article in Inventors Digest

[segwayowner]

I dont normally read Inventorys Digest, but i needed something to read on a recent plane ride. I was flipping through it, and saw an article about Dean, his process of invention, the ibot, and the segway.
I cant find the article online, but would be happy to scan it, and post it online. Can i post it, or will i be violating copyright laws?

also, in the article, it says that the ibot is $5000, itsnt it a lot more expensive then that? isnt it like $45000?

thanks a lot

DES: Segway owner....
it has a nice ring to it

The average American/Canadian will eat about 11.9 pounds of cereal per year.
Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.
There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.
Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church

[Zorba9]

Hi SO, scan & post! As long as you acknowledge where the article came from there should be no problem. Sounds like a little "mis-information" in the article, the IBOT costs $25,000, way over the means of most people who could benefit by them.

KOG

Zorba9.....

[Stewbonz]

$25,000 seems reasonable when compared to remodeling a house to accomodate a regular wheelchair.

JEFF JARVIS
http://www.thailandsegwaytours.com/

[Hauptagon]

And people regularly spend far more than that on cars, too.

When I first found out how expensive the IBOT is a few months ago, I couldn't believe the price -- now, thinking about all the additional mechanisms it needs compared to a segway, $25,000 seems reasonable.

-Justin

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." -From Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

[Brooster]

If I'm not mistaken the price is closer to $29,000 ... but man, what an incredible machine.

LadyBroo and I (and many others) had the huge privilege of not only seeing it--but actually riding it, and raising up and cruising around on two wheels--at SegwayFest 2003. Having a brilliant--and very cool--engineer named Kurt Heinzmann right there as our "instructor" was just icing on the cake. Definitely something we'll always remember.

Brooster

[sholloway]

I didn't know that mobility issues only attacked people that couldn't afford $29K to be able to move around their world. I would have guessed it was more of an across the board type of issue.

[segwayowner]

I finally figured out where to post the article....
go to
http://users.rcn.com/dsaxe01/Segway/invent.pdf
and
http://users.rcn.com/dsaxe01/Segway/invent2.pdf


DES: Segway owner....
it has a nice ring to it

The average American/Canadian will eat about 11.9 pounds of cereal per year.
Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.
There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.
Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church

[woodenapple]

Interesting article. The author states, "I recently had the opportunity to review Dean Kamen's revolutionary Segway..." Well he must not have reviewed things very closely if he also says, "His safer wheelchairs and wheel chairs that climb stairs are in big demand..." Does Dean have other 'safer' wheelchairs besides the IBOT? And he thinks the IBOT only costs $5,000. I'll bet he is assuming the IBOT is in big demand because that fits the scenario he is painting with his 'evolutionary' vs. 'revolutionary' model.

The author is right in saying that the Segway had a 'stumbly' beginning, but I think that was due to more than just marketing (or lack of marketing). The real distribution method is still developing with new dealerships etc., as Amazon and the internet could only take it so far. As dealerships are opening, marketing is just now beginning in those specific regions, and we will see if it is effective or not.

I like the context that the author put it in when he pointed out, "...but there aren't many innovations that go straight to mass adoption."

Rodney

[macgeek]

When I look at the Segway, I often think about Apple Computer's "'evolutionary' vs. 'revolutionary' " past.
The Apple /// a "business" machine failed terribly. - The apple "Lisa" a $10,000 Computer powerhouse, with a new Operating system, again failed.. Apple's PDA Newton, another failure, even the Macintosh took YEARS before it caught on.

All of these are great products, but sadly all are ahead of their time, and their marketplace's time. The apple Ipod, now a Giant started out as a failed piece of technology, till apple found it's nitch..

on a analog note:
Lets take a look at the Bee-Gee's - The "overnight sensation" band of the 70's were singing hits in the 60's, but it took one movie to catapult them into superstars.

It took one photo op of J-Lo to make her a superstar.

When will Segways moment come?

Jonathan

P:S: This is why when you see a picture of my segway there is a Icon of a light bulb on the front, a sticker from the Newton.




www.segwaygeek.com

[segeois]

Check the price of others like Invacare. Some models start at $9500 then start adding, a headrest will set you back a couple hundred. Elevation is just under $1900 The compact joystick is about another grand and power legrests will set you back over $2500 and there are lots more options. Remember these things aren't lazyboys they are tools and sometimes part of a life support system. Different people have different needs and each addition has a substantial cost.

Nobody seems to see the cost of professional tools but they aren't cheap and when you consider the software alone, licensing and support on engineering workstations can easily top $20,000 per seat per year. CNC machines cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you look at the iBot, or a Segway or a car for that matter, as a tool it isn't all that expensive when compared to other pieces of capital equipment with similar lifespans.

I don't mean to rant but considering what an iBot does it doesn't seem expensive to me in that if it has a service life of 10 years the capital cost is less than $3k per year. I can't believe that it doesn't easily pay for itself in increased productivity alone and any quality of life benefit is just icing on the cake.

[legpain]

Medicare will pay for an Ibot if you REALLY need one! It's a really cool wheelchair. I hope to you know who I'll never need one.

John