Ginger....hahaha

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

Originally posted by Smash

ROTHFLMAO.I was wrong about teenage muntant ninja turtles,but I don't think I'm wrong here.This thing is utterly silly.

You dissing the turtles? TURTLE POWER!

I was a bit surprised myself, but with the kinds of reviews it's had from big name innovators, one must suspect that we are yet to know the full story. There's got to be something more, with the kind of attention it's had.

Apparently, the are environmentally clean, and run for 15 cents a day. And you lean on them to speed up, slow down. Hmmm...

I won't be throwing out the old 21 speed quite yet

 

[Maj]

Your reactions towards the Segway (aka Ginger) are precisely the reason why the vehicle's marketing team have chosen to start selling it to government and corporate organizations. The Segway does have the potential to become a useful tool for getting around quickly (relative to walking) at a very low cost to the consumer budget (something like 5 cents of electricity to fill 'er up) and the environment.

In terms of commercial use, the Segway is not meant for the suburbanite but the downtown, high population density dweller. Mega-cities in developing nations could ease congestion and pollution problems with that little scooter were they to pass appropriate legislation to allow and encourage its use.

Don't flatter yourselves into thinking you're the intended market for this revolutionary vehicle. I know I won't buy it and you all know you won't buy it. But we don't consitute a good sample for the world population.

Just out of curiousity, for those of you who knew about IT or Ginger or whatever the project was codenamed, what did you expect the final product to be?

-Maj

 

[Apollo]

Well its pretty much what I expected it would be. I remember hearing about it back in Seattle. They had a big story on it there because Jeff Bezos (of Amazon.com fame) was one of the big investors. The only information they gave at the time (in addition to the "revolutionizing our lives" hype) was that it was a gyroscopically-powered personal transportation device. My first thought: "How is a gyroscope supposed to provide enough power to replace an internal-combustion engine? It'll probably just revolutionize the wheel-chair industry if anything."

 

[patg]

Most of the posts here are a standard american responce. This invention will change the world, just not america and places where it snows to much.

It's important to remember that in most of the world there is no inexpensive form of personal transportation. In america people love there cars no mater how much it cost them and rest of us. They will keep using them until we run out of oil and say "hey why is energy sudenly so expensive?"

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by shirleyrocks
Yeah, you wouldn't believe my idea--it's a home run. You ever hear of Eight-Minute Abs? Two million copies it sold last year. Two million, man. But not next year--my idea's gonna blow them outta the water. Get this:

Seven...Minute...Abs!

Think about it. You walk into a video store and you see Eight-Minute Abs and right next to it you see Seven-Minute Abs--which one you gonna spring for?

And we guarantee you'll get every bit as good a work-out. It's the company motto: 'If you ain't happy we'll send you the extra minute.'

I can't remember the comedian who did this routine. Was it Seinfeld??? I can't remember where I saw it.

Anyway, I guess you'll have to admit that these guys did a lot of great marketing for themselves. I work in advertising and I'm sure they could care less that some people are panning the "great invention". The word of mouth advertising and expectation will probably make this this a huge success.

I can see the possibilities of this, I guess, but I'm not even sure where the market would be. In underdeveloped nations (as they mention in the article link), who can afford the thing? And, yes, Americans love their cars. It's true - we always have. Tough to get this thing to Americans who love to make the car trip and have their cup holders and CD Players and Phones and God knows what else there in the car with them. In urban centers, all I can imagine is pedestrians getting bowled over by pinheads on these scooters going 15 m.p.h.

Perhaps fat people in semi-urban centers who can't ride a bike and have $3,000 to kick around.

You can bet the first few idiots that drive these things into walls, over cliffs, into traffic, etc are going to sue this company backwards.

 

[shirleyrocks]

It was the hitchhiker from There's Something About Mary...

 

[Kev]

Thanks Shirley

It would've had me going nuts all day!!!

 

[Smash]

It's important to remember that in most of the world there is no inexpensive form of personal transportation.

you call 3k US cheap?...most of the world must doing pretty good.

What are the odds this thing would even be available in "most of the world"?

Only a government would be stupid enough to buy these in numbers.
or a rich guy that likes to zip around his mansion.

People like their cars.They like their car stereos,phones,tvs,etc.The price of fuel is an annoyance rather than an actual factor.Climate has nothing to do with it.Go to California.

 

[allan]

In large manufacturing plants, maintenance people and others who must zip around from one area to another (often walking a few miles in the plant every day) could find use for these things. Ditto staff in the Pentagon perhaps.

But a widespread, "world-changing" market? I don't see it....

The thing about cars is that they can go great distances if need be, to places not always served by public transport. I.e. if you must go out of town suddenly, in the middle of the night, to visit an ailing family member in a hospital. Or you want to go to a secluded rural lake to go fishing. Or you live in the suburbs and work night shift in the city (or vice versa, as in my case). Or your wife is going into labor and you don't live conveniently near a bus line, or the hospital.... The whole idea of a personal vehicle like a car is ultimately its flexibility--we don't have to conform to a schedule that holds a certain market share, like public transportation must. Of course, I'd be all for a car that ran on cheaper and cleaner power sources--but having a personal reliable transportation device is overall a GOOD thing.

But this scooter ain't it, not for anything over a few miles, or requiring speeds well over normal walking speed.... And right now anyway, it's just a rich man's toy.