U.S. Congressman on i2

[RAY-NER]

Here is Congressman Adam Schiff (CA District 29) riding my i2 Segway at a recent "Clean Air Car Show" in South Pasadena, CA. He spent at least 20 minutes on the ride throughout the venue getting applause as he waved to constituents. Now if only we can get the entire Congress to take a ride, maybe they'll legislate mandatory use for all senior citizens like me (subsidized of course). RAY-NER http://schiff.house.gov/HoR/CA29/Newsroom/Photo+Gallery/2007/July.htm?image=9

[quade]

Asking for Segways to be subsidized by the government, even in jest, would not be helpful to anyone.

Please take that thought out of your mind and put it away.

[Five-Flags]

Asking for Segways to be subsidized by the government, even in jest, would not be helpful to anyone.

Please take that thought out of your mind and put it away.

A little levity is not a threat to the stability of the country, Quade. Perhaps you need to increase your meds.:rolleyes: I'd much rather see the government subsidizing Segways than the current pork practices. (Google "pork barrel project" for some examples.) How about Senator Stevens, who has managed to get over three billion dollars in pork barrel projects for Alaska since 1999. Might that have gotten a few Segs4Vets???? :confused: And there are a few more members of the Senate that would like to surpass that total...

Of course the system isn't going to change -- we have the best government that money can buy -- but a little humorous comment doesn't need to be suppressed.

[hellphish]

Of course the system isn't going to change -- we have the best government that money can buy -- but a little humorous comment doesn't need to be suppressed.

Quoted for truth.

[quade]

Wow. You guys really don't get this do you?

It's not about destroying the country, it's about the image the general public has of the device and the owners.

Say it's "a little humorous comment" if you like, but if someone made "a little humorous comment" about how the KKK had the right idea, I certainly hope you'd be all over him.

Jokes -do- matter.

Recently my boss was talking about one of his good friends that had just turned 65 and how they were both joking about their Social Security payments were now going to pay for their country club member ships. To them this was just a joke. To the room full of employees, some of which were making minimum wage . . . this was pretty close to "let them eat cake."

Again, jokes -do- matter. People read this web site.

[hellphish]

Wow. You guys really don't get this do you?

It's not about destroying the country, it's about the image the general public has of the device and the owners.

Say it's "a little humorous comment" if you like, but if someone made "a little humorous comment" about how the KKK had the right idea, I certainly hope you'd be all over him.

Jokes -do- matter.

Recently my boss was talking about one of his good friends that had just turned 65 and how they were both joking about their Social Security payments were now going to pay for their country club member ships. To them this was just a joke. To the room full of employees, some of which were making minimum wage . . . this was pretty close to "let them eat cake."

Again, jokes -do- matter. People read this web site.

Man, sometimes I think the Segway community is incompatible with the internet. :(

[quade]

Man, sometimes I think the Segway community is incompatible with the internet. :(

Possibly!

The real issue is that the internet, and in particular Forums and Chat Boards, aren't very good at conveying inflection and nuance.

[ian purvis]

So these 3 segways in a bar, English, American and Australian ........

[hellphish]

Possibly!

The real issue is that the internet, and in particular Forums and Chat Boards, aren't very good at conveying inflection and nuance.

And the corollary to this is that the internet is a horrible place to be taking things so seriously. Seriously.

[BillPaxton]

Someone didn't get their nap today...

[JohnM]

Joke?
I might have considered it a joke if Dean Kamen hadn't already been to Congress looking for a government handout.

http://www.affbrainwash.com/archives/007539.php

Wrong way on the Segway

by James N. Markels
Mar 9, 2003

Every once in a while there will be a news story--usually an innocuous one that nobody pays attention to--that makes me think, "That's it, that's the paradigm for trouble." Today's paradigm comes as a two-wheeled gyroscope-balanced invention for humans of the future: The Segway Human Transporter.
The Segway was making headlines long before the public even got a glimpse of it. "[The Segway] surpasses my wildest dreams," gushed one Fortune writer, and a venture capitalist asserted that the Segway would be "bigger than the Internet." The Segway's inventor himself, Dean Kamen, boasted that his invention would "be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy." Electric powered, top speed of around twelve miles per hour, the Segway was purported to be the next revolution in transportation technology.
Problem is, the Segway just doesn't sell, being priced at a whisker under $5,000 (the cost of a decent used car). It probably also doesn't help that the thing is generally seen as a danger on sidewalks populated by the rest of us walking stiffs (San Francisco has explicitly banned them from its sidewalks), and it isn't handy for transporting multiple people or significant loads.
So what did Kamen do about this? Did he start a massive ad campaign to spark consumer interest in the Segway? Did he cut prices to boost sales? Did he tinker with his invention to better meet the needs of consumers? No.
Instead, Kamen went to Congress for federal help. He wants tax credits so the price can be lowered, and he'd also like some federal projects to build Segway-friendly paths throughout major cities.
This is the paradigm of corporate welfare. In effect, you have an enterprise that is losing in the market, but instead of striving to make the business more competitive or bowing out like they should, the business runs to Congress and asks that the government give them breaks so that they can make their profit without having to change their practices or their product.
What's worse is that once Congress decides to save a particular business from going under, it sends a message to all the other businesses out there: Why bother working to be profitable when you can just get the government to make you profitable? The federal government is already doling out almost $87 billion to American businesses this year--and that's not counting tax breaks, rebates, barriers to market entry, increased taxes on imports from foreign competitors, and other gimmicks the government uses to favor businesses that would otherwise have to cut costs or improve their products to survive.
What happens once Segway gets government backing? Don't you think potential competitors, like bicycle and motorcycle manufacturers, might get a little distressed that the government is giving Segway an unfair advantage? After all, those inventions had the good sense to be cheaper and more adapted to the society that was purchasing them: Motorcycles do just fine sharing the roads with cars, and bike trails weren't built to sell more bikes--it was because bikes were already in widespread use by society that local governments built trails for them. And aren't bikes even more eco-friendly than the Segway?
But it doesn't stop there. Maybe SUV manufacturers should propose that if the government were willing to pay off the initial investment plus the expected profits from making SUVs, the manufacturers would willingly stop making SUVs altogether and focus on smaller cars, thereby promoting cleaner air in a roundabout way. Sound farfetched? It's not. The government already pays farmers, particularly tobacco farmers, to not grow anything. One third of the $1.5 billion Conservation Reserve Program goes to retired farmers to make sure they don't plant new crops, keeping food prices high by cutting potential supply. So why not pay SUV manufacturers to not produce SUVs? Indeed, where does it end?
With Congress having so much power to make or break companies or even whole industries, need we even ask why corporations bother donating to politicians? Free money beats working. If Congress didn't bother giving out corporate welfare, corporations wouldn't bother lobbying for more.
Of course, Kamen sees his invention as a "huge, huge solution to the congestion and pollution and energy demand problems the world is facing today." Every inventor sees their new gadget as The Answer to some problem. But there are inventors churning out ideas that people want and that improve our world without needing help from the government. Why should the government be taxing the rest of us to make Kamen, already a multi-millionaire, more successful? And what if the Segway, after all the help, is still a bust?
"Innovation is much more about changing people and their perceptions and their attitudes and their willingness to accept change than it is about physics and engineering," Kamen told Harvard Business School last year. He's right. But he forgot that any old invention will change society if the government forces it on us--real innovation doesn't need the help.

It was discussed in SC at the time.
http://forums.segwaychat.com/showthread.php?t=1319

[RAY-NER]

All I hoped for was some kind of tax break for us seniors over 65. In my lifetime, I already helped pay for the roads and sidewalks. Now I want to use them ecologically. Even though I'm into my senior years, I still willingly paid full price for an i2, but SENIOR BURGER KING COFFEE and a SENIOR PACIFIC THEATER TICKET helps a bit for the poor elder folks trying to get by on SS. How about a little incentive for them to get aboard an i2 by granting a few bucks transferred from a few of the pork barrels? RAY-NER

[quade]

All I hoped for was some kind of tax break for us seniors over 65. In my lifetime, I already helped pay for the roads and sidewalks. Now I want to use them ecologically. Even though I'm into my senior years, I still willingly paid full price for an i2, but SENIOR BURGER KING COFFEE and a SENIOR PACIFIC THEATER TICKET helps a bit for the poor elder folks trying to get by on SS. How about a little incentive for them to get aboard an i2 by granting a few bucks transferred from a few of the pork barrels? RAY-NER

So, you're saying you actually ARE serious about this.

Hmm, no. I don't think I can agree with your line of reasoning.

If a private company wants to cut you a deal, fine, but keep the government the hell out of it.

[wwhopper]

If you really want it screwed up...

Or better yet - if you are a defense contractor and want to make a lot of money!

There is a reason they call federal contractors - BELTWAY BANDITS!

What do lobbists get Paid?

What does it cost to fund a war?

How many bake sales does it take to fund a aircraft carrier?

Back on the orginal subject of this post...

We have a good number of legislators on Segways - Jesse Jackson Jr. was recently in the news for riding his! Bush - W (God forgive me for mentioning his name) gives them as gifts - his dad loves his, and his puppet master rides his alot as well!

[BillPaxton]

Bush - W (God forgive me for mentioning his name) gives them as gifts...
holy cow - has he given alot of them as gifts? can you imagine expecting a towel and geting an i2? Gotta get me some of that oil money.

[wwhopper]

Gotta get me some of that oil money.

Blood Money

Defense spending (aka Haliburton) pays a heck of a lot better.

Better yet, come out to a DRAFT training session - and you will see what that defense spending gets us!

[BillPaxton]

Blood Money

Defense spending (aka Haliburton) pays a heck of a lot better.

Better yet, come out to a DRAFT training session - and you will see what that defense spending gets us!
don't get me started (previous comment was sarcasm, hope you realized it) on defense spending or health care for that matter...BTW it cost me the same to buy my MB C230 after the lease as to buy my civic hybrid - it was a tough choice but gas was the #1 factor in my purchase

[wwhopper]

BTW it cost me the same to buy my MB C230 after the lease as to buy my civic hybrid - it was a tough choice but gas was the #1 factor in my purchase

A few years ago, they could not give civic hybrids away, Prius's batteries were dying right and left, and today, you stand inline for them...

Fuel cost is something everyone is finally looking at. Let's see in 1973 we had gas lines, cars got smaller, then in 1979 gas lines again, cars started to be more efficent, and the 90's everyone was driving big SUV's with 1970's fuel effeciency, and today we still drive more and use more fuel. And everyone complains how expensive it is...

One of these days finding ways to get single occupants around without burning a tank full of fossil fuel will be the way to go... Oh hey we already have that! Not everyone uses bikes, and not everyone will use the Segway, but at least there are alternatives.

p.s. how many 1980's Hondas do you see on the road, compared to '80's M-B's? And they sold more Honda's than M-B's back then! ;-) Remember how hot the VW Rabbit Diesel was in 1978, and the FIRST Honda Accord 4 door Sedanin '79? The 1977 Honda Accords were one of the first cars that people paid more than the sticker just to get on the list to buy them! - That shook up the auto world! Market Demand at it's best!

BTW - I will take the I2 over the towel ;-) Actually on the streets of DC you can buy towels (and just about everything else) with the White House Seal... Now to come up with a Presidential edition I-2 - White with gold logos, lots of eagles and flags!

[RAY-NER]

WWHOPPER of Washington D.C. trains Barack Obama to ride one of his i2 Segways into the VICTORY PARTY following his winning of the Virginia primary Feb. 12! The TV audience nationwide gets to see a winning candidate making CHANGE that he espouses so often. The event will be talked about in every paper in the world on Wednesday. Film appears on Youtube within 10 minutes, ultimately viewed by 23 million people! (How's that, Dean Kamen?) RAY-NER

[wwhopper]

I take folks who come to DC by Hillary and Bills new house, as well as the old place all the time.

[jryan]

WWHOPPER of Washington D.C. trains Barack Obama to ride one of his i2 Segways into the VICTORY PARTY following his winning of the Virginia primary Feb. 12! The TV audience nationwide gets to see a winning candidate making CHANGE that he espouses so often. The event will be talked about in every paper in the world on Wednesday. Film appears on Youtube within 10 minutes, ultimately viewed by 23 million people! (How's that, Dean Kamen?) RAY-NER

And I will be in thew front row!! He will be in Madison for his victory speech! As I am working the event, I will have reserved seats in the front! I'll let you know how it goes!

Jeremy Ryan

[jryan]

WWHOPPER of Washington D.C. trains Barack Obama to ride one of his i2 Segways into the VICTORY PARTY following his winning of the Virginia primary Feb. 12! The TV audience nationwide gets to see a winning candidate making CHANGE that he espouses so often. The event will be talked about in every paper in the world on Wednesday. Film appears on Youtube within 10 minutes, ultimately viewed by 23 million people! (How's that, Dean Kamen?) RAY-NER

I was there, a great speech but no Segway! TONS of secret service!

Jeremy Ryan

[RAY-NER]

Sorry to have that SEGWAY exposure go down the drain. Can it be done in Madison? RAY-NER

[jryan]

Sorry to have that SEGWAY exposure go down the drain. Can it be done in Madison? RAY-NER

Yes it can, but I do not think he could have done it for several reasons. When he walked out the space was very thin! He was surrounded by secret service and had to shake hands on his way down the aisle. It would have been extremely difficult but possible! Rats, and I was looking for that too! I did get first floor seating so was not too far from him!


Jeremy Ryan