Why not scooter?

[hodgepoj]

Back in November when I posted my first message to this site, I referred to the HT as an "electric scooter" and someone reprimanded me for it.

But I guess I still wonder why we shouldn't call it a scooter. There seems to be no agreed-on generic name for it. Various writers on this list have called it various things -- a Segway, a glider, an HT, a machine, and other names too numerous to recall.

But when you're trying to describe it to someone who has never heard of it (still the majority of the folks I deal with daily), you need a descriptive generic name that they will recognize and that permits them to visualize what you're talking about.

Calling it a Segway or an HT draws blank stares from most folks. They've never heard of either word. Calling it a glider brings up images of sailplanes. Calling it a machine or a device is not descriptive at all.

But calling it an electric scooter at least gives the listener some mental picture of it. After all, everyone knows that a generic scooter is a small two-wheeled device that transports a rider who is standing on it. The principal advantages of the Segway brand of scooter are that it is electric powered and it is self balancing.

I'm not embarrased to tell folks that I tool around town on an electric scooter. Do I embarrass any of you when I say this? Would I offend you or Brother Kamen if I called it such on this list?

hodgepoj

[pt]

i also have an electric scooter, and the segway is no electric scooter.

the segway is kinda "like" many things (feet, walking, bikes, cars) but it's not a scooter. i personally don't care what anyone calls it, but i'm going to continue to call it a segway ht or ht.

cheers,
pt

quote:Originally posted by hodgepoj

Back in November when I posted my first message to this site, I referred to the HT as an "electric scooter" and someone reprimanded me for it.

But I guess I still wonder why we shouldn't call it a scooter. There seems to be no agreed-on generic name for it. Various writers on this list have called it various things -- a Segway, a glider, an HT, a machine, and other names too numerous to recall.

But when you're trying to describe it to someone who has never heard of it (still the majority of the folks I deal with daily), you need a descriptive generic name that they will recognize and that permits them to visualize what you're talking about.

Calling it a Segway or an HT draws blank stares from most folks. They've never heard of either word. Calling it a glider brings up images of sailplanes. Calling it a machine or a device is not descriptive at all.

But calling it an electric scooter at least gives the listener some mental picture of it. After all, everyone knows that a generic scooter is a small two-wheeled device that transports a rider who is standing on it. The principal advantages of the Segway brand of scooter are that it is electric powered and it is self balancing.

I'm not embarrased to tell folks that I tool around town on an electric scooter. Do I embarrass any of you when I say this? Would I offend you or Brother Kamen if I called it such on this list?

http://www.bookofseg.com

[pam]

Well, it's not a scooter, because a scooter has wheels that go in tandem, and it's not that. It's truly a human transporter. I guess you could call it an electric personal assistive mobility device, which is any self-balancing, two non-tandem wheeled device, designed to transport only one person, with an electric propusion system with average power of 1hp, and a max speed of 12.5 mph. I personally liked the newspaper article that said it looked like an overgrown pogo stick with wheels. <G>
Pam


quote:Originally posted by hodgepoj

Back in November when I posted my first message to this site, I referred to the HT as an "electric scooter" and someone reprimanded me for it.

But I guess I still wonder why we shouldn't call it a scooter. There seems to be no agreed-on generic name for it. Various writers on this list have called it various things -- a Segway, a glider, an HT, a machine, and other names too numerous to recall.

But when you're trying to describe it to someone who has never heard of it (still the majority of the folks I deal with daily), you need a descriptive generic name that they will recognize and that permits them to visualize what you're talking about.

Calling it a Segway or an HT draws blank stares from most folks. They've never heard of either word. Calling it a glider brings up images of sailplanes. Calling it a machine or a device is not descriptive at all.

But calling it an electric scooter at least gives the listener some mental picture of it. After all, everyone knows that a generic scooter is a small two-wheeled device that transports a rider who is standing on it. The principal advantages of the Segway brand of scooter are that it is electric powered and it is self balancing.

I'm not embarrased to tell folks that I tool around town on an electric scooter. Do I embarrass any of you when I say this? Would I offend you or Brother Kamen if I called it such on this list?

hodgepoj

[MrTechno]

I feel foolish even responding to this.

I have two electric scooters. We have to California Chariot scooters and a razor scooter in the garage as well. This has so little in common with a scooter. The wheels are side by side, there is no throttle, there are no conventional brakes, it balances itself, it can move at a crawl and you don't lose your balance. It's a whole new breed of machine.

Car, motorcycle, bus, scooter, bicycle, skateboard. Different names for different modes of transportation. Perhaps you have to ride it to get it. A scooter it is not. Not even a little bit. A scooter doesn't feel your body's movement and react with a built in brain.

[GlideMaster]

Once one has experienced the Glide, they cease to refer to the Segway HT as a scooter. Sorry, but scooters just don't glide. That's why I say Segway, The Mind Changer.

<center>The GlideMaster</center>
<center>http://www.geocities.co.jp/Athlete/1267/gif/segway.gif</center>
<center>Glide On</center>

[Seeker]

I think it's quite possible that new names will develop for the Segway over time. For now, most people will probably just refer to it as the Segway, and maybe sometimes as the Seg.

Another possible name, which is suggestive of the motion of a Segway & the way you ride it, might be a 'Cruiser'. It could be that years from now, some new name will have caught on, as a label for the type of vehicle that a Segway is.

Seeker

[Sunday]

When the first automobiles were seen, they were called horseless carriages. People didn't know how else to classify them. I suspect people didn't know what to call bicycles, skateboards, and many other things we now have in our lives.

Seeker is spot on in his observation that new names will develop for it over time. How about the horseless chariot?


Sunday

[Casey]

quote: Well, it's not a scooter, because a scooter has wheels that go in tandem, and it's not that.

Pam, I won't say you aren't right. But the pmd's such as Jazzy's and the electirc carts you see in grocery stores and WalMart for the use of the disabled are called scooters both as a common name and by their manufacturers and sales people. And they for the most part are not tandem wheeled vehicles.

[BruceWright]

Bicycles used to be called Velocipedes.

[jgassor]

The nearest description is in fact a unicycle. That also must rock back and forth to maintain balance for the rider. You will also see a unicycle rider leaning forward (as if falling forward) to move forward.

If you have to, describe it as a self balancing unicycle except with two wheels, then whip out a picture of one that you have been carrying in your wallet!

Dean Kamen does not like the HT to be referred to as a scooter and I respect his wishes. It is his invention and out of respect I call it a Segway Human transporter or Segway HT for short.

Jim

Live life to the full, get Tivo and get a Segway! http://segway.gassor.com

[don c.]

"Electric Dicycle". Check out the third picture from the top:

http://www.unicycling.com/garage/multi.htm

[cosmo]

How about setting up a poll with the various options listed in this thread to see what the members of SegwayChat think?

Frank or Admins is there any available "polling" functionality in the Snitz Forum software?



http://www.northdome.com/ttr/segsig.gif-Cosmo-
Segway Pix Fix:
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=767

[hodgepoj]

I've read all the replies to my message up through Cosmo's and no one has really addressed the issue I was trying to raise.

It doesn't really matter what those of us who understand Kamen's breakthrough prefer to call it. What matters, as I see it, is what name will give the great unwashed even a halfway correct mental picture of what we're talking about.

As I said in my first message, when you say scooter, everybody has a mental picture of a two-wheeled vehicle on which the rider stands. It's different from other two-wheeled vehicles on which the rider sits down. It doesn't matter whether the two wheels are in series or in parallel; if you stand up on it, it's a scooter to most folks.

I'll grant you that the Segway is far and away more advanced than any scooter, electric powered or not, that's ever come down the pike. But that's not the point. The big question is, what common name conveys to the general public even a rough idea of what the Segway is?

I agree that eventually a more appropriate name will evolve. But for now, I haven't heard a simple familiar name for it that ensures comprehension by the lay public better than electric scooter.

hodgepoj

[cosmo]

I agree with you hodgepoj...I had the same dilemma over the holidays attempting to explain to friends and family what a Segway HT is. Eventually the only word that clicked with them was scooter.

I wonder what the Segway marketing folks would say in response to your question...if we are lucky maybe jgrohol will chime in...

http://www.northdome.com/ttr/segsig.gif-Cosmo-
Segway Pix Fix:
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=767

[pt]

if the general public / lay public can't be told what it is other than "an electric scooter" than they might not be able to comprehend it's value...a little education (by us) might actually do more good than we think, the 2 minutes it takes to explain it might help us all. saying scooter is easy, but i think i'm going to stick to spending a little more time and chatting about what a segway human transporter is.

cheers,
pt

http://www.bookofseg.com

[Brooster]

quote:Originally posted by cosmo

How about setting up a poll with the various options listed in this thread to see what the members of SegwayChat think?

Frank or Admins is there any available "polling" functionality in the Snitz Forum software?


Cosmo, Frank would be the person to really answer that question, but there's no such functionality that I'm aware of.

Broo

Brooster

[cosmo]

pt - I am definitely not someone who is very good with words. You on the other hand definitely are (BTW - bookofseg.com is outstanding) in fact I referred several of my friends and family who are internet able to your site as well as this one for more info.

Would you mind sharing your description to a lay person who has never seen nor heard of a Segway HT?

-Cosmo-
Segway Pix Fix:
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=767

[Seeker]

quote:

I agree that eventually a more appropriate name will evolve. But for now, I haven't heard a simple familiar name for it that ensures comprehension by the lay public better than electric scooter.

hodgepoj


I think you raise a good point. Although, there's certainly no harm in attempting to establish a unique status for your product, by encouraging people to use a name which puts it in it's own class, like you've said, generally people are going to resort to using a term that's familiar to them. To many people, a Segway is going to look similar enough to a scooter that that's what they will call it, even if you insist that it's really something different.

I don't know if 'human transporter' will catch on as a common name for the Segway, although I could see it being called the 'ht' by some people.

If you called it a 'lean cruiser' or a 'lean glider' that would describe what you do on it, and what the machine does. However, people tend to shorten the names for objects which they use often, to 1 word anyways, so for those names, 'cruiser' or 'glider' would probably be what they would use.

It will be interesting to see which name catches on eventually !
Seeker
p.s. This reminds me of the scenario we had here in Canada a few years ago. We had a 1 dollar coin which we refer to as a 'loonie' (because it has a picture of a loon on it). When a new two dollar coin was coming out, there were all kinds of names generated for it, but somehow 'twonie' has naturally evolved into the name everyone uses now

[Brooster]

I think they should have named it the "JetAround."

But hey, Segway's cool too. [8D]

Brooster

[Brooster]

Hodgepoj, to address your original question of "why not scooter?" ...

I guess it's just because the inventor--whom we all have a great deal of respect for--has asked that it not be called a scooter. I think perhaps he feels that "scooter" has too much of a "toy" connotation. And it really is far more than a toy. That would be my answer, anyway ...

Brooster

[pt]

quote: Originally posted by cosmo pt - I am definitely not someone who is very good with words. You on the other hand definitely are (BTW - bookofseg.com is outstanding) in fact I referred several of my friends and family who are internet able to your site as well as this one for more info.

wow, that's very kind. i don't think i'm very good with words, which is why i'll always lean on videos, pictures, animations and meeting people in person as much as possible...those speak volumes and our species does best with those it seems. that's really cool that you point folks to my site, i'm glad it's the resource i hoped it would be.

quote: Originally posted by cosmo Would you mind sharing your description to a lay person who has never seen nor heard of a Segway HT?

wow, that's a tough one- it would really depend on who i'm talking to and how much i could ascertain they knew about science or physics. depending on how much time i had i'd show them a video (i have a phone that plays video with me 99.99% of the time) and i'd start from there. if for some reason i didn't, i'd start making some analogies, one of the first, and i hate to say this-- but a high tech version of a magic carpet, that's sets the stage for most people as something that you stand up on and there's technology involved. i might also say something like a platform you stand on and it "floats" but with wheels and build from there. i've also compared it to a moving sidewalk like the jetsons, but you're the sidewalk.

if i didn't know the person and could only use text, i might say something like this --that i read once before....-- it's new type of transportation navigated by your natural body movements — a way to get around that doesn't use of many of the conventional means like accelerators, disc brakes and wheeled steering controls. you stand on it, as you "think" of moving forward, it goes forward, think back...it goes backward, left or right, it's a tech-version of a magic carpet that responds accordingly. the segway human transporter uses only two wheels yet balances perfectly despite changes in terrain, direction, speed or weight.

i'd also point them to my site, segway and somehow some way show them. the 5-10 minutes out of my life for something like this is really easy and it's great to be the purveyor of new things to new people.

cheers,
pt

http://www.bookofseg.com

[jgassor]

I dont think I will have any trouble explaining to someone what a Segway Human Transporter is. I will simply point to the device I am standing on.

Jim

Live life to the full, get Tivo and get a Segway! http://segway.gassor.com

[Stan671]

I see some important differences between the Segway HT and an ordinary electric scooter.

The two-feet side-by-side standing position on the Segway is more natural than the one foot in front of the other on a scooter.

When you stop with a scooter, you have to set off of it or fall over - like a bicycle, it does not balance when not moving.

Obviously, the Segway HT is considerable more manuverable than a scooter. The Segway can spin on a dime and go backwards. A scooter becomes more unbalanced the tighter the turn. And this instability is increased at slower speeds because it is harder to balance at slower speeds. And try going backwards on a scooter.

The small wheels and near vertical short front fork of a scooter make the steering more twitchy as speed increases. There is no speed-proportional steering control.

I don't believe that the ordinary electric scooter has the battery capacity and motor horsepower/torque combination to carry a 250 pound rider up as steep a hill as the Segway HT can. The Segway HT motors can develop 2 HP each and are custom designed just for this purpose. Most scooters use a basic electric motor driving the rear wheel with a rather simple motor speed control. The Segway has sophisticated computer controlled motor drive electrics to achieve maximum intricate control of, and efficiency from, the motors.

The rider is always vertical on a Segway (except for when performing forward/reverse commands) no matter when going up or down a hill. A scooter will always be angled the same way the ground is and therefore the rider must compensate for this by adjusting the legs.

I believe that there is more skill required to safely ride a scooter, taking into account the need to balance side-to-side, balance front to back on hills, being careful not to over steer or jerk the steering at speed, etc, than is required to operate a Segway.

But an electric scooter does cost less and is lighter than a Segway. &lt;grin&gt;

Stan

[whistler]

"A scooter by any other name is still a scooter."

If you gave something like $500.00 for it, then it should be called a "scooter".

If you gave something like $5000.00 for it, then maybe you could call it a "screwter".

At $5000.00, you got "screwed"............

Perhaps there should be a contest........ to come up with the "perfect" generic name for a

SHT.

Maybe Segway LLC would "sell" the winner one at a "discount". And invite them to visit
Kamenland like they did for the essay winners.

There must be a one word generic name that applys to a SHT. Somewhere out there. In
someone's brain. It's getting it out of their brain that will be the challenge.......

[Seeker]

As far as a name for the Segway, which people will be quick to adopt, I believe that generally they will gravitate to using '1 word' to describe an object they use a lot. But in instances where one of the 2 words is a short word ( eg 'Pt Cruiser'), people may still catch on easily to using this type of name.

Maybe the Segway could be called something like the
'Ht Cruiser' or 'Ht Glider'. That way the Human Transporter part of the name is still preserved, and the 'Ht' could be used a springboard in conversations, to explain to people that it refers to Human Transporter.

If the full name of the Segway was something like :

' Segway Ht Cruiser' or ' Segway Ht Glider',

then some people might continue calling it the 'Segway', others possibly the 'Ht', or the 'Ht cruiser'or 'Ht glider'.

After a lot of Segways were on the market, if it became apparent that most people were resorting to using the name 'scooter' anyways, then one option might be to call the Segway something like the

'Segway Glidescooter'

By calling it a Glidescooter, you could still be emphasizing that the Segway was 'no ordinary scooter', but in a class by itself.

Just a few thoughts,

Seeker

[Rorschach]

I think the Segway HT will be referred to as the 'Segway' once they're widespread. It's a good, easy, unique name that is already used by everyone I know offline.

As for a generic term to use when describing the Segway to someone, I honestly don't think there is one. There IS no word for the Segway. I agree with everyone that said that it's much more useful to describe the segway rather than lump it in with something like a scooter. Saying it's a scooter does the Segway an injustice. Personally I use the comparison to an old push-lawnmower and then describe why it's a great device. I just try to make sure that the person knows how excited I am by it, hopefully that will inspire them to find out more on their own.

-=Rorschach=-

[Sunday]

In the past, when I tried explaining to my friends and family what it is, I called it an electric chariot. They can visualize a chariot in their mind. I tried explaining first that "it's a scooter with two wheels side by side." They still didn't get it, because only kids and teenagers ride around on little scoters. But adults ride chariots. After I said electric chariot, they wanted to know more about it.

Maybe that name can help others who have never seen one (although I think a lot of folks have by now) to visualize what it is. Maybe?

Maybe in time they will be called Transporters by everyone. Since people love to shorten things up so much. In that case, I think I will name mine Mr. Scott. Scotty, transport me!

[n/a]

A lot of good points have been made as to why Segways should not be called electric scooters. e-scooters raise images and assosiations in everyone's minds. Those associations would not be favourable for Segway. Segway LLC is striving hard to have their transporter be classified differently from scooters for many good reasons. Being lumped together with e-scooters has too many disadvantages. I think most dictionary definitions would not fit for Segway either.
As for explaining the Segway, it could be done in a few words: an electric two unicycle that balances itself and the rider... or somesuch

That said, I recall when we first heard the word Segway. Nobody seemed to like it much. I like the suggestion of "electric-chariot". That to me produces the clearest image. I also like "di-cycle" or "transputer".

The term "SHT" has been made lot of jokes about as we know. On the positive side Segway does mean smooth transition and conjures up some positive assosiations.

Calling Segway an electric scooter I think will remain a derissive term for it and used by those who dont see Segway as anything but an expensive, over egineered toy.

[emanresu]

"Do you like Gladiator films?" That image from the film "Airplane" is the first one that comes to mind when hearing "Chariot". Would someone with a large ego AND a Segway be called an "Id"-iot? "Transputer"? Gee.. sounds like an argumentitive person of unknown gender... Since you stand upright and don't use your feet to walk, I propose "Erectnoped". Catchy, Eh??

[emanresu]

Or "Pediamstu". Say it out loud 6 or 8 times in a row, and I'm sure you'll see where I'm going with this.

[n/a]

quote:Originally posted by emanresu

Or "Pediamstu". Say it out loud 6 or 8 times in a row, and I'm sure you'll see where I'm going with this.


I am stupid... I am stupid... because I like some names u dont? Stay cool emanresu. U dont have to like transputer or electric-chariot. In case u didnt get it "transputer" is the combination of terms transporter and computer. The e-chariot to me conjures the image of a platform with two parallel wheels.
BTW I also liked the name "flywheel" which we thought might be the product name for ginger.

[emanresu]

Just a joke, not about you. The name, in my opinion, will turn out to be "Segway". Just like Kleenex. We know it's facial tissue, but we still call it Kleenex, no matter the brand. Hey... "Tanspedaputerbalanceaboxofkleenex"....

[wayne]

Chariot Runner is what my license plate will say on my Segway when or if it ever gets here.

And if this thing does not get here soon I'll be out of money and the license plate will say "36 more notes to go"


Chariot riders ride Segway

[emanresu]

So maybe we as ugly Americans are going about this all wrong. We should consider the world view when naming this thing. Consider Korea- "Nukealong". Irag- "Sadam-a-lama-ding-dong" Canada- Still call it Segway, but "Segway EH"... China- "Our Fearless Struggle Marches Forward On Masses Of Ni-Cad Batteries"... Cuba "A What??" Italy- "La Forza Del Destino", which means "Hey, you-a standing on da ting back-a-wards!" Slovokia- "Nothing Like A Yugo"............

[Stutoonz]

ATTENTION--SEGWAY SHOPPERS--Follow the blue light to the aisle featuring the 'tempest in a teacup' renaming contraversy. If Segway was good enough for Dean and Jack (let us not forget Jack) Kamen from the word to segue, it's good enough for me. I love to address us all as Wayseggers. That should arouse enough curiosity from non-gliders.

stureis

[n/a]

quote:If Segway was good enough for Dean and Jack (let us not forget Jack) Kamen from the word to segue, it's good enough for me.

Stutoonz, dont u think it healthy to provide Kamen & co. feedback on this sort of thing? Kamen is always pushing his employees to do better, to kiss frogs, to do the impossible. Constructive feedback and criticizm is welcomed by him I would expect, even if it comes from us armchair commentators.

[hodgepoj]

I have enjoyed reading all the messages you have written in response to my original question. Some of you understood where I was coming from and tend to agree with me that we lack a short but descriptive generic name for the Segway HT. Others understood me but will go to great lengths to avoid calling the HT an electric scooter. And a third group seemed to be having fun without really believing or caring that there is a problem in nomenclature.

Brooster pointed out that since Bro. Kamen has asked that the HT not be called a scooter we all should follow his lead and seek some other generic name for it.

Stan and others emphasize the superiority of the HT over extant electric scooters and decry any attempt to use the s__ word in describing the HT.

Jim avoids any trouble trying to describe it to friends by never talking about it when he's not riding it so he can just point to it.

Seeker coined some really cool names for the HT but none were very generic.

Rorschach thinks its current brand name, Segway, will ultimately become its generic name.

I tend to agree with PT. He realizes that we lack a simple generic name for it to help us describe it to the masses, but he overcomes that deficiency by taking a couple of minutes to describe its uniqueness, its features, and its advantages. I think we're all going to have to do that until it becomes a lot more visible to the great unwashed.

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions.

hodgepoj

[Seeker]

Hi Folks,

It would be interesting to examine the history of how names have developed for products over the years. As someone pointed out, when bicycles first came out, they weren't called "bicycles", (but another name which I can't recall just now). So, at some point, the name "bicycle" caught on, just as at some point, "scooter" caught on as the name for that product. I think it's likely that for many products, the name given to them when they were introduced to the public, became entrenched, as the name that people would use to refer to them, from then onwards.

So names such as "scooter" or "bicycle", now recognized as the generic name for these products, may not have been considered the generic names for these devices, until a few years after they hit the market. Similarly "Segway", may one day come to be considered the generic name for the product which so many of us know and love ( and some of us lucky ducks have come to own [/:)] ).

Seeker

[whistler]

hmmmmmmmmmm..........

The point is, I think, that there will one day be a generic name that everyone will use for

the Segway HT. It might just happen... later on... but we have a chance right now... a

duty... a responsibility... to come up with this generic word... here.... now... before any

more time passes. Since Kamen and company couldn't do it... or wouldn't do it, we should at

least give it an honest try.
It's true that generic names have always sort of just "evolved"... like here in Texas, most

people say "I want a Coke"... but they might not necesarily mean Coca Cola... the term

"coke" has become generic. There are many products and devices that this has happened to.
But I believe that we, for once, have a real chance to direct this generic name.
Everyone here has tried to come up with ... errrrr... something that might be considered

acceptable. But we need to do more. Try harder... dig deeper... surely someone can think of

the "perfect" generic name that can apply to the Segway HT as well as all future devices

that WILL be developed to compete with it.
I was thinking like this: (trying to keep the HT in the name somewhere)
let's see now... it has 2 wheels... how about "HooTercycle"... lol...
or maybe "bipedesTricle"...... oops... no H for the HT reference...
what about "scHooTer"....... nope... to dangerous sounding... like "dicycle"...

(DIEcycle)...
or "TwowHeelwonder"..... no... the T is in front of the H...
maybe "step n go"........ no HT, but very descriptive...
how about "cHarioT"....... opps that has the HT but many others have suggested that...
eggggggg.... my brain is on overload........ and I'm losing hair over this...
"wHeelesTrian"........ (wheeled pedestrian)...
I wonder if Kamen and company went through this before choosing the name "Segway"?
Segway is ok........ but I just can't imagine the "clones" of the Segway being called

segways.....
"Hey, Joe, what kind of segway do you have?"
"Sue, I have an original Segway HT. What kind of segway do you have?"
"Well, Joe, I just got a brand new segway from Ford. They are now selling segways too."
nahhhhh....... that'll never happen........... lmao...

Now into the second hour of hard thinking:
let's see now......... it should be descriptive... have HT in it... should be short like

"SHT"... but without the negative enuendo...
let's try..... "IT"... (individual transporter)... no.... that's where all this started...
maybe an unpronouncable object for a name... like "the artist formerly known as Prince"...
you could write it but you couldn't say it...... that's no good....
hmmmmmm... descriptive huhhhh... the Segway looks like OTO.... a T with a wheel on each

side... "OTO"....... or maybe.... "OOT"....... if you turn it sideways... NO WAY... that is

starting to look like "scOOTer"........ we can't have that......
wait!!!!!!!!!! something is coming through......... this might be it..... almost got it.....
yesssssssssss........ this could work........................
OK......... my best effort after 2 hours of hard thinking (is this how genius works?)...
is...........:

BIWHEELER.......

ok....... your turn.............................................. ................


and thanks to everyone for keeping this thread alive........ the first thread I've ever

posted to that didn't die immediately........... lol........

[Stan671]

I'M LOL, Whistler. Biwheeler sounds good, but it also sounds like the Segway goes both ways. Well, actually it does - it is good for men and women and it drives forward and back.

So far, the only name that comes to my mind is too long: Way cool thingamagig that I am spending too much money on but really, really want.

Stan

Stan

[hodgepoj]

quote:Originally posted by whistler


The point is, I think, that there will one day be a generic name that everyone will use for the Segway HT. It might just happen... later on... but we have a chance right now... a duty... a responsibility... to come up with this generic word... here.... now... before any more time passes. Since Kamen and company couldn't do it... or wouldn't do it, we should at least give it an honest try.


We'd better hustle, Whistler. A lot of newspaper and magazine reporters are already calling it a scooter.

You offered some good choices, but if you put a gun to my head and said, "choose now," I'd have to go with "roboglider."

hodgepoj

[JohnM]

Velocipede - Speedy Feet. Been used before, but you could re-cycle it.



Runnin' with the Big Dogs

[BruceWright]

How about an autobalancer? In conversation I call it a "robotic scooter".

I think I'm going to adopt autobalancer for my generic word.

The Segway HT autobalancer. I like it.

[JohnM]

quote:Originally posted by BruceWright

How about an autobalancer? In conversation I call it a "robotic scooter".

I think I'm going to adopt autobalancer for my generic word.

The Segway HT autobalancer. I like it.


Autobalancer. Sounds like a new feature for Quicken. ;)

Runnin' with the Big Dogs

[emanresu]

It should be called an "E-go". Or "I-go". Or shorten the battery name (ni-cad) and call it a "Go-nad".

[emanresu]

Or name it for our former "enviornmental" VP and call it a "E-gore". Or ist "I-gore"???

[emanresu]

Or how about calling her "Monica"? Or "Hillary" for Sir Edmund, the explorer. (I know, the spelling- but it's dual use...)

[emanresu]

Wait! What about "Anti-bike", since we are all known bike haters.... Or "Lardwagon". I'm gaining weight just thinking about my Segway.

[greenbean]

I got me there a Horseless Tandem!

I really like the 'BiWheeler' submition.

How about AutoTandem?

-=torin;)

[BruceWright]

Emanresu, you're just trying to get more stars, aren't you? ;)

[bicycledriver]

Here's my non-trademark word for Segway-like devices:

Paracycle
Pronunciation: 'par-&-"si-k&l
Function: Noun
Etymology: From the Greek para beside + the french cycle
: a vehicle with two wheels, one beside the other (non-tandem)

[greenbean]

OK paraglide

-=torin;)

[greenbean]

shoot, i knew that sounded too familiar for some reason...

ARG!

-=torin;)

[hodgepoj]

quote:Originally posted by JohnM

[quote]Originally posted by BruceWright

How about an autobalancer? In conversation I call it a "robotic scooter".

I think I'm going to adopt autobalancer for my generic word.

The Segway HT autobalancer. I like it.


John, my test for name acceptability is to use it to describe what I have on order from Segway.

So I picture my wife asking, "What's this $495 order from Amazon?" And I reply, "That's the earnest money on the autobalancer I ordered."

How do you think she'll react?

hodgepoj

[Seeker]

Hi Hodgepoj,

Just curious,what name does your wife like the best, as a generic name for the Segway ?

It would be interesting to round up all our submissions, put 'em on a poll, and see what comes out as the winner, on our little corner of the internet.

Seeker

[Seeker]

I'll throw a few more into the pot :

NovaCruiser
TechnoGlider
TechnoCruiser

& last but not least... The Glidewheeler.

Seeker

[whistler]

Everyone has some great ideas, but remember Segway HT already has a "Name".
What we need to come up with is a non-capitalized word like "car, truck, motorcycle, boat,

bicycle, scooter, etc.....
It should be a word that would fit any and all future competetive devices as well as the

Segway HT. Something that will become so common in everyday conversation that there won't be

any doubt what you are referring to.

Consider the following dialog and fill in the blanks:

Circa 2007.

"Guess what, Fred, I just bought a brand new _________.
It's a thrill to ride around on it. I get lots of people asking me where they could get one.
Of all the ________s I've tested, this one suits my needs best of all."

"That's great, Tom. I've been wanting a new ________ for quite a while now, but just wasn't

sure which one would be the best deal. Since Segway LLC first came out with their Segway HT

a few years ago, there have been several other companies selling ________s. An original

Segway HT would be great to own, but some of the others are less costly."

"Well, Fred, most of the _______s are great. You just have to choose which one is best for

your needs. And of coarse, Segway's ________ is the original and it's hard to go wrong with

that. It's really all about cost, now that there are many ________s to choose from."

We're on a roll here. Let's keep the brainstorming going.
And, yes, I know that most articles in the news and magazines refer to the HT as a "scooter"

and even the caption under Frank's picture refers to it as a "scooter".
But it's not too late to change that...... with the right word......

Keep up the good work. And thanks to everyone for participating.


(Get a Segway HT, the first biwheeler on the market.)

[hodgepoj]

quote:Originally posted by whistler


What we need to come up with is a non-capitalized word like "car, truck, motorcycle, boat, bicycle, scooter, etc.....
It should be a word that would fit any and all future competetive devices as well as the Segway HT. Something that will become so common in everyday conversation that there won't be any doubt what you are referring to.

I know that most articles in the news and magazines refer to the HT as a "scooter." But it's not too late to change that...... with the right word......

(Get a Segway HT, the first biwheeler on the market.)


I'm afraid "biwheeler" doesn't cut the mustard. Any two-wheeled vehicle is a biwheeler. We need a generic name that conveys electric powered, auto-balancing, and small footprint. The HT is as easy to ride as that stone one-wheeler that chap rides in B.C., hell -- it's even easier since it has two wheels.

I could go with "autoglider" if it didn't smack so much of a sailplane.

hodgepoj

[wayne]

"B H Cruiser" (the Ben Hurr Cruiser)

[hodgepoj]

quote:Originally posted by Seeker


Just curious,what name does your wife like the best, as a generic name for the Segway ?
Seeker


She refers to it by its brand name, she has no need yet for a generic name.


hodgepoj

[Seeker]

quote:Originally posted by whistler

Everyone has some great ideas, but remember Segway HT already has a "Name".
What we need to come up with is a non-capitalized word like "car, truck, motorcycle, boat,

bicycle, scooter, etc.....



Hi Whistler,

I agree this idea of putting a name in context is a great way of testing out how a name would sound ! Like you said, it would have to be a generic name in the same way that "bike" are "car" are.

I could imagine someone making the following sentence :

"Well, Fred, most of the _glidewheelers__ are great. You just have to choose which one is best for your needs."



Seeker

[n/a]

I like the suggestions paracycle, paraglider. I also like el-chariot & glidewheel. I believe Kamen & co. may have had plans to call it flywheel for a while.
I think IBM did a great job with coming up with the term PC for their personal computer. Perhaps a term like PT = personal transporter Would be good. Kemper referred to ginger as "IT." Individual transporter?
Or how about a term similar to ibot? Anybody know what the"i" stands for? How about ebot, or gobot? Gobot almost sounds like robot. pbot could stand for personal robot. Segway after all is a robot that carries u around. Frank should like this one.

[2totango]

Can you imagine the word challenge presented to the first person who tried to describe a giraffe.

It may well be that, whatever nickname for the Segway Human Transporter society comes up with, you won't know what is being referred to unless you have seen one or a picture of one.:D:D

[whistler]

actually ........

electroglide

would have been a great reference to the HT...

except that it has already been used for years by Harley Davidson...

and the rider could have been called an "electroglider"...

[emanresu]

I say from now on we refer to the Segway as "Osama Bin Glidin'".

[tpkanaley]

quote:Originally posted by pt

if the general public / lay public can't be told what it is other than "an electric scooter" than they might not be able to comprehend it's value...a little education (by us) might actually do more good than we think, ...


I haven't read the whole thread through, but I wanted to put my two cents in. One concern that I have with calling it a scooter is that people get an image of it being recklessly operated and dangerous. At least here in DC that is the image of a "scooter." (Anyone who's been almost run down by the Pizza Hut delivery guy can attest to that!)

That said, in this time of legislative uncertainty for the use and future of the HT, I think we should ALL avoid calling it a scooter. The more people can understand its fluidity, grace, and control, the more likely we are to have it accepted by society.

Thanks.

Tim

[pam]

quote:Originally posted by tpkanaley

quote:Originally posted by pt

if the general public / lay public can't be told what it is other than "an electric scooter" than they might not be able to comprehend it's value...a little education (by us) might actually do more good than we think, ...


I haven't read the whole thread through, but I wanted to put my two cents in. One concern that I have with calling it a scooter is that people get an image of it being recklessly operated and dangerous. At least here in DC that is the image of a "scooter." (Anyone who's been almost run down by the Pizza Hut delivery guy can attest to that!)

That said, in this time of legislative uncertainty for the use and future of the HT, I think we should ALL avoid calling it a scooter. The more people can understand its fluidity, grace, and control, the more likely we are to have it accepted by society.

Thanks.

Tim


Had an article Saturday in our local newspaper (it's a bi-weekly - I told you I live in a small town &lt;G&gt;) about me and the Segway and he was very careful not to call it anything other than a human transporter &lt;G&gt;.
Pam

[theeagle]

The Segway is definitely not a scooter. So it should not be called a scooter. I think HT is great. There could be a lots of different "human transporters in the future", but for now this is the most well known HT. In the future, it could be distinguished from others as the Segway HT!

[Linc2000]

Hi!
I just call it a Segway.
If questioned, I say it is like walking except you are on wheels. It's faster than walking, more fun and it expands the range of the real estate you can cover. Its a Segway.
Then I answer any questions the person may have.
Again I tell them it is a Segway.
Lincoln

[Blinky]

quote:Had an article Saturday in our local newspaper (it's a bi-weekly - I told you I live in a small town &lt;G&gt;) about me and the Segway and he was very careful not to call it anything other than a human transporter &lt;G&gt;.
Pam
It will probably take about another year before they all get it right when they write about the Segway. Once they are more frequent on the sidewalks in their respective towns, it will just be a matter of time.

But it was good to hear your local paper stressed the correct term.


http://www.bl.com/ben/gifs/Blinky.gif http://www.harpy.net/paul/blinky.jpg

[whistler]

It's interesting that so many don't want the Segway HT to be called by the generic

term"scooter".
But, at the same time some insist on calling it by it's proper name "Segway HT!!!"

People who don't own one or have not seen one or have never heard of one, will insist on

referring to it as a "scooter", unless we come up with a more "correct" response.
Calling it a "Segway HT" is like insisting that a Ford or a Chevrolet is not a "car".
Collectively they have been called cars for many years.
If someone asked you what kind of car you own and you said, "I don't own a car, I own a

Cadilac!!!", they would not understand.
This is the problem: People MUST have a term that can be used universily to describe a type

of device. Especially when there are several such devices available one day soon.

You wouldn't say: "I ride a Huffy."... you would say, "I ride a Huffy BICYCLE."
So....... if you do not like the public referring to the Segway HT as a "scooter", it would

be wise to devise a better solution while you have a chance. Or else expect to live with the

term "scooter" forevermore......... it will not just go away.

By definition a scooter has one wheel in front of the other.
But, in the real world anything that "scoots" you around from place to place is a scooter.
Doesn't really matter how many wheels or how they are arranged. It's a scooter to most

everyone. You may argue that a Segway HT is somehow different and does not fit the

definition, but it's still going to be called a scooter........ unless WE replace that term

with a better one......

Surely, there is a more appropriate generic term that fits...
We just have to decide what it is and publicize it enough that it replaces the term

"scooter" in the newspaper and magazine articles.

Wishing that everyone would just call it by it's proper name, "Segway HT", is not going to

make the term "scooter" disappear..........

If we don't supply the replacement term for "scooter"... someone eventually will, and it may

not be any better than "scooter".

Some company like "City BUg", who makes the original "Razor" scooter will likely put the

next version on the market. NOBODY will expect it to be called "HT". It will most likely be

billed as more of a recreational vehicle than a "productivity tool".
But, do we really want them to supply the generic term? What if they want it to be called a

"whizzer" or something like that..... Next thing you know everyone will be calling the

Segway HT a "whizzer" too........... ewwwwwwwww... not sure if that would be better or worse

that SHT..................... LOL!!!

[narfherder]

How about "gliding sidewalk" as a generic name.

While I do not have one...have to find some needed funds...

I would think that this term would remind people of a 'moving sidewalk' found in some airports, but put a slightly better picture in their minds than scooter and the like.

I would have to say whenever I get one, the license plate will read gliding sidewalk.

[greenbean]

GyroCycle

-=torin;)

[JaneJetson]

How about 'roboglider'? Given the complexity of the Segway, we're basically riding a robot...

[ftropea]

I like Seeker's "Glidewheeler" or better yet just Glidewheel.

Or how about GlideMaster's former trainer.. his last name is Glidewell, right?

I've been stopped by a lot of people on the street and I've seldom heard the term "scooter" thrown back at me.

I always use the full name - either "Segway HT" or "Segway Human Transporter." I figure it has a proper name already and there is no reason to go making up stuff.

If anything, it's a "Personal or Human Transporter" - a "Personal Mover" or a "Power Mover."

You "Think-n-Go" or "Lean-n-Go" -

Across a distance.. a "Transrider" or "Transglider."

It's not a "Scooter" because when people see my Segway HT they ask, "Oh, what is that?" Everyone knows when they see a "Scooter."

Regards,

Frank A. Tropea
[/sc] Admin - "Keep your wheels on the ground!" - Contact Me (segwaychat@segwaychat.com)

[GlideMaster]

<center>Why don't we just call it what it is.</center>

<center>A Glider</center>

Mine is nicknamed Seahorse.


<center>The GlideMaster</center>

[JohnM]

I want to know what twit on the Segway legal/lobbying staff came up with Electronic Personal Assistive Mobility Device? Any of the names suggested here is superior to the official name that has been written into every law. It doesn't even produce a catchy acronym.

Runnin' with the Big Dogs

[theeagle]

quote:Originally posted by JohnM

I want to know what twit on the Segway legal/lobbying staff came up with Electronic Personal Assistive Mobility Device? Any of the names suggested here is superior to the official name that has been written into every law. It doesn't even produce a catchy acronym.

Runnin' with the Big Dogs


I think when they have to legislate the device, they have to give a technical description to the device. For example, a Princess Cut (it's popular name)diamond is described as a "square modified brilliant cut" (it's technical name). Try selling that to women!!! So I think that a popular name for the Segway will evolve over time, or by an ad company if they ever mass market it. Segway should have an open competition for someone to come up with a cool name for the device.....

[hodgepoj]

quote:Originally posted by whistler


People who don't own one or have not seen one or have never heard of one, will insist on referring to it as a "scooter", unless we come up with a more "correct" response. Calling it a "Segway HT" is like insisting that a Ford or a Chevrolet is not a "car".

Surely, there is a more appropriate generic term that fits... We just have to decide what it is and publicize it enough that it replaces the term "scooter" in the newspaper and magazine articles.

Wishing that everyone would just call it by it's proper name, "Segway HT", is not going to make the term "scooter" disappear.......... If we don't supply the replacement term for "scooter"... someone eventually will, and it may not be any better than "scooter".


I have paraphrased Whistler's excellent but long message. I urge all Segwaychatters to read it completely and thoughtfully.

I started this thread and have contributed several messages to it because I had hoped to spread this message maybe halfway as well as Whistler has. I strongly endorse everything he says.

Please read and try to understand where we are coming from.

hodgepoj

[pam]

quote:Originally posted by hodgepoj

quote:Originally posted by whistler


People who don't own one or have not seen one or have never heard of one, will insist on referring to it as a "scooter", unless we come up with a more "correct" response. Calling it a "Segway HT" is like insisting that a Ford or a Chevrolet is not a "car".

Surely, there is a more appropriate generic term that fits... We just have to decide what it is and publicize it enough that it replaces the term "scooter" in the newspaper and magazine articles.

Wishing that everyone would just call it by it's proper name, "Segway HT", is not going to make the term "scooter" disappear.......... If we don't supply the replacement term for "scooter"... someone eventually will, and it may not be any better than "scooter".


I have paraphrased Whistler's excellent but long message. I urge all Segwaychatters to read it completely and thoughtfully.

I started this thread and have contributed several messages to it because I had hoped to spread this message maybe halfway as well as Whistler has. I strongly endorse everything he says.

Please read and try to understand where we are coming from.

hodgepoj


My newspaper had no problem calling it by it's appropriate name - a human transporter. Or the Segway HT. I suggest that rather than trying to do Segway one better and suggest that what they've chosen to call the HT is wrong, we gently correct people who mistakenly call it a scooter and say, "It's not really a scooter - it's called a Segway." They only call it a scooter because they don't know *what* to call it. They've never seen one before. As soon as I say that, everyone I've talked to who had previously called it a scooter, called it a Segway.

Pam

[2totango]

narfherder almost has it solved. "Glidewalk" or "Glidewalker"!!!!!!!!!!!! What could be more perfect. I intend to tell people I'm out for an electric glidewalk. Glidewalks are for sidewalks. Glidewalkers are sidewalkers.

Fill those lonely sidewalks
With a host of lovely glidewalks
The air will be more sweet
And help the bunions on your feet

P.S. Tell SanFrancisco that they really and truly won't scare the horses.

[drucilla]

I don't have mine yet but my inclination is to always call it the Segway..sometimes the Segway HT. When describing how I think it works, I never say scooter but mobility device...How about Mobilizer?

mind if my segway and i pass?

[Seeker]

quote:Originally posted by ftropea

I like Seeker's "Glidewheeler" or better yet just Glidewheel.

Or how about GlideMaster's former trainer.. his last name is Glidewell, right?

I've been stopped by a lot of people on the street and I've seldom heard the term "scooter" thrown back at me.

I always use the full name - either "Segway HT" or "Segway Human Transporter." I figure it has a proper name already and there is no reason to go making up stuff.

If anything, it's a "Personal or Human Transporter" - a "Personal Mover" or a "Power Mover."

You "Think-n-Go" or "Lean-n-Go" -

Across a distance.. a "Transrider" or "Transglider."

It's not a "Scooter" because when people see my Segway HT they ask, "Oh, what is that?" Everyone knows when they see a "Scooter."

Regards,

Frank A. Tropea
[/sc] Admin - "Keep your wheels on the ground!" - Contact Me (segwaychat@segwaychat.com)


Hi Frank,

What would you think of 'asking the audience', as Regis would put it ? Lawrence had suggested that a poll could be done to find out, whether or not people felt a name change/name addition would be advantageous for the Segway. I think this was in a thread called, 'Poll suggestions', or something like that. Of course, if people did feel there was good rationale to consider a name alteration, any name we came up with, would be just a 'suggestion'.

Seeker

[greenbean]

I like Mobilizer!

-=torin;)

[whistler]

"Segway Will Be on Display at Charleston, W.Va., Auto Show
Source: The Charleston Gazette
Publication date: 2003-01-15


Jan. 15--Inventor Dean Kamen decided to dub his human transporter the Segway because he felt

the device would provide a seamless transition between technology and movement -- as in

"segue."
Consumers will get a chance to decide for themselves at the West Virginia International Auto

Show, going on Friday through Sunday at Charleston Civic Center. The two-wheeled, hi-tech

transporter will be on display at the Ford exhibit."


From the above quote: "seamless transition between technology and movement" comes:

technomover..........

"Hey, Bob, what is that thing you are riding?"
"Well, Tom, this is my brand new technomover. It's a Segway HT!"

yep....... that could work......... and "Tom" didn't sound like a salesman for Segway LLC...

anyways, that's about all I have to put into this topic........

Thanks, hodgepoj, for starting this thread and I hope that we were able to help people

understand why a descriptive "generic" word is important.

[whistler]

Looks like every recent news article and every television interview has had a reference to "scooter"......... hightech scooter....... Segway scooter......... etc.... at least all that I've seen.

Like it or not, I guess we might as well get used to it being called a scooter.

[pdantic]

This thread reminds me of one of my pet peeves: people calling Palm handheld computers "Palm Pilots". They were originally called that, but Palm Computing had to drop the "Pilot" name after a lawsuit by the Pilot Pen Company... For at least 5-6 years they have simply been called "Palms" or "Palm OS Devices".

Yet every time I see an article in the mainstream media about these ubiquitous little handheld computers, they call 'em "Palm Pilots". Today's Doonesbury comic strip did it again! Arrrggghh.

It's kind of like Kleenex(tm) - just about everyone calls soft paper tissue used to clean out one's sinuses by that name, although there is actually only one company that makes that particular product. Unless Segway starts advertising in heavy rotation on TV and calls their product a Segway HT, it'll ALWAYS be called a "Segway Scooter". Guess it's time to get used to it... [/:(]

Steve
www.pdantic.com

Automobiles:
"They contained the seeds of their own destruction. Eighty million steel juggernauts, operated by imperfect human beings at high speeds, are more destructive than war."
-- Robert Heinlein, "The Roads Must Roll"

[Sailor]

That's a huge pet peeve of mine as well pdantic.... The same applies to white-out, xerox, fedex, and innumerable other brand name items but the Palm one drives me nuts for some reason, ;) probably because they only became truly popular long after "Palm Pilot" was no longer their legal name. I fully agree with your assessment that it is likely far too late to change the public's understanding of the Segway into not being associated with scooters....

I hate to add fuel to the fire, especially in light of my statement above about it being outside of our control, but it's worth noting that the law in California makes a legal distinction between motorized scooters and "EPAMD" or "electric personal assistive mobility devices". So not only is the Segway not a scooter according to the definition in Websters which requires the wheels to be in tandem, but also by the legal definition in California as well....

[wayne]

I do believe that "scooter" will the the name that 80% of the people call it. I have a large embroidered Segway HT hanging on the wall in my store and everyone that sees it ask me "what type of scooter is that". Scooter is a little easier to say.



Charoit riders ride Segway (well, maby a scooter)

[mzokc]

LOL, I found "rollator" on the web. Notice the "powered by heart" near the shirt:

http://www.noblemotion.com/Vorhies.htm

Doing a "Google" search adding the word "Segway" gave the following hits as of 1/28 ("both words" in quotes / words without quotes) listed in order of the average score of both methods:

27600/29100 hits: "human transporter"
331/29000 hits: "transporter"
5130/7430 hits: "HT"
1770/8010 hits: "scooter"
3/259 hits: "chariot"
2/115 hits: "EPAMD" (I pronounce it E-PAM-DA)

Since the competition sells scooters, it may take another manufacturer of a true HT type device to pick the generic term. That company would want their device to sound like a Segway, so one of the top three terms may be the one they would pick, barring trademark battles.

Mark

[Seeker]

Here’s a summary of some of the reasons I can see, for why it would be good/helpful to come up with a generic name to go with “Segway” :

1) The Segway is being referred to as the ‘scooter’ by a reasonably high percentage of people, yet most who value the Segway, feel this isn’t the best name for it.

2) Early purchasers of Segways, and Segway enthusiasts, can try to educate people not to use the name ‘scooter’, and will likely have good success in our sphere of influence, but the scope of our influence is limited.

3) Eventually, imitations of Segways may be produced, and this would make a generic term beneficial, so you could distinguish these vehicles as a ‘class’ of objects.
Being the one to ‘choose’ the generic name for these vehicles, rather than letting competitors be the ones to define this name, would put Segway in a better position.

4) “Segway” is currently a capitalized name, and a capitalized name is normally suggestive of a brand name, rather than representing a generic term such as ‘car’ or ‘bus’. People often search for generic terms to use in everyday conversation, to make it easier to refer to objects they use regularly. While “human transporter” is the current generic name given to the Segway, there may be better names to use.

Seeker

[hodgepoj]

quote:Originally posted by Seeker


The Segway is being referred to as a ‘scooter’ by a reasonably high percentage of people, yet most who value the Segway feel this isn’t the best name for it.


I started this thread 3 weeks ago because, while I respect the opinion of those who rebel at calling the Segway a scooter, I do not share that opinion. I know that the Segway is as far beyond the typical scooter as Krispy Kreem donuts are beyond the little white-powdered jobs that Seven-11 sells. But I don't really believe it hurts me or them for most folks to call it a scooter.

When they ask me what kind of scooter is that thing I'm riding, I'll just say, "It's a Segway scooter, the best there is."

hodgepoj

[emanresu]

A high-tech scooter is a "Hooter". If you drive two abreast, they should be referred to as "Gonzagas".

[Brooster]

Okay, ... whatever ... :)

Brooster

[GlideMaster]

I think we should just call the Segway what it is; a Glider. [8D][:P]:)

<center>The GlideMaster</center>

[ftropea]

Hodgepoj: If it makes it easier for your personally to think of the Segway HT as a scooter - then more power to you.

To date, I've encountered hundreds of people while riding my Segway HT. It attracts all sorts of attention and raises a lot of questions. For example, people want to know what it is.. how it works.. Everyone knows when they see a scooter and they're usually satisfied not to approach scooter riders with a barrage of questions. When people see a Segway HT, which seems to defy gravity, they're not sure what to make of it. I can tell you from *experience* that almost all the people I've encountered don't think it's a scooter..

Everyone knows when they see a scooter. People are mystified when the see a Segway HT. That should tell you something right there.

It's not a scooter. It's not a car with two wheels. It's not lawnmower without blades. It's a self balancing human transporter or people mover called a Segway HT. I tell people that and they walk away calling it Segway.. not a scooter.

What can I tell 'ya...

Regards,

Frank A. Tropea
[/sc] Admin - "Keep your wheels on the ground!" - Contact Me (segwaychat@segwaychat.com)

[wayne]

I think the problem with the name "scooter" is that once you spend $5000.00 you don't want to be looked at as a kid with a new scooter. You want a name that puts you in a class a little higher than scooter owner.
I believe that the segway will be called a lot of different names in the next year but it will always be stuck with "scooter".

[ftropea]

Well, as a Segway HT owner I'll respectfully disagree. I don't want to be put into a higher class..

Here is an even simpler answer. I own a scooter.. It's an inline electric scooter (red too!).. When I put my scooter and Segway HT side by side, I see no comparison. Not just visually.. but functionally. Scooters and Segway HTs are so different, it astounds me how anyone with experience with either device could insist on calling the Segway HT a scooter.

I believe the Segway HT will be called a lot of different names too.. but in the end, people will remember and use the name Segway HT.

Regards,

Frank A. Tropea
[/sc] Admin - "Keep your wheels on the ground!" - Contact Me (segwaychat@segwaychat.com)

[wayne]

Frank,

I think the correct name should be what it was first called "IT", and in fine print below "it's not a scooter"

[pdantic]

Whenever I finally buy a Segway HT I think I'll refer to it as a Segway HT or "Transporter". For the 3 billion or so Star Trek fans on the planet, the term "Transporter" is synonymous with a fast, fairly reliable (except on the original series!) and rather magical form of transportation. Doesn't that sound like a Segway HT? [/:)]

Steve
www.pdantic.com

Automobiles:
"They contained the seeds of their own destruction. Eighty million steel juggernauts, operated by imperfect human beings at high speeds, are more destructive than war."
-- Robert Heinlein, "The Roads Must Roll"

[emanresu]

How about "I Can't Believe It's Not A Scooter"?

[JohnM]

quote:Originally posted by ftropea

Here is an even simpler answer. I own a scooter.. It's an inline electric scooter (red too!).. When I put my scooter and Segway HT side by side, I see no comparison. Not just visually.. but functionally. Scooters and Segway HTs are so different, it astounds me how anyone with experience with either device could insist on calling the Segway HT a scooter.

Let's not be quite so simple and muddy the waters a bit. Take your Segway and little red scooter, add my kid's California Chariot, a Vespa and a 4 wheeled Rascal (model 255 or 305). Now play the old Sesame Street game, 'one of these things is not like the others'. Ask the question, 'Which of these devices is not a scooter?' I'll bet that the average person will point out the 4 wheeled Rascal first (even though the manufacturer, Electric Mobility, says it's a scooter) and then maybe the Vespa. The Segway might come in third.

Does anyone else remember playing scooter soccer in grade school? The 'scooter' was a 16" square board with 4 casters on the bottom. We would sit on our scooters and move about the gym floor crab-like, kicking a large beach ball. Fun. But that scooter was totally unlike any of the previously mentioned scooters. Apparently not everyone has the same narrow definition of scooter as Frank. Maybe a scooter is one of those things that defies definition, but people know one when they see one. Astounding.

And don't get me going about 'Human Transporter'. There's a phrase that's broad enough to include pogo sticks and the space shuttle. Or 'Glider' either. The space shuttle fits that one too. ;)

Runnin' with the Big Dogs

[ftropea]

Not everyone, JohnM. Just almost everyone I've showed the Segway HT to.. hundreds of people. Not astounded yet?

What can I tell 'ya? It's the truth.. the Times reporter made the same observation. People want to know what it is.. they've never seen anything like it before. That's what people actually say! And it's unscripted.. unprompted.. we're talking reality here.

And I'm talking about hundreds of adults.. not children. If hundreds of adults, after seeing a Segway HT for the first time, aren't pointing and saying "What kind of scooter is that?" or "I've never seen a scooter like that!" or "Is that a scooter?" or "Can I try your scooter?" or "Wow, cool scooter!" - and walk away calling it a Segway HT.. what does that tell 'ya?

It's not a scooter. Not just because I say so, but because people are saying so. Hundreds of different people who don't know each other and who don't get paid to say it.. they're not calling it a scooter.

As for your game, I'll take you up on the challenge (if you're making one.) I'd insist that instead of showing people photos of these same/different devices - you show them short video clips of them in action. Then ask them to point out which one is most different from the others...

I think they would pick the Segway HT.

If you let them try each of those devices, I'll put money down they pick the Segway HT. Seriously.



Regards,

Frank A. Tropea
[/sc] Admin - "Keep your wheels on the ground!" - Contact Me (segwaychat@segwaychat.com)

[wayne]

Frank, that just shows how people look at things different around the country. Here in Louisiana almost everyone that I talk to about the Segway feel that it is some type of scooter. I wonder how people on the west and east coast feel about the Segway being called a scooter. Or how about some of you that don't live in the US, what do you think?

[JohnM]

quote:Originally posted by wayne

Frank, that just shows how people look at things different around the country. Here in Louisiana almost everyone that I talk to about the Segway feel that it is some type of scooter. I wonder how people on the west and east coast feel about the Segway being called a scooter. Or how about some of you that don't live in the US, what do you think?

I guess I've just been brain-washed by the Manchester Union Leader (the most Kamen-friendly paper in the universe) which continues to use the term 'high-tech scooter' in nearly every Segway story. Most of the other papers in the state call it a scooter. too. You can't fool a bunch of cynical NH yankees.

And having seen enough Segways about town, I have no qualms in describing their motion as scooting. The speed and manueverability seems to fit every definition I've seen of 'scoot'. Nothing demeaning or derogatory implied; scooting is a good thing.

Runnin' with the Big Dogs

[BruceWright]

I think Walt Disney came up with the name: Peoplemover!

I will describe mine as a peoplemover!

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[pdantic]

quote:Originally posted by BruceWright

I think Walt Disney came up with the name: Peoplemover!

I will describe mine as a peoplemover!

-Bruce Wright

Oh, great! Now I'm going to have that 1960's "Goodyear Peoplemover" theme song going through my head for the next day or two... [:P]


Steve
www.pdantic.com

Automobiles:
"They contained the seeds of their own destruction. Eighty million steel juggernauts, operated by imperfect human beings at high speeds, are more destructive than war."
-- Robert Heinlein, "The Roads Must Roll"

[Seeker]

quote: Or how about some of you that don't live in the US, what do you think?


Hi Wayne,

I'm from Canada, and over here if it doesn't relate to hockey, then it really doesn't rate. So my interest in Segway is all tied up in whether it will further the interests of hockey. I'm convinced that we will soon see a Segway hockey team being fielded somewhere in the world, and my dream, my goal, is to play on that team, and to become the Wayne Gretzky of Segway hockey !!

The other thing, from a Canadian perspective, is we always like to say 'eh' at the end of everything, so the name 'Segway' is a bit confusing, because it's got the 'ay' already added...

Whenever I hear Segway, I think 'Segway-eh'.

(Please excuse that lapse into goofiness..in all seriousness, I'm just looking forward to having the chance to see one of the things in my neighbourhood, and hopefully getting the opportunity to ride it) !

Seeker

[emanresu]

We're going to re-name it "Hozer"...

[BruceWright]

quote:Originally posted by pdantic


Oh, great! Now I'm going to have that 1960's "Goodyear Peoplemover" theme song going through my head for the next day or two... [:P]



Now THAT's what the Segway is missing! It NEEDS to have that theme playing while someone's riding!

(For those unfamilliar, visit the link below)


"You're Riding on Goodyear Tires."

http://www.disneylandsource.com/tom/people.html


-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[Seeker]

quote:Originally posted by emanresu

We're going to re-name it "Hozer"...


In French Canada, maybe it could go by :

‘Dat-ting-dat-you-can’t-fall-off-eefen-eef-you-want-to’

[pam]

quote:Originally posted by wayne

Frank, that just shows how people look at things different around the country. Here in Louisiana almost everyone that I talk to about the Segway feel that it is some type of scooter. I wonder how people on the west and east coast feel about the Segway being called a scooter. Or how about some of you that don't live in the US, what do you think?


But, are you talking about people who are actually looking at one, or are you talking about people talking about one they haven't seen? When people look at it and see it in action, that's when they get the disconnect between the Segway and a scooter.
Pam

[wayne]

But, are you talking about people who are actually looking at one, or are you talking about people talking about one they haven't seen?



Pam,

Wish I was talking about people that had seen one. That would mean that I had one.
No, the only thing they have seen around here is the 10 inch embroidered one I have hanging on my wall.
I have shown some the videos made my members on this forum, but they still say "scooter".

I do like some of the other names I have heard, but to me Segway does not fit the picture. Segway should have been the manufactures name only.
If Segway would have given it a name (glider, transporter or etc.) it would have made it a lot easier on the public. I never liked the name "Human transporter".
Just my opinion, that usually don't count.

[2totango]

I still prefer to call it a "glidewalker" because that says what you use it for and how it operates. However, I find myself referring to it as a Segway HT most often.
But let's face it--anything that "scoots" along is going to be called a scooter.

[emanresu]

The poster we early buyers received says "Simplicity. Honesty. Inspiration. Depth." So, I formally propose we call it a SHID. Wait! Hear me out! Towns already have laws regarding taking a SHID on the sidewalk, and apparently Segway doesn't give a SHID if we get our units anytime soon.

[Brooster]

quote:Originally posted by emanresu

apparently Segway doesn't give a SHID if we get our units anytime soon.


Ahh, patience Grasshopper. :D

Brooster

[Brooster]

Personally, I think the whole "scooter" vs "whatever" issue will go away soon. The only reason people are using the word scooter to describe the Segway is the fact that 75+% of the population has no clue as to what a "Segway HT" even is.

"Yeah, the Segway HT ... you know, that self-balancing two-wheeled scooter thing."

"Ohhh, THAT thing! Yeah, I saw it on TV!"

I really think that eventually (very soon, in fact), people will simply call it by its name. Segway.

:)





Brooster

[hubbahbubbah]

I think calling the Segway a scooter is like calling a scooter a bicycle -- they all have two wheels.

I think we just have to deal with the fact that the Segway created a new category. A Segway is a Segway is a Segway.

And if the concept ever gets licensed to other manufacturers, then whatever their product is called will generally be referred to as a 'Segway," much like all tissues are Kleenexes and all copiers are Xerox machines.

[Brooster]

quote:Originally posted by Seeker

quote: Or how about some of you that don't live in the US, what do you think?

I'm from Canada, and over here if it doesn't relate to hockey, then it really doesn't rate. So my interest in Segway is all tied up in whether it will further the interests of hockey. I'm convinced that we will soon see a Segway hockey team being fielded somewhere in the world, and my dream, my goal, is to play on that team, and to become the Wayne Gretzky of Segway hockey !!

The other thing, from a Canadian perspective, is we always like to say 'eh' at the end of everything, so the name 'Segway' is a bit confusing, because it's got the 'ay' already added...

Whenever I hear Segway, I think 'Segway-eh'.

(Please excuse that lapse into goofiness..in all seriousness, I'm just looking forward to having the chance to see one of the things in my neighbourhood, and hopefully getting the opportunity to ride it) !

Seeker


That was worth a second round, eh? ;)

Broo

Brooster

[emanresu]

Let's give credit where it's due, eh? I came up with the Segway-eh thing for Canadians early in this thread, and while I don't intend to pursue legal remedies (too much international red tape), it is proprietary....

[whistler]

finally a term that really fits...............

Joe Blundo
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
said it looks like a "sport-utility step stool"...

absolutely.................. lol...

[pam]

quote:Originally posted by whistler

finally a term that really fits...............

Joe Blundo
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
said it looks like a "sport-utility step stool"...

absolutely.................. lol...


I think the sport-utility lawn mower is pretty good, too &lt;G&gt;. but sport-utility step stool is priceless.

Pam

[GlideMaster]

Broo being a true Ambassador of the Glide, you know I hope it goes away sooner than later.

<center>The GlideMaster</center>
quote:Originally posted by Brooster

Personally, I think the whole "scooter" vs "whatever" issue will go away soon. The only reason people are using the word scooter to describe the Segway is the fact that 75+% of the population has no clue as to what a "Segway HT" even is.

"Yeah, the Segway HT ... you know, that self-balancing two-wheeled scooter thing."
"Ohhh, THAT thing! Yeah, I saw it on TV!"
I really think that eventually (very soon, in fact), people will simply call it by its name. Segway.
:)
Brooster

[2totango]

Priceless and hilarious!!!