Gadget Graveyard? Laptop Mag things so...

[segwayowner]

I just picked up a March issue of Laptop magazine-- I rarely read it, I got it free at an Airport. They have been wrting about gadgets from the last 15 years, and they have an article named "Gadget Graveyard: The 25 worst pieces of tech trash consumers have had the misfortune to use over the years."

I was shocked. The Segway is #2 out of 25. Here is what they say:
"Hype Kills. Would our vision of the Segway be tempered by a kindness if it hadnt been touted as a world-changing invention? Sure, the gyroscopic individual person mover looked sexy, but what were the chances it would be any more then a plaything for the rich? We're glad to see airport staff and urban mailmen still riding the $5000 scooter craze, but the rest of us replaced gawking with yawning moments after it bowed."

Wow, thats powerful. Comments? Is the segway really this dead? I was on mine yesterday, and got the same positive comments that I got 3 years ago, when it was new.
What is with this new trend of bad press?
Thanks....

[KSagal]

possibly you said it yourself without even realizing it...

You said that you got the mag for free at the airport. Seems to me that the opinions in it were worth every penny you paid...

I really like my seg. They seem to be selling more and more, and being included in more places and events all the time...

If some one cannot see the value that I see in Segways, so what? I did not buy it to make anyone happy but myself...

[macgeek]

I think its a case of P-Series envy myself.


Jonathan

[pam]

And my aunt just sent me an article from the Dallas Morning News stating, among other things,

"When the Segway Human Transporter emerged from it's carefully woven rumor cocoon back in 2001, the disappointment from those who'd been hoping for everything from a personal hovercraft to a teleportaion device was almost palpable.

"But while the backlash was fierce, it didn't kill the little electric scooter.

"...Although the Segway hasn't changed the world the way some insiders proclaimed it would, it is making money..... The Segway unveiling five years ago in many ways marked the beginning of the age of gadget hype.

"Since then, Apple Computer Inc., and to a lesser extent -- Microsoft Corp. have refined the art of viral marketign with their hottest products, as legions of online fans and detractors have sifted through pre-release clues about products such as the video iPod or Xbox 360 games control.

"...But Microsoft can take some confort in the Segway, which is proving that even when a hype campaign blows up in a companyh's face, it isn't always fatal."

So, some authors have come up with exactly the opposite of the laptop Magaine article writer.
Pam

[Tarkus]

It's the classic "tomAto/tamahto" deal.

There is little question that the hype was big and the initial reaction was lukewarm at. best.

I see more Segs in commercial use but still few "in the wild".

Time will tell, until then I'll just keep doing my thing.

[Dragan]

If it's dead, PULEESE....Don't tell our customers in Canada! They're buying them at a feverish pace, more and more applications putting them to use, more and more support for the technology.

I think Karl's right; opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one. When I hear a rare detractor of the technology use the "toy for the rich" arguement, said detractor is either making the comment while pushing a shopping cart full of bags and cans, or driving a $75,000 SUV two blocks to get a quart of milk.

Even that icon of modern technology, the cellphone that's attached to the head of 90% of humans on this planet at any given time has it's detractors.

There's never been a single product that everyone likes, never will be. Personally, I'm rather glad that I'm one of the fortunate to see the true value and application of this superb machine, and I feel a bit sorry for the ones that can't or won't actually have an open enough mind to even give it more than a passing glance before rendering judgement.
Wayne

[GyroGo]

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Mark Twain

[unclejay]

The big problem I see with Segways is , there is no place to ride them. Street - too dangerous. Sidewalk - pedestrians absolutely hate them. Bike paths - ditto, cyclists see it as an intrusion, walkers are startled and move 10 feet off the path. State and local laws outlaw all the above in varying combinations. Dont mistake friendly interest for approval - people are making a judgement.

Another problem is - the whiz factor is limited. Its SLOW, really only balances in one direction, sways left to right too much, and doesnt do obstacles well. Sounds crazy but they should have gone the extra mile and done a unicycle.

Finally, the cost. I also have a $5000 Kawasaki quad which I use on the sand dunes on weekends. It returns much more entertainment for the dollar, is user-serviceable, and goes very fast, corners tightly, and climbs any hill under any traction conditions. Ditto for any other $5000 leisure device.

[luckie]

The big problem I see with Segways is , there is no place to ride them. Street - too dangerous. Sidewalk - pedestrians absolutely hate them. Bike paths - ditto, cyclists see it as an intrusion, walkers are startled and move 10 feet off the path. State and local laws outlaw all the above in varying combinations. Dont mistake friendly interest for approval - people are making a judgement.

Another problem is - the whiz factor is limited. Its SLOW, really only balances in one direction, sways left to right too much, and doesnt do obstacles well. Sounds crazy but they should have gone the extra mile and done a unicycle.

Finally, the cost. I also have a $5000 Kawasaki quad which I use on the sand dunes on weekends. It returns much more entertainment for the dollar, is user-serviceable, and goes very fast, corners tightly, and climbs any hill under any traction conditions. Ditto for any other $5000 leisure device.

Wow my experience is just the opposite.

1. The law allows me to go on the road and the sidewalk and people smile and wave under both circumstances.

2. Street, super smooth in the bike lanes (which are always empty by the way), Sidewalk, tons of room for a p Series, nobody is scared, everyone smiles.

3. Price is the same as owning a cell phone.

[unclejay]

Luckie, just a clarification - in Arizona Segways are legal only on sidewalks unless there are none. Never on multi-use paths or bike lanes. But I use them anyway out of necessity.

Bike Lanes are full of glass and trash and bicyclists - this is a dense suburban environment.

Coming up behind pedestrians absolutely startles them no matter how slow and what verbal assurance they are given. It is a large, tall object. Also we have an older population which has a deep-rooted sense of 'entitlement' and resistant to change - and they have city council's ear.

Same cost as a cell phone ?????? Did you buy a bridge with your cell phone ?

I think the difference in experience is due to location. But dense markets are very important to Segway's success. We lost San Fran and that was a major tragedy, it is an innovative market and it turned thumbs down.

[luckie]

Same cost as a cell phone ?????? Did you buy a bridge with your cell phone ?.

Ignoring the actual cost of the phone, my students have had cell phones for years before getting to college and they (or more commonly their parents) tend to pay about $100/month on their bill. Many actually have higher monthly bills.

Since my p Series cost $2999 brand new, I guess that's less than 3 years of using a cell phone. Heck, my students spent that much on the phone before they even got to college.

DL

[Dragan]

Unclejay, I too live in a dense urban environment (the city has a population of 1.2 million) and I have the same experiences as Luckie. No hassles, no issues on sidewalks with pedestrians at all, nor with cyclists on the pathways.

As a former cyclist, I used to find that people would often lunge out of your way in an exaggerated manner, and I never see that with the segway. A single step to the side, maybe two, most always a smile. Cyclists tend to either pretend they didn't see you at all, or really want to talk. I hear what you're saying about elderly populations, etc. but we haven't see that sort of thing at all.

As for the quad comparions, everything you said is true, but there is the other side of that. You can't take your quad down a sidewalk to the grocery store, go in and get what you need and come back out without ever dismounting. You also can't throw your quad in the trunk of your car and take it along with you on a drive, and I am certain that you'd have a lot of odd looks trying to check in for a flight with one. Are quads a lot of fun in the dunes? you bet. They're also a $5000. boat anchor in town. Segways don't do fantastic in deep sand, but they handle the urban side of things quite handily.

they fill two different needs, and have two different reasons for being. Quads can certainly do some things that Segways can't; the reverse is also very much true.
Wayne

[macgeek]

As "un segway friendly" places go New York city is one of the toughest
and the segway on its mean streets is a bigger challange, I have had my segway two years now, I use it to go from my house in Brooklyn (brighton beach) to my office in Midtown manhatten (bout 13 miles) on the way I encounter nothingt but Waves, Cops giving me the thumbs up, people asking me a MILLION times, were THEY can find one. I have been harrassed by a cop ONCE, and I showed him, I was insured and he let me go. I wear a helmet, I AM FULLY INSURED, I drive on the STREET whenever I can, I WALK my seg on the sidewalk, I take it on trains, elevators, bike paths, In stores (I park it, I don't ride it, with the exception of home depot) :) I use my seg for local errends, I LOVE MY SEG!

If a segway can make it here, It can make it anywhere!

Jonathan

[GyroGo]

IMHO, the topic of this thread is to point out one magazine's editorial opinion. While I haven't read the article, I'd have to bet it's not based on any facts not already known to us. The market potential of Segs has been discussed here in SC forever, but I hardly think a magazine article that is silly enough to label the Segway as the second of the 25 "worst gadgets of all time" is a worthy basis to have a serious discussion on the market potential of this brilliant device.

It's an open question whether one day "cities will be redesigned around them", and it's not improper to have doubt, but I won't pay any further attention to a magazine that is stupid enough to call it one of the "worst gadgets of all time." period.

screw them.

[GyroGo]

I'm not going to subscribe to Laptop Magazine to read the article, so I have no idea what is on the list (Google didn't help).

But IMHO, the whole list of 25 can be replaced by ONE obsolete device that probably has the MOST contact (in man hours, not neccesarily number of users) with humans and seems to doom mankind to PERMANENT INEFFIECIENCY. Yes, the worst gadget is also the most used, and it is also in the realm of the editors of Laptop Magazine's alleged expertise (what do they REALLY know about Segways, anyway?)

I'm talking about the QWERTY keyboard, of course. While originally designed so mechanical keyboard hammers wouldn't lock up together, it has become unshakably entrenched in our civilization even though the DVORAK design woulod be superior for productivity.

Isn't THIS what Laptop Magazine should be thinking about?

[bystander]

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