I Just Figured It Out!

[Florida Ever-Glides]

The people at LLC may be the 'brains' of the Segway, but all of us here are the 'heart'.

I hope that the nice folks at LLC realize this before they suffer from a major 'heart attack'. Some very important people like brooster and a few others are feeling 'pushed away' by LLC. To a point, I can understand where they are coming from.

Mr. Kamen used to be a 'big part of the heart' as well. But, when I heard him speak and saw him, it seemed that he was somewhat disconnected from the HT, and moving on to other challenges.

Regardless, I will continue with the rest of you to make sure that the heart is as important as the brain in making the HT part of our everyday lives now and well into the future...



Tom Jacobson
http://www.floridaever-glides.com

[GyroGo]

Ba Boom Ba Boom, Tom.

Kamen has not only had heart, but skin in the game as well, and it's gotta be a little painful to seque from the SegDream to the SegReality. I didn't see him speak this year, but would guess that disconnect comes from heartbreak.

[wayne]

I too feel a little like Tom.
If the Seg had started out selling like Dean figured it would you couldn't keep him away from the Seg or the Seg owners.
Disappointment does blow some of the fire out.


Wayne

[segwayowner]

yeah it almost seems like he has been pushed from LLC as well... or maybe he is trying to distance himself (i dont understand why...). He is no longer listed on the website, and is being seen less in the press releases...

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

[RAG1247]

in my humble opinion, from talking to DK and listening to his breakfast speech, I don't see the "disconnect". Certainly he would rather have sold more segways as of this date, but I don't feel that he is in any way abandoning the product. He also has a lot of other ongoing projects on his plate.

There are also a great number of llc employees that have as much "heart" as any of us do.

I also don't think that llc is pushing anyone away or that it is their intent, notwithstanding that some people might feel that way.



Richard
Ft. Lauderdale

If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around you [img=right]http://www.sonyguy.com/rageagle.jpg[/img=right]

[Florida Ever-Glides]

DK talked very little about the HT, but much about traffic and transportation in big cities during the breakfast talk. It was very interesting, hearing about all of his dreams and aspirations, but not much about his thoughts about other HT matters/uses. Much more time was spent talking about FIRST, which is an important project...

Tom Jacobson
http://www.floridaever-glides.com

[teekay]

If LLC did ask the dealers to stop participating in the chat, wouldn't that be like taking the batteries out of your heart pacemaker?

Or firing your top Salesperson?

It't not nice to bite the hand that feeds you!

But is is an direct action of fear.

Hope all works out well!

:) Tim

[sholloway]

I have talked to DK at length and I think he is just one of those brilliant people that get bored with everyday stuff easily. If the HT can be boring to anyone, it would be him. He's spent 10 years with it in his head already. It wouldn't shock me at all to learn that he honestly spends most of his time coming up with new thoughts, things, plans, deals, etc. I don't think it "means" anything, I just think he is moving on to the next greatest thing.

[Sunday]

It seems to me, that many people here feel like a Trek fan at a convention, who meets William Shatner, and can't understand why he doesn't feel the same way they do about Star Trek. Mr. Kamen has dedicated a good portion of his life to trying to solve the problems faced by the world today, and the world tomorrow. The Segway was seen as a solution to a question that not too many people have been asking...yet.

I'm really amazed that he still makes the time to show up for a three day event like this, when it means sacrificing so much of his personal time that could be spent more productively. The dedication to the Segway amazes me, and the dedication to all of us here on this little nerd forum, by Segway LLC in the form of chat sessions and occassional posts by employees, just blows me away.

It's great to see that even though we do get pretty snarly around here, and lapse into moments of being armchair CEO's, LLC can still participate as actively as they do, and share the information that they share. We're all very fortunate that this forum exists, that SegFest exists, and that LLC cares enough to support us as much as they do.

I can't wait untill I finally have enough cash to buy my own Segway and join the fold. It's comforting to know that the product will continue to be around, and that LLC will develop new and innovative products for me to lust after.


Mark



Escape the cage

[driley]

I'm sure that Mr. Edison did not even attend "Bulb Fest"... except for maybe the first year or two, much like Dean possibly?

Devin

[fredkap]

Dean remains the inspiration but don't minimize Doug Field or Ron Bills plus the many others that work tirelessly to make everything happen. I would believe that the Venture Capitalists have sought to reach the best balance between everyone. This is truly a team endeavor.

Fred

[KSagal]

Somehow, I heard what Dean said at that breakfast, but didn't hear what was said here.

I liken it to growing your lawn. If you must start from scratch, there is a lot of work. Clear the land, add fill, add top soil, spread seed.

The next phase is to wait for the lawn (Idea) to germinate. No matter how much you want it to grow faster, it will grow at it's own pace.

The smart gardener goes on to other projects at this point. It does not mean that he cares less, just filling his time with items to keep him productive.

I have no doubts that when the time is right, our gardener will be where he needs to be, in the mean time, he is off watering the parts of the globe that need it, a noble way to wait for the segrass to grow.

Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.

[driley]

quote:Originally posted by KSagal

Somehow, I heard what Dean said at that breakfast, but didn't hear what was said here.

I liken it to growing your lawn. If you must start from scratch, there is a lot of work. Clear the land, add fill, add top soil, spread seed.

The next phase is to wait for the lawn (Idea) to germinate. No matter how much you want it to grow faster, it will grow at it's own pace.

The smart gardener goes on to other projects at this point. It does not mean that he cares less, just filling his time with items to keep him productive.

I have no doubts that when the time is right, our gardener will be where he needs to be, in the mean time, he is off watering the parts of the globe that need it, a noble way to wait for the segrass to grow.

Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.


Well said. I could not agree more.

Devin

[teekay]

Don't you wish you could spend that kind of money, without a problem, Must be nice!

:) Tim

[GyroGo]

quote:Originally posted by driley

I'm sure that Mr. Edison did not even attend "Bulb Fest"... except for maybe the first year or two, much like Dean possibly?

Where's Bulb Fest gonna be in 2005? I want to make my reservation early.

I'm thinkin bulb fest is not such a bright idea, but I really would like to find out which is the brightest reasonably priced 4' T8 fluorescent bulb on the market (preferably full spectrum). Anyone???





. : SegCenter.com (www.SegCenter.com) : .
StirlingInfo (www.StirlingInfo.com) StirlingChat (www.StirlingChat.com)

[macgeek]

And when are the NEW batteries coming out so the bulbs burn longer, and brighter!

(evil laugh)

Jonathan

Segway - "Let's Roll"
Centaur - "Lets Roll on all fours"
www.segwaygeek.com

[KSagal]

I for one want to go to "Ballastfest".

Bulbs are nice, but I like to get to the power behind it all!

Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.

[woodenapple]

At the start of his breakfast talk, Dean said he was asked to talk about other stuff besides the HT. But he felt the need to talk about it some anyway, and almost appologized for spending so much time on it when he finally moved on to the "other things" he was asked to speak about.

The portion of his discussion concerning the HT was in the context of the existing overall transportation models that led to it's need. That is the way he seems to view the world - look at problems and find a way to fix them. He can't talk just about how neat the fix is. He has to discuss the context of the problem.

And I don't think Dean will ever give a speach without discussing FIRST.

Rodney

[PoloAk]

quote:Originally posted by woodenapple
And I don't think Dean will ever give a speach without discussing FIRST.

Rodney


Why would you want him to? If not for organizations like FIRST, we'd never have the cool products like the Segway HT. Granted, if you are on the "inner FIRST circle," it's all a little monotonous, but if we were all involved with FIRST, maybe he'd let up :) Sorry, I don't mean to lecture.

Kelsey

"Half of the world has an IQ of less than average. Think about it. . ."

[JohnM]

quote:Originally posted by PoloAk

[quote If not for organizations like FIRST, we'd never have the cool products like the Segway HT.

So Dean Kamen wouldn't have invented the Segway HT if he hadn't been a member of an organization like FIRST. What organization was that?

[woodenapple]

Kelsey - I am not saying that I would want Dean to give a speach without talking about FIRST. I agree with you on how important that is. I was just pointing out another reason why his breakfast talk wasn't all about the HT only.

Rodney

[pam]

I personally think that Dean feels a great responsibility to "give back" to the world and he recognizes that one of the best ways to do that is to encourage a culture change that values creativity - starting at the high school level, because if you wait too late, it's not going to happen. So FIRST is close to his heart - and he will talk about it in a heartbeat <G>. I've heard him speak numerous times now, and FIRST has always been on the menu <G>.

I agree with Rodney, Dean opened his talk to his greater vision re: transportation, of which the HT is just a part - and to energy needs as we move into the 21st century. All of this has been on his plate for years. Slowly, each piece is coming to fruition.
Pam

[fcfactory]

After reading the GINGER book and following Segway's business approach for the last 2 years...just doesn't make sense.

Could Dean (and his marketing guys)really believe that selling the Segway at 4000$ result in sales of the Segway in the millions within a short time span?

The only way to imagine such numbers would be to bring down the cost of the Segway to about 1000-1500$.

The actual component cost to Segway is about how much?...300$..Does this make sense?

FCfactory

[legpain]

The actual component cost to Segway is about how much?...300$..Does this make sense?

FCfactory

ARE YOU JOKING?? Did you do ANY research? Have you read about the guy that built his own version of the HT? His cost around $1,500 and it looks like crap! SEGWAYS ARE BUILT TO THE EXTREAM QUALITY!!!!!!!

PEOPLE, IT'S NOT A CHEAP MACHINE!!!!!!

I truely beleave it's priced at very little markup. I would bet LLC isn't making hardly anything per unit.

Check it out!!!!!!

[fcfactory]

No I am not joking. The margin spread at a dealership is about 30-35%. 2995 - 30% is about 2100$.
Do you really think they make 600$ per unit. With 100 million invested? Economy of scale brings it down quite a bit.

[IndyFIRSTengineer]

Troll ??

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

[statmed]

quote:Originally posted by IndyFIRSTengineer

Troll ??


Yup a troll, no contact info, only a troll would register with no contact info. They like to dish it out but can't take it.

And the research he's done must have been done on slashdot.com or another site like that.

H.M. Stern
statmed@optonline.net
www.segnyc.com
www.biker-glasses.com

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together (Hannibal Smith)

[pam]

He obviously doesn't know what he's talking about, at least in regards to Segways, so if we ignore him, maybe he'll go away. <G>
Pam

[fcfactory]

Don't get me wrong...

It's a marvelous piece of engineering.

All I meant was that it doesn't fit Deans vision of the future by selling Segways at unaffordable levels.

[Stan671]

Fcf, do you really think that Segway can make the HT's for $300 and are selling them for $4495? Get real. The batteries alone, cost Segway almost $295 each.

As to Dean's vision: Unfortunately, reality seem to have a habit of getting in the way of a dream.

Stan Dobrowski

[KSagal]

Fcf, if you really think there are only $300.00 dollars worth of parts in a segway, and that standard markup is 30 - 35%, then I'll give you $400.00 and you should have no problem giving me a new segway.

Lets do it. Time to pay the bill your mouth wrote...


Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.

[teekay]

Hey Karl, he was talking about the Segway "Q" model, as seen on E Bay!

I think his stats may be right!

LOL.....LOL.....

[fcfactory]

Granted, the batteries are the most expensive part on the Segway...but do you believe their true cost is over 500$.

I don't believe it!

[wayne]

My guess is that both batteries for the Seg doesn't cost LLC no more that $150.00 tops.
But that is how they help make their money back on their investment, it's called profit.


Seg-On

Wayne

[woodenapple]

Call me naive, but when different Segway employees told me on different occasions at SegwayFest, that they sell the batteries pretty much at cost, I believed them.

Although I think that is the only part they treat that way. Why else would the batteries be the only accessory that was not marked down at SegwayFest and the only one that is not included in the 10% off deal at the on-line store?

Rodney

[Stan671]

You are exactly right, Rodney.

Another forum member priced the individual cells from a battery supplier and the cost of just the sub-c sized cells was almost what Segway charges for the whole pack which includes additional electronics for voltage sensing and charge control, temperature sensors and a vibration welded sealed plastic case.

Stan Dobrowski