John F
02-03-2003, 05:06 PM
I love Norman Sanders comments at the end of this article
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/02/03/Floridian/Special_deliveries.shtml
By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 3, 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The futuristic Segway scooter has won over letter carriers, campus
police and Disney World. Now the first private models are about to be
shipped - at $4,950 per.
When a retired business executive turns 65, he might reasonably expect the
family to give him a set of golf clubs, or a couple of berths on a cruise
ship, or a hammock for the back yard.
Norman Sanders of Jacksonville isn't a hammock sort of guy. What he got from
his family for his 65th birthday was a matched set of one of the most
coveted vehicles to debut in the United States since the original Ford
Mustang.
The Segway Human Transporter, a motorized scooter more commonly known by its
old code name, "It," was unveiled a year ago amid great hype. It was touted
by inventor Dean Kamen and fans that included Apple Computer's chief
executive officer, Steve Jobs, as a device that would revolutionize
Americans' concept of personal transportation.
A year later, nobody knows whether it will ever conquer the sidewalks. But
lots of people are anticipating March 1, when shipping of Segways to private
owners begins.
Though the sticker price of $4,950 feels heavy in a depressed economy, a
spokesman for the Internet site Amazon.com, the only venue where one can
place an order, says demand is high.
"We're not releasing specific sales totals," Bill Curry said, "but the
Segway has been consistently among the bestselling items in our electronics
store since we started taking orders."
Still, it is unlikely that sales will outpace those for the ubiquitous Razor
electric scooter, which fetches $90 at Sharper Image, even after Segway
introduces a smaller model this year with a price tag between $2,000 and
$3,000.
Sanders, whose daughter-in-law won the right to buy two scooters before the
release date based on a 75-word essay explaining why Sanders deserved to
have them, insists the price difference is worth it.
"When people get on, for maybe the first 25 seconds they're tentative,"
Sanders said. "But after that, they're wearing smiles from ear to ear.
Whether it's seniors or kids or people in between, everybody loves them.
They're completely safe, safer than bicycles, because they don't fall over."
The Segway's secret is a complex balancing system. If you lean back, the
scooter moves backward. If you lean forward, it moves forward. If you climb
a hill, the platform remains level. It won't go up stairs, but it will
negotiate curbs.
"When we ride them to the grocery store, forget about a quick trip," said
Sanders, whose scooters were delivered two days before Thanksgiving.
"Nobody's seen these things, and they stop traffic wherever they go. A trip
for a loaf of bread can take hours."
A year ago, the scooter underwent a four-week test by the U.S. Postal
Service in Tampa as an alternative to having carriers walk with 35-pound
bags. It then had similar tests in six other cities with a variety of
climates.
Testing is now on hiatus, although the Postal Service was sufficiently
impressed with early results that it bought 40 Segways to continue testing.
Because of the extra weight they carry, the Postal Service models are
heavy-duty in performance standards and price, about $8,000 each.
"For our needs, the scooter had to be modified from day one," said Bridget
Robertson of the Postal Service in Tampa. "Among other things, the bags
didn't accommodate as much mail as we needed. But the early results were
promising. It rained nearly everywhere we tested it. When we took it up to
Concord, N.H.; we had a few days of snow. They did surprisingly well in all
weather."
The scooters are gradually making their way into corporate life. Several are
aboard each of Disney's cruise ships for the captains' use and as demos for
passengers.
Matt Dailida, who handles regulatory issues for Segway, says that Walt
Disney World has Segway scooters on its grounds for employees who need to
negotiate the vast complex.
They are "the only wheeled devices allowed in the park during hours of
operation," he said.
They will become a part of the culture of Hartsfield International Airport
in Atlanta; they will be used by employees to negotiate the facility's
sprawl.
Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma has leased 10 Segways for a four-month
trial run, with an eye to buying them if they fill a need.
The city of Seattle is testing them as a vehicle for meter readers.
And the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., bought three
scooters for its police department and admissions office.
It's not surprising that the scooter would be warmly received at the school.
It's where Kamen did the undergraduate work that led to his career as an
inventor. Among his 90 patents are a vascular stent, a portable dialysis
machine and the iBOT, a four-wheel-drive wheelchair that climbs stairs.
"It started last May when we had Dean here as our commencement speaker, and
we got into a conversation about the scooter," said Steve Hebert, the
university's vice president for administration. "We've had them in service
for two months and found them to be tremendously reliable. They're perfect
for an 80-acre campus. You just plug them in at night."
And, yes, Kamen arranged for his old school to get its Segway fleet at a
discount.
The scooter has not received such a warm welcome elsewhere. Though 33
states, including Florida, and the District of Columbia passed legislation
that would allow the scooters to operate on sidewalks, the laws left room
for cities to take their own action, and they have.
San Francisco has banned Segways from sidewalks, though they are allowed on
streets, and several other California cities are studying similar bans.
The San Francisco action was based on the dangers that the scooter, with a
12.5 mph top speed, might pose to pedestrians, particularly the elderly.
That has not become an issue locally.
"I've heard nothing even remotely like that," said Mark Winn of the St.
Petersburg city attorney's office. "The City Council banned skateboards from
downtown sidewalks because they're not considered safe with so many people
walking there. If the scooters were deemed a hazard, then there might be
thought to keeping them off sidewalks. But nobody's brought it up yet."
In Tampa, where Mayor **** Greco and City Attorney Jim Palermo each took a
turn on a Segway when the scooters were brought in for the Postal Service to
test, there is no talk of a sidewalk ban, either.
"I haven't heard the first thing about it," Palermo said. "I can't imagine
banning something before it even arrives. It's a fun thing to ride,
actually, after your brain realizes you're not going to fall off."
Dailida, of Segway, said the elderly shouldn't fear the scooters.
"They're great for older people who have some trouble getting around," he
said. "The people who are most opposed to it are the people would would
benefit most."
Norman Sanders echoes the sentiment.
"The people opposed to it are fools because they haven't experienced it
yet," he said. "As a senior citizen myself, I can tell you they're
completely safe."
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/02/03/Floridian/Special_deliveries.shtml
By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 3, 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The futuristic Segway scooter has won over letter carriers, campus
police and Disney World. Now the first private models are about to be
shipped - at $4,950 per.
When a retired business executive turns 65, he might reasonably expect the
family to give him a set of golf clubs, or a couple of berths on a cruise
ship, or a hammock for the back yard.
Norman Sanders of Jacksonville isn't a hammock sort of guy. What he got from
his family for his 65th birthday was a matched set of one of the most
coveted vehicles to debut in the United States since the original Ford
Mustang.
The Segway Human Transporter, a motorized scooter more commonly known by its
old code name, "It," was unveiled a year ago amid great hype. It was touted
by inventor Dean Kamen and fans that included Apple Computer's chief
executive officer, Steve Jobs, as a device that would revolutionize
Americans' concept of personal transportation.
A year later, nobody knows whether it will ever conquer the sidewalks. But
lots of people are anticipating March 1, when shipping of Segways to private
owners begins.
Though the sticker price of $4,950 feels heavy in a depressed economy, a
spokesman for the Internet site Amazon.com, the only venue where one can
place an order, says demand is high.
"We're not releasing specific sales totals," Bill Curry said, "but the
Segway has been consistently among the bestselling items in our electronics
store since we started taking orders."
Still, it is unlikely that sales will outpace those for the ubiquitous Razor
electric scooter, which fetches $90 at Sharper Image, even after Segway
introduces a smaller model this year with a price tag between $2,000 and
$3,000.
Sanders, whose daughter-in-law won the right to buy two scooters before the
release date based on a 75-word essay explaining why Sanders deserved to
have them, insists the price difference is worth it.
"When people get on, for maybe the first 25 seconds they're tentative,"
Sanders said. "But after that, they're wearing smiles from ear to ear.
Whether it's seniors or kids or people in between, everybody loves them.
They're completely safe, safer than bicycles, because they don't fall over."
The Segway's secret is a complex balancing system. If you lean back, the
scooter moves backward. If you lean forward, it moves forward. If you climb
a hill, the platform remains level. It won't go up stairs, but it will
negotiate curbs.
"When we ride them to the grocery store, forget about a quick trip," said
Sanders, whose scooters were delivered two days before Thanksgiving.
"Nobody's seen these things, and they stop traffic wherever they go. A trip
for a loaf of bread can take hours."
A year ago, the scooter underwent a four-week test by the U.S. Postal
Service in Tampa as an alternative to having carriers walk with 35-pound
bags. It then had similar tests in six other cities with a variety of
climates.
Testing is now on hiatus, although the Postal Service was sufficiently
impressed with early results that it bought 40 Segways to continue testing.
Because of the extra weight they carry, the Postal Service models are
heavy-duty in performance standards and price, about $8,000 each.
"For our needs, the scooter had to be modified from day one," said Bridget
Robertson of the Postal Service in Tampa. "Among other things, the bags
didn't accommodate as much mail as we needed. But the early results were
promising. It rained nearly everywhere we tested it. When we took it up to
Concord, N.H.; we had a few days of snow. They did surprisingly well in all
weather."
The scooters are gradually making their way into corporate life. Several are
aboard each of Disney's cruise ships for the captains' use and as demos for
passengers.
Matt Dailida, who handles regulatory issues for Segway, says that Walt
Disney World has Segway scooters on its grounds for employees who need to
negotiate the vast complex.
They are "the only wheeled devices allowed in the park during hours of
operation," he said.
They will become a part of the culture of Hartsfield International Airport
in Atlanta; they will be used by employees to negotiate the facility's
sprawl.
Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma has leased 10 Segways for a four-month
trial run, with an eye to buying them if they fill a need.
The city of Seattle is testing them as a vehicle for meter readers.
And the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., bought three
scooters for its police department and admissions office.
It's not surprising that the scooter would be warmly received at the school.
It's where Kamen did the undergraduate work that led to his career as an
inventor. Among his 90 patents are a vascular stent, a portable dialysis
machine and the iBOT, a four-wheel-drive wheelchair that climbs stairs.
"It started last May when we had Dean here as our commencement speaker, and
we got into a conversation about the scooter," said Steve Hebert, the
university's vice president for administration. "We've had them in service
for two months and found them to be tremendously reliable. They're perfect
for an 80-acre campus. You just plug them in at night."
And, yes, Kamen arranged for his old school to get its Segway fleet at a
discount.
The scooter has not received such a warm welcome elsewhere. Though 33
states, including Florida, and the District of Columbia passed legislation
that would allow the scooters to operate on sidewalks, the laws left room
for cities to take their own action, and they have.
San Francisco has banned Segways from sidewalks, though they are allowed on
streets, and several other California cities are studying similar bans.
The San Francisco action was based on the dangers that the scooter, with a
12.5 mph top speed, might pose to pedestrians, particularly the elderly.
That has not become an issue locally.
"I've heard nothing even remotely like that," said Mark Winn of the St.
Petersburg city attorney's office. "The City Council banned skateboards from
downtown sidewalks because they're not considered safe with so many people
walking there. If the scooters were deemed a hazard, then there might be
thought to keeping them off sidewalks. But nobody's brought it up yet."
In Tampa, where Mayor **** Greco and City Attorney Jim Palermo each took a
turn on a Segway when the scooters were brought in for the Postal Service to
test, there is no talk of a sidewalk ban, either.
"I haven't heard the first thing about it," Palermo said. "I can't imagine
banning something before it even arrives. It's a fun thing to ride,
actually, after your brain realizes you're not going to fall off."
Dailida, of Segway, said the elderly shouldn't fear the scooters.
"They're great for older people who have some trouble getting around," he
said. "The people who are most opposed to it are the people would would
benefit most."
Norman Sanders echoes the sentiment.
"The people opposed to it are fools because they haven't experienced it
yet," he said. "As a senior citizen myself, I can tell you they're
completely safe."