eli
07-16-2004, 02:03 AM
Segway Thoughts, Day 3 with a p133
Here's my thoughts on 3 days with the Segway. I'm sure these will continue to evolve as time and experience passes.
* Technology
I'm just humbled by this thing. It was probably worth buying just to keep around the office for my colleagues as inspiration in designing a satisfying and immediate first-user/"out-of-the-box" experience, as well as for a tactile/visual/body motion user interface. I've never seen anything like it in a decade of consumer product development. It's been a joy to see friends try it out for the first time.
(Actually, it was worth buying just to give myself something that I'd lusted after for years -- whether I ever use it for practical purposes or not! I've never done this before, and it was the hardest part of making the purchase decision.)
* Riding on recreational mixed-use trails
This worked *really* well. There was space for cyclists to pass, although the 10-15 mph trail limit didn't really render that necessary. The Stevens Creek trail that felt horribly dangerous and poorly designed to me as a cyclist -- narrow lanes, blind spots everywhere, sudden turns, unpredictable pedestrians --- felt totally natural on the Segway. I could slow down easily, and turn in a much tighter radius than my bicycle could. The Segway's relatively low speed probably also helped, since my decision time was greater.
I'll definitely continue to use it for trips that are bike trail-heavy, especially if I need to be presentable on the other end.
* Sidewalks
This was uncomfortable to an extent that really shocked me, especially after reading many conversations on SegwayChat from Seggers really comfy on sidewalks:
- I frequently got off the Segway and walked -- where the entire sidewalk was taken up by little kids, or a woman was pushing a stroller on a narrow sidewalk (just narrow enough to walk past sideways, but not wide enough for a wheeled Segway.) When I reached the densely populated Downtown Mountain View streets, I just got off and power-assisted --- it was just as fast, and it also provided some exercise.
- Sidewalks around Middlefield (in Mountain View, for you Bay Area Seggers) are single-width, and occasionally (and unexpectedly) have obstacles such as fire hydrants in the middle of the sidewalk. Getting around them was a pain that involved dismounting.
- Traveling beyond walking speed near traffic interaction points was really awkward. Slowing down at every major driveway and doing a lookback for traffic was painful. It was the equivalent of biking on the sidewalk, but with a bit more control.
- Maybe it's just time, but I'm totally uncomfortable entering a crosswalk in a wheeled device, where I'm not 100% predictable to a motorist. I tended to dismount before crossing, as I used to do in the first few weeks of riding a bike at complex intersections.
Overall, my initial experience was that it did not seem useful as a transportation device on our sidewalks. Now, mind you, if I had a disability that hindered my walking, I think the experience would have been nothing short of a gift from God.
Whereas cyclists have had decades to amass bodies of documentation on "correct" vehicular interaction technique to pass down with extensive studies documenting actual sources of injury and fatality (and we have lots of cyclists to observe and learn from -- both as role models and as negative examples!), the Segway hasn't yet reached that critical mass.
* Bike lanes
This was really awkward to me as well. The curvature of the road resulted in the need to excessively lean in the opposite direction to avoid falling off the road every minute or two. Using a bike lane safely also requires the ability to migrate to the traffic lane (or border thereof) at an intersection when a car needs to make a right turn; I just didn't feel comfortable making such a vehicular maneuver on the Segway, as I comfortably would in a bike.
* Bystander comments
The Segway definitely was an ice-breaker, and I'd had a conversation with a man who had asked about it. (I'd gotten off to avoid scaring his toddler, and as I walked by, he'd asked if my battery had died.)
A few people stared (especially when I almost fell off -- I'm sure many have a yuppie-Schadenfreude feeling towards anyone on a Segway), some kids said "those are really fun to ride" and "are you getting any exercise?" I don't mind the exercise quips -- between biking 100-200 miles a month, and doing 100-200 pound presses at the gym, I know I'm probably in better shape than most of them anyway!
Here's my thoughts on 3 days with the Segway. I'm sure these will continue to evolve as time and experience passes.
* Technology
I'm just humbled by this thing. It was probably worth buying just to keep around the office for my colleagues as inspiration in designing a satisfying and immediate first-user/"out-of-the-box" experience, as well as for a tactile/visual/body motion user interface. I've never seen anything like it in a decade of consumer product development. It's been a joy to see friends try it out for the first time.
(Actually, it was worth buying just to give myself something that I'd lusted after for years -- whether I ever use it for practical purposes or not! I've never done this before, and it was the hardest part of making the purchase decision.)
* Riding on recreational mixed-use trails
This worked *really* well. There was space for cyclists to pass, although the 10-15 mph trail limit didn't really render that necessary. The Stevens Creek trail that felt horribly dangerous and poorly designed to me as a cyclist -- narrow lanes, blind spots everywhere, sudden turns, unpredictable pedestrians --- felt totally natural on the Segway. I could slow down easily, and turn in a much tighter radius than my bicycle could. The Segway's relatively low speed probably also helped, since my decision time was greater.
I'll definitely continue to use it for trips that are bike trail-heavy, especially if I need to be presentable on the other end.
* Sidewalks
This was uncomfortable to an extent that really shocked me, especially after reading many conversations on SegwayChat from Seggers really comfy on sidewalks:
- I frequently got off the Segway and walked -- where the entire sidewalk was taken up by little kids, or a woman was pushing a stroller on a narrow sidewalk (just narrow enough to walk past sideways, but not wide enough for a wheeled Segway.) When I reached the densely populated Downtown Mountain View streets, I just got off and power-assisted --- it was just as fast, and it also provided some exercise.
- Sidewalks around Middlefield (in Mountain View, for you Bay Area Seggers) are single-width, and occasionally (and unexpectedly) have obstacles such as fire hydrants in the middle of the sidewalk. Getting around them was a pain that involved dismounting.
- Traveling beyond walking speed near traffic interaction points was really awkward. Slowing down at every major driveway and doing a lookback for traffic was painful. It was the equivalent of biking on the sidewalk, but with a bit more control.
- Maybe it's just time, but I'm totally uncomfortable entering a crosswalk in a wheeled device, where I'm not 100% predictable to a motorist. I tended to dismount before crossing, as I used to do in the first few weeks of riding a bike at complex intersections.
Overall, my initial experience was that it did not seem useful as a transportation device on our sidewalks. Now, mind you, if I had a disability that hindered my walking, I think the experience would have been nothing short of a gift from God.
Whereas cyclists have had decades to amass bodies of documentation on "correct" vehicular interaction technique to pass down with extensive studies documenting actual sources of injury and fatality (and we have lots of cyclists to observe and learn from -- both as role models and as negative examples!), the Segway hasn't yet reached that critical mass.
* Bike lanes
This was really awkward to me as well. The curvature of the road resulted in the need to excessively lean in the opposite direction to avoid falling off the road every minute or two. Using a bike lane safely also requires the ability to migrate to the traffic lane (or border thereof) at an intersection when a car needs to make a right turn; I just didn't feel comfortable making such a vehicular maneuver on the Segway, as I comfortably would in a bike.
* Bystander comments
The Segway definitely was an ice-breaker, and I'd had a conversation with a man who had asked about it. (I'd gotten off to avoid scaring his toddler, and as I walked by, he'd asked if my battery had died.)
A few people stared (especially when I almost fell off -- I'm sure many have a yuppie-Schadenfreude feeling towards anyone on a Segway), some kids said "those are really fun to ride" and "are you getting any exercise?" I don't mind the exercise quips -- between biking 100-200 miles a month, and doing 100-200 pound presses at the gym, I know I'm probably in better shape than most of them anyway!