What's the Deal?

[MBiddy]

What's the huge deal about the Segway? I don't think it revolutionary. The wheelchair was revolutionary with all its gyroscopes and stair climbing ability, but this? It's a scooter! Sure it's cool, but after all that hype this is all we get? This is what is going to make Kamen the richest man in the world? Normal people can't buy them, unless they are rich. $3000! This is only a help to warehouses and the disabled.

Walk for goodness sakes. Burn the fat off the most obese country in the world.

When are the Spider Tanks going to be developed? At least have a spider-walker!

The Lord of the Rings had tons of hype and it can out an underacheivement too!

[Rob Colatutto]

you need to learn a lesson, you do not talk bad about the segway!!! ever, and mainly not in the robotics forum

[Melancholy]

it's all right for everyone to have their own opinions. i exactly don't like the idea of replacing walking and having a vehicle where you dont even have to move to get around. people in this country really do need more exercise. i perfer my rollerblades to driving a car any time. but, a lot of people on my team and especially people in my physics class have been in love with the segway since it was first made public. most of us simply appreciate the fact that Dean Kamen is an absolute genius. i'm just stunned by the creativity of the design of it. also, it does move quite amazingly, and it's a lot of fun. come on, give segways a chance.

[purplehaze357]

well the segway is revolutionary and it isnt just a scooter soo ill dismiss that whole thing...i mean sure it is going to make Dean rich again but does that tell u something....mayb that yeah it is revolutionary and yeah its going to help things move faster..the segway, actually, was never intended for public consumption until Dean found that it was such a huge hit...but u have to do a little reading if u think its not revolutionary and its a scooter...

[Rob Colatutto]

i agree that it can't completely replace walking, but you have to look at the invention, it is pure genious. i don't think i have ever seen something else as amazing as the segway

[Melancholy]

i would have liked it more if Dean made all of his money helping people who truly need it: a wheelchair that can go up stairs and inventions that will save a person who had a heart attack...

[Alfred Thompson]

Originally posted by Melancholy
i would have liked it more if Dean made all of his money helping people who truly need it: a wheelchair that can go up stairs and inventions that will save a person who had a heart attack...

Most of Dean's projects have saved lives. Insulin pumps, heart stents, dialisis machines, and several others. The wheel chair is amazing and may help a great many people.

The Segway is really an outgrowth of the wheelchair project. The code name for the Segway was Ginger. The code name for the wheelchair was Fred. To those of us who remember Fred Astaire and his dancing partner Ginger Rogers it is pretty obvious that the two projects go hand in hand.

He's had some other nice inventions, some related to helocopters for example. You can't expect and inventor to stop thinking just because an idea might make money and not be medically related.

[MBiddy]

The wheelchair was more amazing than the Segway.

[Alfred Thompson]

I would agree that the wheelchair is much more amazing than the Segway. But the Segway has way more applicability. Who knows what will develop once both have been out long enough for people to get new ideas from them.

[Rob Colatutto]

i know, it is pretty amazing how the wheel chair can go up stairs, but you still have to look at all the very practacal uses of the segway, if you read the website www.segway.com all thier uses they tell make a lot of sense, and i think it would be great for going around college which i what i am going to get one for next summer

[Joe Matt]

Originally posted by purplehaze357
well the segway is revolutionary and it isnt just a scooter soo ill dismiss that whole thing...i mean sure it is going to make Dean rich again but does that tell u something....mayb that yeah it is revolutionary and yeah its going to help things move faster..the segway, actually, was never intended for public consumption until Dean found that it was such a huge hit...but u have to do a little reading if u think its not revolutionary and its a scooter...

You have to ride it to understand it. If you just look at it, it seems like a regular scooter, but when you ride it, it is magical. You literally zip off and do things impossible with rollerblades, bicycles, and other modes of transportation. The Segway will be bigger in industry, the government, and medical purposes than a consumer product.

[Amy Beth]

Originally posted by Alfred Thompson
You can't expect and inventor to stop thinking just because an idea might make money and not be medically related.

hear hear. That quote alone'll be worth money someday.

[Wetzel]

Originally posted by JosephM


You have to ride it to understand it. If you just look at it, it seems like a regular scooter, but when you ride it, it is magical. You literally zip off and do things impossible with rollerblades, bicycles, and other modes of transportation. The Segway will be bigger in industry, the government, and medical purposes than a consumer product.

I take it you have never been stuck in a wheelchair. Being able to use stairs, and reach things up high is magical when you can't do these things normaly.

Challege: Spend a day or two in a wheelchair if you can. Better yet, goto the grocery store and try to do all your shopping from a wheelchair.


Wetzel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use someone else's eyes.
Wash them before returning them.

[Steve Prairie]

#1) Segway will be retrofited w/ a stirling engine: This improvement would enhance the running time of the Segway while conserving fossil fuels. And seeing how it can be used much longer, it may become more practicle in cities --> less smog in cities.

#2) Vanity Fair Article:

There are many observers that think that if Kamen's people have actually cracked the code, their Stirling engine could wind up being far more revolutionary than their electric superscooter. Kamen doesn't disagree, but he sees the projects as two parts of a single, unified master plan. The plan, it turns out, has yet another element-one whose details he remains a bit guarded about. In tandem with the Stirling project, Kamen's team is developing a small water-purification system that would use the engines waste heat to zap contaminated H2O and render it drinkable. According to Kamen, equipping the Segway with a Stirling engine would in effect turn it into a "portable, personal-sized electric power plant - you ride around on it all day, then take it home and plug your house into it." Adding the water purifier would turn the machine additionally into a "rolling waterworks-you connect it to your well and it gives you potable water

Recap: Revolutionary power...water purifier...zero degree turning radius...balances....and of course, it's one of Dean's inventions.

I'd buy one for 3k... but I may wait for the next model.

-Steve

[Alfred Thompson]

Anyone who can make the Stirling engine work practically and efficiently will be rich beyond Bill Gates. And the world will really change.