show prior to the Segway release talking about how revolutionary "it" was.

[Chris Hibner]

Has anyone actually read the part of the article that explains why they are considered failures? Judging from the responses here, I would say the answer is "no".

YouTube is a great example. I saw it on the list and said, "this idiot doesn't know what he's talking about - YouTube is HUGE!"

Then I read the reason WHY it is considered a failure: it is losing $470 million dollars PER YEAR!! Google paid $1.65 Billion (with a B) for it, and it has no real chance of ever making back that money. YouTube needs to TRIPLE it's income, just to cover operating costs! I don't know about you, but that sounds to me like it's failing. It may be awesome, but it can't bleed cash like that and be called a success.

[hillale]

At one point in time, this list would have included the Edsel. It seems to be a list of technologies that are floundering on a different front than that of development, be it sales or advertising.

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by hillale

At one point in time, this list would have included the Edsel. It seems to be a list of technologies that are floundering on a different front than that of development, be it sales or advertising.

I think most people are misinterpreting the title of the article. The article isn't about technological failures as much as it is about tech PRODUCTS that have failed in a business sense.

[artdutra04]

Segway's failure to live up to expectations can be attributed to three reasons: over-hyped product release, high cost, and politicians/NIMBYs afraid of change.

- Over-hyped product release. I'm not going to lie, back in 2001 when we kept hearing about "IT" and how it would revolutionize society, it lead me to believe they invented either cold fusion or time travel. Sadly when that sheet was lifted, there was no flying DeLorean.

- From the hundreds (possibly thousands?) of people I've talked to while on my Segway, they are all really interested until they learn it costs $5k. If the price was half that, the potential market share of Segway would explode. Or if there was some kind of leasing program to lease Segways for two or three years, then sell them at $1k-$2k, they'd see huge market share growth.

- And last, the politicians and NIMBYs afraid of change. Too many cities banned Segways, claiming they were a huge liability, and that crazy people flying down sidewalks will run you over and steal your baby and eat your dog and all kinds of FUD tactics. Some brought up obscure laws from the early 20th century, which claimed that all motorized vehicles have to have physical brakes, which they claimed made disc brakes legal but dynamic braking not. If citizens were afraid of people on Segways going 12.5mph on sidewalks, a better solution would have been to make a law prohibiting them from going beyond 6mph on sidewalks (light jogging speed). Laws that just outright ban Segways because the potential exists for someone to get hurt are like the cities and towns at the beginning of the 20th century which banned automobiles because they might run into a trolley car or spook the horses. It's better to teach someone responsibility than to outright ban it.

But all said and done, I don't think Segway is over by a long shot. If able to be sold at relatively cheap prices, Neighborhood Electric Vehicles look to be an up-and-coming thing for the coming decades, especially by municipal services, utilities, postal service, etc. If so, then the rising tide will lift all boats in the electric transportation market.

[Burmeister #279]

(sorry if this has already been mentioned because i skipped all the posts so i could say this before i leave)

I don't know if this poll was done online but if so, it can't be trusted. online polls can be voted on by anyone anywhere as many times as they want, as evidenced by the creater of the literal garbage can/black hole of the internet being voted as the number one most influential person over every legitimate leader, due to online voting. Time magazine polls are definately [[[generally]]] untrustworthy.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Burmeister #279

(sorry if this has already been mentioned because i skipped all the posts so i could say this before i leave)

I don't know if this poll was done online but if so, it can't be trusted. online polls can be voted on by anyone anywhere as many times as they want, as evidenced by the creater of the literal garbage can/black hole of the internet being voted as the number one most influential person over every legitimate leader, due to online voting. Time magazine polls are definately [[[generally]]] untrustworthy.

The best way to find that out would to be, READING THE ARTICLE before randomly posting speculation.

Originally Posted by TIME Article

24/7 Wall St. looked at both start-ups and products introduced by companies that did not survive to create a list of the most colossal tech failures of the last decade.

Honestly, how few people in this thread seem to have bothered to actually read the article is a little bit disgusting.

[Cory]

I don't understand the outrage here. When I saw the overview on the first page here I thought the list was a little ridiculous (Youtube? Top 10 worst tech failure? Seriously?)

Then I read the article and realized that it's talking about these things being failures from a financial standpoint. When you look at it from that view, everything on the list makes sense.

So are Youtube/the Segway a failure? Sure, if you're looking at it from a purely fiscal point of view. Are they actual failures when related to technology? Clearly not. Youtube is ubiquitous in daily life, and the Segway is a very cool piece of engineering.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by big1boom

Well... seeing as the rest of the 10 biggest tech failures are
Windows Vista
Gateway
HD DVD
Vonage
YouTube
Sirius XM
Microsoft Zune
Palm
Iridium
Segway

Last I checked, Vista is commonplace, Gateway sells lots of computers (I have one), Vonage has enough money to advertise, YouTube is everywhere, Sirius XM is installed in cars, my roommate has a Zune, a few people have Palm's..

So I wouldn't really consider this list the be the most credible...

I would count is as a credible list - and from exactly Cory's standpoint up above. Purely financial terms.

But let me pose this question to you all:
What difference does Segway have than every other product on the list?
No real competition.
I think we can all name some other competing product in every one of those product's fields that are more popular (and thus more profitable) on that list.

Can you do the same with Segway?
What is equal in a consumer product to a Segway at this point in time?
Who is Segway's major rival?
When you have a unique product, you would love to see your product thrive, but you don't mind if it doesn't since you have the market cornered.
Now whether or not it's a good market to be in, is of another discussion.

We all know that in terms of popularity & other attributes that:
Windows Xp > Windows Vista (MicroSoft is esentially competing with themselves, so who's losing that one overall?? No one really) lol
Dell > Gateway (in terms of sales)
Blueray > HD DVD (the clear winner was BlueRay)
Skype > Vonage
HULU > YouTube (sometimes)
iPod > Microsoft Zune (by leaps & bounds admittedly (I myself own 2 Zunes & 1 iPod & can admit that one)
Blackberry or iPhone > Palm (today, but not 10 years ago - if you were anything of a tech savy person, you had a Palm Pilot back in the day)

etc, etc...

But what company or product over-powered Segway in the market of providing the consumer a self balancing (electro-mechanical) people transporter?
(Bicycles & other human powered machines don't really count, nor compare for this in-depth of a comparison btw...)

The answer is nothing compares, nor competes with it currently.
So it's ridiculous to even put Segway on the list in my opinion.


By the way, does anyone know TIME's historical standpoint on the Segway?
I know an "independent" research company conducted the study, but that doesn't mean TIME has the last say as to what to publish.
Has TIME magazine embraced the Segway over the years, or shunned it, & thus had other motives for putting it on the list with no fair competition so to speak of.
Just wondering...