Less-than-Friendly Newspaper Column from Chicago

[Brooster]

So far, Chicago's been a pretty darn Segway-friendly city. The overwhelming majority of reactions we've seen here have been very positive. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the word "cool" as I've ridden by people on my HT. Hundreds ... thousands, perhaps.

I guess there are always those who feel differently.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep30.html



Brooster

[BruceWright]

Roeper?

Isn't he the guy who said that Reign of Fire was better than Fellowship of the Ring?

Idiot.

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster


I guess there are always those who feel differently.


Brooster


I'm not surprised at the Sun Times article.....In fact I rarely ever read that inferior newspaper when I was living in Chicago unless there happened to be an extra free copy sitting in the "BACK" of a CTA BUS while I was headed somewhere in pre-Seg days. Read the trib !

Steve

[Brooster]

The fact that we enjoyed a great SegwayFest a month ago, with over 100 Segway HTs and almost nothing but positive reaction, tells us a little something about the "real" Chicago. It sounds to me like someone's a little out of touch with what's going on just beneath his nose.


Albert Einstein once said, "Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds."



Brooster

[q]

they must have retracted;
the link is borked.

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3d.jpg
(plz click image to enlarge.)

//

[god1138]

I love it when a link gets borked. ; )

-Robert
"BORN TO GLIDE"

[pt]

he had a good point...

And if there's one thing we know about Americans and their cars, motorcycles, boats and any other mode of transportation, it's that a high percentage of us will sacrifice gobs of money and even personal comfort, as long as we look cool as we zip around.

over 20,000 people bought the hummer h2, they think they're cool too.

cheers,
pt

[Brooster]

The link works just fine for me.

Brooster

[RAG1247]

In the last few days, we have seen numerous forms of media put forth many reports and articles regarding the Segway ht, including the article in the SunTimes posted by Brooster. Many of us in this forum tend to refer to them as negative in nature (and some of them are and/or include incorrect or misleading information). However, most include also some truthful and accurate information, which we may again feel gives a negative connotation to the HT, and which we would rather not see in print.

IMHO, LLC needs to be more pro-active in getting their story across, using the same media outlets, hopefully helping to negate or correct some of the press that is unfavorable or negative to LLC and its game plan, be it in the form of news releases,advertising, interviews or whatever.

Before someone points it out, I recognize that we are in a marathon and not a sprint.


Richard
Ft. Lauderdale
http://www.sonyguy.com/stars_rag2.gif[/img=left] [i]If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around youhttp://www.sonyguy.com/stars2.gif

[q]

quote:Originally posted by q

they must have retracted;
the link is borked.

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3d.jpg
(plz click image to enlarge.)

//



//

ack! my bandwidth disappeared
when i tried to access the link.

after reading the article, i
wish the bandwidth didn't come
back.

well, at last we have someone
on the planet who knows what is
and what isn't cool. (quick,
someone nudge mr. roeper with
a "clue" stick.) methinks he
should stick to "clumsy" movie
reviews.

kthxbye.

q.

http://wwww.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3a.jpg
(plz click image to enlarge.)

//

[RAG1247]

quote:Originally posted by X-man

My letter to Roeper;

"Older people, residents of cold-weather cities, the tens of millions who can't
afford to spend several thousand dollars on some battery-powered gizmo that
tops out at 12.5 mph -- they'd never become customers'

I'm 68, live in Chicago and use mine every day. I don't own a car. Too expensive for my urban needs. I also like the enviromental impact the Segway makes over the foul exhaust of automobiles.

You column has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. I though journalist were
supposed to check their fact. Oops - you're a movie critic, sorry.



The Lone Glider! :)


llc should respond and work with Mr. Roeper

Richard
Ft. Lauderdale
http://www.sonyguy.com/stars_rag2.gif[/img=left] [i]If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around youhttp://www.sonyguy.com/stars2.gif

[Brooster]

Give 'im hell Bob. He probably saw us riding across the bridge from his office window in the Sun Times Building over the last three days, and thought: "That's it ... I'll bash Segways in my next column."

When I talked about us being under his nose, I meant it.

Brooster

[Brooster]

We just rode around Navy Pier day before yesterday, with a local owner who's 75 ... and loves the Seg. He rides it more than I ride mine.

Brooster

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by X-man

My letter to Roeper;

I though journalist were
supposed to check their fact. Oops - you're a movie critic, sorry.


HA HA HA I Love that.....what is it they say about critics ??? , something about them being "frustrated mediocre's" in their field??

Steve

[dhugger]

My questions to this guy would be, "How reliable were cars 7 months after they were released for the first time?" and "How long did it take cars to catch on?" and "How much would $850 (for a Model T) be today with inflation?" and "Isn't beauty (or 'dorkiness') in the eye of the beholder?"

-Derek Hugger-

[Brooster]

I saw a program on TV the other night ... I forget whether it was The History Channel, or The Discovery Channel or TechTV ...

The Singer sewing machine, when it was first introduced, in inflation-adjusted dollars, was priced at the equivalent of $5,000.

Brooster

[Stewbonz]

Brooster, see if you can go down there eand give the guy a demo. I bet YOU can get him to write a positive story.

JEFF JARVIS
Carmel Valley Ca

[IndyFIRSTengineer]

WHAT A MORON !!

I think we should buy up every copy of that rag we can get our hands on, clip the article and save them all for about a year ... then send them all back to that idiot Roeper to remind him what a "visionary" he was ...

Stuart Bloom - Rolls-Royce Corporation
FIRST Team 1018 - Pike High School "RoboDevils"

“Who goes out and says, ‘You have a better probability of winning the state lottery than making a nickel in professional sports. And by the way, last year two million exciting technical jobs went unfilled in this country because you weren't there to take that job. And it pays you 10 times as much as flipping burgers, and it's fun and it's exciting and you get to create things and build things and help make the world a better place and help make yourself a better living.’ Who tells them this?”
Dean Kamen, founder - FIRST Robotics

[Sunday]

I especially liked his admonishment to the reader to keep striving for "cool." The coolest kids in school are probably hanging out right now talking about how dorky the Segway is; while passing the bong and discussing their score on the latest bloodbath video game.

Pretty soon, we'll have the coolest nation of burger flipping toilet cleaning illiterates in the western world. Maybe they can even aspire to become a mediocre movie critic, because they sure as hell aren't going to become scientists or engineers and contribute to society.


Sunday

Segway-more fun than you can stand!

[SteveMacGeek]

Here's what I emailed to him just now:

Dear Mr. Roeper-

Do you have any idea how many pieces of incorrect information your column on the Segway contained? It was composed of (and this is obviously my loose approximation) about 50% your opinion, 25% outright incorrect information, and 25% actual facts (I'm including your name in the facts part).

For example, you stated your opinion the Segway obviously wouldn't sell to older people. If you actually checked around, you'd have found that LOTS of older people have bought them, because it helps them be more mobile. Same with people who have MS and other ailments. I'm not sure they'd enjoy being called "random spoiled rich kids."

In addition, you mentioned W's spill off the Segway, but you conveniently didn't mention the fact that it flipped over because he didn't turn the darn thing on.

Plus, saying people look nerdy or dorky on it is just plain mean. I know you get paid to give your opinion on movies, but this shouldn't have been a review on whether you think people look cool on the Segway, but rather whether it does the job it's intended to do.

For 5,997 early adopters, it does quite well thank you. Three of them apparently didn't realize you have to stop riding when the battery's low (and the warning lights and beeps have already been going off). So Segway altered the software to protect these people from themselves by starting to shut down earlier.

Next time you want to opine about something you have no firsthand experience with, you should do some research beforehand.

I'm very disappointed in you.

Steve Dockery
(Saving up my pennies so one day I can also proudly glide around looking like a dork.)

[pt]

quote:Originally posted by Sunday The coolest kids in school are probably hanging out right now talking about how dorky the Segway is; while passing the bong and discussing their score on the latest bloodbath video game.

Pretty soon, we'll have the coolest nation of burger flipping toilet cleaning illiterates in the western world. Maybe they can even aspire to become a mediocre movie critic, because they sure as hell aren't going to become scientists or engineers and contribute to society.

*that* is funny. and sadly true.

cheers,
pt

[q]

quote:Originally posted by SteveMacGeek

Here's what I emailed to him just now:

Dear Mr. Roeper-

Do you have any idea how many pieces of incorrect information your column on the Segway contained? It was composed of (and this is obviously my loose approximation) about 50% your opinion, 25% outright incorrect information, and 25% actual facts (I'm including your name in the facts part).

For example, you stated your opinion the Segway obviously wouldn't sell to older people. If you actually checked around, you'd have found that LOTS of older people have bought them, because it helps them be more mobile. Same with people who have MS and other ailments. I'm not sure they'd enjoy being called "random spoiled rich kids."

In addition, you mentioned W's spill off the Segway, but you conveniently didn't mention the fact that it flipped over because he didn't turn the darn thing on.

Plus, saying people look nerdy or dorky on it is just plain mean. I know you get paid to give your opinion on movies, but this shouldn't have been a review on whether you think people look cool on the Segway, but rather whether it does the job it's intended to do.

For 5,997 early adopters, it does quite well thank you. Three of them apparently didn't realize you have to stop riding when the battery's low (and the warning lights and beeps have already been going off). So Segway altered the software to protect these people from themselves by starting to shut down earlier.

Next time you want to opine about something you have no firsthand experience with, you should do some research beforehand.

I'm very disappointed in you.

Steve Dockery
(Saving up my pennies so one day I can also proudly glide around looking like a dork.)




//

welcome to segwaychat.com!

good response.

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3l.jpg
(plz click image to enlarge)

//

[Brooster]

quote:Originally posted by Sunday

I especially liked his admonishment to the reader to keep striving for "cool." The coolest kids in school are probably hanging out right now talking about how dorky the Segway is; while passing the bong and discussing their score on the latest bloodbath video game.

Pretty soon, we'll have the coolest nation of burger flipping toilet cleaning illiterates in the western world. Maybe they can even aspire to become a mediocre movie critic, because they sure as hell aren't going to become scientists or engineers and contribute to society.


Mr. Sunday, I don't think any of us could have said it better.

Brooster

[Sal]

What's a movie critic (and a bad one at that) editorializing about Segways, stick to what you're trained to be bad at.

-Sal

P.S. Ebert Rocks!

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com

[GlideMaster]

quote:Originally posted by salkulkarni

What's a movie critic (and a bad one at that) editorializing about Segways, stick to what you're trained to be bad at.

-Sal

P.S. Ebert Rocks!

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com


His excuse will be that he saw it in a movie so that makes it fair game for a movie critic. I guess we have to realize that Roeper gets paid to be negative.

And no I wont give him a demo.


<center>http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/avatars/glidemaster.gif</center>

[Sunday]

Sundance is coming! Ebert usually shows up for it, and maybe this little man will too. I'm sure we can find him an HT to try out while he's here.


Sunday

Segway-more fun than you can stand!

[BruceWright]

Ebert is nearly as bad as Roeper. Remember Ebert's endless tirades against Digital movie projection? Full of the same kind of MIS-information that we Segwayers have to deal with:

"Movies flicker at 24 Frames a Second, which scientists say causes the mind to enter a dream state. Video flickers at 60 frames a second, which causes people to fall asleep." (Quote from Ebert from memory).

BULL - ****!

Films flicker at 48 or 72 hertz, depending on if you have a double-bladed or triple-bladed projector. Are triple-bladed projectors putting people to sleep?

DLP projectors DON'T FLICKER. They don't have a full-screen refresh rate. The screen doesn't flicker to black between frames! A perfect 24 images a second can be projected on DLP, you aren't forced to go with any particular refresh rate.

Ebert, you are comparing film to VIDEO, not Digital Projection.


/rant


Ebert & Roper are both stuck in the Pleistocene.



-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[Sal]

I prefer Ebert because more often than not, his sensibilities about movies agree with mine. I hadn't heard about his rant against Digital Movie projection. I guess critics have to rant about something, at least Ebert's misinformation stayed within his own profession.

-Sal

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com

[Brooster]

quote:Originally posted by Stewbonz

Brooster, see if you can go down there eand give the guy a demo. I bet YOU can get him to write a positive story.


I've considered that.

Brooster

[BruceWright]

Ebert was such a dork on that whole subject.

One of his lame arguments was that the Hard Drive array that projected "The Phantom Menace" (About 400gb) cost $70,000!
(you can buy that for about $400 today.)

Yep, digital is doomed, because we know that hard drives aren't getting any cheaper or larger!

Any idiot could have predicted that the technology would get cheaper. There were about 20 points he made which were similarly boneheaded. Most were predicated on the idea that digital looked worse than film, and the digital would never improve, nor would it ever become cheaper.

http://www.volksmovie.com/rants/archive/rogerebert.htm

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[Brooster]

"Where is that damn Roeper!?"

A few of the Sun Times Employees walked out and talked to us, and guess what we heard? "Hey, those are really cool!"

Go figure ...

Brooster

[Peter iNova]

quote:Originally posted by IndyFIRSTengineer

WHAT A MORON !!


I disagree. Roeper's showing us one of the many public reactions to this whole adventure that make perfect sense. (insert comment about opinions being like body parts--everyone has one)

True, he hasn't spent time on an HT, but does every writer who comments on an SUV have to own one? Does every writer commenting on politics have to run for public office?

The Segway HTs are just as much (or not) part of his world as they are anybody else's, and there certainly are ironies afoot concerning this product that bear public airing. We live in a society, not a cluster of individual castles, and from a social critic point of view, the HT Experience in our culture is frankly Nothing Like the bold predictions floated out to other reporters at its introduction. Segway LLC is an organization heavy on the device engineering side, but not heavy on the Social Engineering side.

Besides, it's his JOB to spot the glints of irony in American life and bring them to the attention of readers.

Just as it is your job to know and understand the HTs from a user's perspective. If you wish to make him an enemy of the HT, call him names and make sure you abuse him out of hand. He's not a "Moron." But clearly Segway's reach into American Society hasn't been deep enough or penetrating enough to have included him as an experienced glider.

If there is a social revolution afoot, it will take time, not just eight months. Articles like his serve as a litmus test of what the world is thinking. I would doubt completely that his words were written in a vacuum. No doubt he has had a number of conversations with folks on this topic and you see the eventual result.

If you want to make his next piece tempered with greater understanding, offer him a chance to ride it. I did.

-iNova

http://www.glidewalk.com

[IndyFIRSTengineer]

quote:Originally posted by Peter iNova

... insert comment about opinions being like body parts--everyone has one ...

...it's his JOB to spot the glints of irony in American life ...

...If you want to make his next piece tempered with greater understanding, offer him a chance to ride ...
OK ... I guess I was a bit quick to judge/speak. I think it just shows my passion for my HT. But let me answer a few of your statements:

I voiced my opinion in a forum of somewhat like-minded enthusiasts of this great technology, not in a publication which claims to be "One of the 10 largest daily newspapers in the United States", having some level of influence over the attitudes of millions of people.

I guess I didn't recognize much irony in his article ... just a lot of Segway bashing.

I agree it is a great idea to offer him a ride, although from the tone and some of the statements in his article I doubt he would be significantly impressed. Besides, as a "journalist" I think it is his responsibility to seek out the experience as part of his research on the subject. We shouldn't have to track him down and force him to get on one.

Stuart Bloom - Rolls-Royce Corporation
FIRST Team 1018 - Pike High School "RoboDevils"

“Who goes out and says, ‘You have a better probability of winning the state lottery than making a nickel in professional sports. And by the way, last year two million exciting technical jobs went unfilled in this country because you weren't there to take that job. And it pays you 10 times as much as flipping burgers, and it's fun and it's exciting and you get to create things and build things and help make the world a better place and help make yourself a better living.’ Who tells them this?”
Dean Kamen, founder - FIRST Robotics

[IndyFIRSTengineer]

quote:Originally posted by Sunday

I especially liked his admonishment to the reader to keep striving for "cool." The coolest kids in school are probably hanging out right now talking about how dorky the Segway is; while passing the bong and discussing their score on the latest bloodbath video game.

Pretty soon, we'll have the coolest nation of burger flipping toilet cleaning illiterates in the western world. Maybe they can even aspire to become a mediocre movie critic, because they sure as hell aren't going to become scientists or engineers and contribute to society.

I LOVE IT MARK!!

That is now at the top of my list of all time favorite quotes !

Stuart Bloom - Rolls-Royce Corporation
FIRST Team 1018 - Pike High School "RoboDevils"

“Who goes out and says, ‘You have a better probability of winning the state lottery than making a nickel in professional sports. And by the way, last year two million exciting technical jobs went unfilled in this country because you weren't there to take that job. And it pays you 10 times as much as flipping burgers, and it's fun and it's exciting and you get to create things and build things and help make the world a better place and help make yourself a better living.’ Who tells them this?”
Dean Kamen, founder - FIRST Robotics

[RAG1247]

I agree with Peter. While Mr. Roeper has been categorized as a movie critic, he also gets involved with a myriad of subjects having nothing to do with movies.

If we send nasty emails to him and others that can only polarize the issue more and he (they) will win (unless we have a nationally recognized columnist in our midst).

It is somewhat similar to when llc asked that we not send nasty, intimidating emails to city council members.

While we may not be happy reading some of these articles, they often contain fairly factual information (which some of us don't like to read) and also represent the opinion of the writer.

Sometimes it may make sense to take the time think out a response, if any.



Richard
Ft. Lauderdale
http://www.sonyguy.com/stars_rag2.gif[/img=left] [i]If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around youhttp://www.sonyguy.com/stars2.gif

[Brooster]

I find more than a bit of irony in the subject of today's Richard Roeper column. Check it out:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep02.html

Brooster

[IndyFIRSTengineer]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster

I find more than a bit of irony in the subject of today's Richard Roeper column. Check it out:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep02.html

Brooster

Someone pays him to write this stuff ??

Stuart Bloom - Rolls-Royce Corporation
FIRST Team 1018 - Pike High School "RoboDevils"

“Who goes out and says, ‘You have a better probability of winning the state lottery than making a nickel in professional sports. And by the way, last year two million exciting technical jobs went unfilled in this country because you weren't there to take that job. And it pays you 10 times as much as flipping burgers, and it's fun and it's exciting and you get to create things and build things and help make the world a better place and help make yourself a better living.’ Who tells them this?”
Dean Kamen, founder - FIRST Robotics

[q]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster

I find more than a bit of irony in the subject of today's Richard Roeper column. Check it out:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep02.html

Brooster



//

he only lives a mile or two
from his gig, and he has to
drive? (my hotel at segfest
was a little over 2 miles
from the convention. i seg-
ged every trip, which was
about 15-20 minutes.) it'd
take one parking garage "snafu"
for me to get a seg and never
look back.

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3g.jpg
(plz click image to enlarge.)

//

[IndyFIRSTengineer]

quote:Originally posted by RAG1247

I agree with Peter. While Mr. Roeper has been categorized as a movie critic, he also gets involved with a myriad of subjects having nothing to do with movies.
Maybe he should stick to his core competency - being a bad movie critic.

quote:If we send nasty emails to him and others that can only polarize the issue more and he (they) will win (unless we have a nationally recognized columnist in our midst).

It is somewhat similar to when llc asked that we not send nasty, intimidating emails to city council members.
I don't see anything inappropriate in either of the two emails sent to him that were posted here.

quote:While we may not be happy reading some of these articles, they often contain fairly factual information (which some of us don't like to read) and also represent the opinion of the writer.
As was pointed out earlier, there was not much fact here. Mostly opinion and Segway bashing.

quote:Sometimes it may make sense to take the time think out a response, if any.
Sometimes a "journalist" should take the time to research and get his facts straight.


Pardon me Richard, but I don't get it ...
You do own a segway, and I assume you read the same article as the rest of us ... I don't understand why you would defend this guy? Is he your half brother or something ??

Just look at today's article (from brooster's link above):
quote:Not long ago I got stuck in one of those infuriating parking garage traffic jams where you're happily winding your way down the ramp, on your way to freedom -- until you have to hit the brakes on Level 3 ("Tunes of Broadway!") because the line is 50 cars deep.
... but just yesterday he saw no practical use for a Segway ...
quote:...-- but it's been a long time since I've lived farther than a mile or two from my various work responsibilities ...
... and I bet he drives to work (no use for a Segway ?!?)


Stuart Bloom - Rolls-Royce Corporation
FIRST Team 1018 - Pike High School "RoboDevils"

“Who goes out and says, ‘You have a better probability of winning the state lottery than making a nickel in professional sports. And by the way, last year two million exciting technical jobs went unfilled in this country because you weren't there to take that job. And it pays you 10 times as much as flipping burgers, and it's fun and it's exciting and you get to create things and build things and help make the world a better place and help make yourself a better living.’ Who tells them this?”
Dean Kamen, founder - FIRST Robotics

[Brooster]

I've held off on e-mailing Mr. Roeper ... until today. Here's my note:

Richard, you crack me up.

Two days ago, you released a scathing, somewhat ill-informed column bashing Dean Kamen and the Segway HT. Today, you have a column complaining about urban traffic congestion ... the very problem that the Segway HT was designed to alleviate. Many of the pollution-producing cars that take up so much space in our cities come there from only a few miles away.

Yes, I'm one of the three people who were on Segway HTs and passed by the front door of the Sun Times Building yesterday afternoon. I found it interesting that several of your co-workers stepped outside to greet us. Not one of them had a negative word to say. A couple of them even said, "Wow, those are really cool!" Go figure ...

If you'd ever like to actually ride a Segway HT and perhaps consider a change of heart, just let me know. I'd be delighted to provide you with that opportunity.


Brooster

[GlideMaster]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster

I've held off on e-mailing Mr. Roeper ... until today. Here's my note:

Richard, you crack me up.

Two days ago, you released a scathing, somewhat ill-informed column bashing Dean Kamen and the Segway HT. Today, you have a column complaining about urban traffic congestion ... the very problem that the Segway HT was designed to alleviate. Many of the pollution-producing cars that take up so much space in our cities come there from only a few miles away.

Yes, I'm one of the three people who were on Segway HTs and passed by the front door of the Sun Times Building yesterday afternoon. I found it interesting that several of your co-workers stepped outside to greet us. Not one of them had a negative word to say. A couple of them even said, "Wow, those are really cool!" Go figure ...

If you'd ever like to actually ride a Segway HT and perhaps consider a change of heart, just let me know. I'd be delighted to provide you with that opportunity.


Brooster



Yes I was one of the protesters infront of the Sun Times building on a glider. One of the people going into the building said " hey, that's cool." I said go tell Roeper. I will be going back. I hope he has the honor of being in a parking garage traffic jam everyday he goes to work. Hmmmmmmmm never seen a glider in a traffic jam of any sort. Not even at Segway Fest.

<center>http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/avatars/glidemaster.gif</center>

[Mr_Laurenzano]

Heres to "Shy Town" Run for your cars, put in your keys, Look up^
Where did IT go?
Hahahaha
Roll with it!

peace is a oneway street, with no crossroads and no deadends

[Brooster]

I'd say we're wasting our time riding past the Sun Times Building again. It was fun to do it once, but there are better places to go, things to see, and people to meet. I think we've made our point that Segway HTs are used on the streets of Chicago every day. I personally don't think Richard Roeper is someone who's going to want his "perspective" clouded with facts or actual hands-on experience with the Segway HT.

We can lay all kinds of facts on Mr. Roeper. The fact that Dean spends very little of his time on North Dumpling Island (he's too busy working); the fact that there is no 70-pound machine that costs $5,000; the fact that "older people, residents of cold-weather cities" HAVE become customers; and the fact that since last December, Segway users HAVE co-existed "with pedestrians, bicyclists, et. al." Without incident.

There's (according to Dean Kamen, who generally is pretty good about checking his figures) the fact that 60% of the space in American cities is dedicated to automobiles. This speaks pretty well to Mr. Roeper's latest gripe, automobile congestion in downtown Chicago. It speaks also to Mr. Roeper's seemingly poor sense of "journalistic" timing, and profound lack of "vision."

Richard Roeper never gave this technology a chance; his mind was made up a week after the December 3, 2001 "reveal" of the Segway HT. On December 10, 2001, Mr. Roeper's Chicago Sun Times column was titled: "Overhyped Invention Gets Collective Yawn."

If it was that bad, would we have had 100 Segways and 200 people from all over the country ... here in Chicago just over a month ago?

My offer of a meeting and demo ride for Mr. Roeper ... stands.





Brooster

[RAG1247]

quote:Originally posted by IndyFIRSTengineer

quote:Originally posted by RAG1247

I agree with Peter. While Mr. Roeper has been categorized as a movie critic, he also gets involved with a myriad of subjects having nothing to do with movies.
Maybe he should stick to his core competency - being a bad movie critic.

quote:If we send nasty emails to him and others that can only polarize the issue more and he (they) will win (unless we have a nationally recognized columnist in our midst).

It is somewhat similar to when llc asked that we not send nasty, intimidating emails to city council members.
I don't see anything inappropriate in either of the two emails sent to him that were posted here.

quote:While we may not be happy reading some of these articles, they often contain fairly factual information (which some of us don't like to read) and also represent the opinion of the writer.
As was pointed out earlier, there was not much fact here. Mostly opinion and Segway bashing.

quote:Sometimes it may make sense to take the time think out a response, if any.
Sometimes a "journalist" should take the time to research and get his facts straight.


Pardon me Richard, but I don't get it ...
You do own a segway, and I assume you read the same article as the rest of us ... I don't understand why you would defend this guy? Is he your half brother or something ??

Just look at today's article (from brooster's link above):
quote:Not long ago I got stuck in one of those infuriating parking garage traffic jams where you're happily winding your way down the ramp, on your way to freedom -- until you have to hit the brakes on Level 3 ("Tunes of Broadway!") because the line is 50 cars deep.
... but just yesterday he saw no practical use for a Segway ...
quote:...-- but it's been a long time since I've lived farther than a mile or two from my various work responsibilities ...
... and I bet he drives to work (no use for a Segway ?!?)


Stuart Bloom - Rolls-Royce Corporation
FIRST Team 1018 - Pike High School "RoboDevils"

“Who goes out and says, ‘You have a better probability of winning the state lottery than making a nickel in professional sports. And by the way, last year two million exciting technical jobs went unfilled in this country because you weren't there to take that job. And it pays you 10 times as much as flipping burgers, and it's fun and it's exciting and you get to create things and build things and help make the world a better place and help make yourself a better living.’ Who tells them this?”
Dean Kamen, founder - FIRST Robotics



Stuart:

I have 3 segways and am as passionate and supportive about their use and technology as you are, if not more.

Roeper is entitled to his opinion and maybe you can tell me where his article is not factual (dont tell me about the 70 pound figure since this doesnt hurt us).

If you want to take him on, you will lose in that far more people will read his comments than any email you or others might send him. You called him an idiot, in one of your posts. he may not appreciate segways but surely he is not an idiot.

Like i said, it is similar to some of the emails sent to city council members in various cities.

imo llc has to be more proactive in combatting articles such as this

I think it's great that some have offered to demo the ht to roeper but he is entitled to do whatever he wants.

unfortunately, we are a very small group of people dedicated to this technology and it is going to take a while for the ht to be embraced and accepted by everyone.

I am not defending him, but his right to his opinion and he gets paid to write a column. and no he is not my half brother.


Richard
Ft. Lauderdale
http://www.sonyguy.com/stars_rag2.gif[/img=left] [i]If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around youhttp://www.sonyguy.com/stars2.gif

[Brooster]

So I wonder what Roeper thinks of the fact that Chicago just purchased a total of 28 Segs for use at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, where millions of people will see them? My original post's link to Roeper's column no longer takes you to the column in question, but fortunately X-Man captured the original text in one of his posts here in this thread.

Interestingly, it's Roeper's own newspaper that just published such a glowing review of the HT in its reporting of the airport purchase.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-segway07.html

Ya gotta love it. We'll have to do another glide around the Sun Times building one of these days when the weather gets warm. Roeper, we haven't forgotten you!

[:P][8]

Brooster

[Brooster]

Remember the Alamo!

:D

Brooster

[defenbaugh]

One of these days, everyone, including the naysayers will be on the bandwagon claiming they knew the HT would change the world. I've seen it before with the personal computer and other things.

Follow your bliss,[^]
Ron
www.defenbaugh.org/basicweb/Segway/ExtSeg.htm

[Brooster]

"There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result."

--Winston Churchill

[stevew]

this thread reminds me of the old days: makes me wonder what ever happened to q? sure hope you're okay buddy, I bet it's freezing in the Springs!

[Brooster]

Actually, this part of Roeper's original piece is pretty humorous given recent developments:

"However, there's no truth to the rumor that Lord Dumpling is on the verge of declaring war against Michael Jackson's Neverland."


Brooster

[Brooster]

One of my very favorite Segway memories is cruising around the outside of the Sun Times building late last summer with X-man and GlideMaster, immediately after Roeper's now-infamous anti-Segway rant.

The GlideMaster ... candy-apple red metalflake fenders and all ... literally rode his Seg right up to some first-floor office window (with people in the office) at the Sun Times building, pressed his nose up against the glass, and yelled: "Where's Roeper!? Where's that damn Roeper?" By the time we cruised around the corner to the front door of the building, there was a Sun Times employee with a video camera filming us as we approached.

The Sun Times employees gathered out front couldn't have been nicer to us.

Another truly great Chicago SEG moment.

[:P][8]



Brooster

[Brooster]

Sorry G-Master, I just had to share the story. &lt;grin&gt;

I don't think Roeper ever did reply to any of our e-mails, but there's no doubt in my mind that he saw the video of our approach to the front door of the building. :)

Brooster