Exclusively at Amazon.com! Segway Human Transporter

[Beeblebrox42]

There were two people riding these down the sidewalk in seattle the other day..... I screamed out, "Owe my toe" just as the second went by and they almost crashed into each other......I wonder how soon it will be before we have laws that demand liability insurance if you are riding one of these on a public property. What about little segway license plates and an "S" drivers license....

 

[Kelemvor]

I like the part in the video where they come out of the elevator in their office building. That'd be kind of cool if a company provided those for all employees to use while at work. Might be neat to have races at lunch or something.

 

[Kavikgold]

this 1 on 1 with some random outsider debate is quite interesting

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: sumrtym
You know, this is why I think people aren't worth saving. Honestly.

Does anybody actually making these posts have a clue who Dean Kamen is? Or how he's made this a better world for tons of people?

Segway wasn't meant as a replacement for WALKING (only thick skulls or the infinitely unimaginative see that), but for short trips that people are ALREADY using a car for (lots of exercise there, too). Non-polluting, cheap, and ideal for those short trips everyone makes that they don't walk (when's the last time one of you wise guys said "I'm going to jog down to the store 5 miles away and back.") No, you hop in your CAR and go.

I've read a web log from a guy who purchased one in Seattle (I know, rain...beats me) and uses it as a car replacement. He and his wife save HUNDREDS every month because of that one less car payment (they still have another....don't be stupid), gas, insurance, and parking. They're donating the money they've saved (enough to pay for the Segway within a matter of months) to different charities they are interested in supporting...every month.

Maybe my little flame here is unwarranted, but knowing as much as I do about Dean Kamen and why he does what he does, it just makes me ill. I honestly get to the point where I think people really aren't worth helping or saving.

Do me a favor....start here to learn about what led to the development of Segway.

Click the video link on the page

Then go read the Time article on him, or any of the others. Dean invented the portable dialisis machine that freed individuals from a life at the hospital, stints that are now common use in heart surgeries saving countless lives, a wheelchair that gives people back their full mobility and useful reach, the Segway to counter pollution at a small cost for those always small trips people constantly take, and his new project.....a small sterling engine capable of powering a device from any burnable source of material that creates clean water, perfect for solving one of the biggest problems in this century in 3rd world countries.

Dean has done nothing but make meaningful contributions to this world, dramatically impacted peoples lives for the better, and leads a foundation paid out of his own money to encourage children to take an interest in science an technology.

This may be out of place here, and I apologize to the mods, but making fun of his work without seeing the potential infuriates me. It's just lucky that he, and people like him, aren't disuaded as easily.:disgust:

Why are all the treehuggers and PETA wacos always so angry? You say people are not worth saving; in that case take a gun and blow your own brains out. You are a part of the human herd, so don't be shy, join our reindeer games. Take a chill pill dude, this is a Hot Deals forum not Save The Earth, take it to Off Topic.

 

[Marauder-]

Eh - I have no problem w/ people wanting to buy or not to buy this but I think that Dean Kamen guy missed his market (web boom era) by a few years and missed the pricing point by a few thousand. I mean at $5000 - you can buy a decent used car. And the problem is that if you're buying your first vehicle, you are obviously going to spend it on the car and not on this. But I mean, if he managed to get it to say ~$500-$750 then I'm sure quite a chunk of the AT people would consider it. But in terms of feasibility, my brother just purchased a used goped for $200 recently and it is just a "jump on and go" and it gets 100 miles to the gallon. So like ~30 miles per fill up.

I'm not discrediting Dean Kamen b/c it sounds like he's a true humanitarian - but this device is far too impractical at this point in time.

 

[TXHokie]

I'm holding out for the personal transporter.

 

[ICantAffordIt]

This is fun!

I think Kamen has done many good things... I also think he's insane.

I remember some bio I saw on him... probably on techtv... he has his own island somewhere which he has declared a sovereign state (not legally obviously) and made himself emperor or king or something... even has a treaty of non-agression signed with the U.S. ( I believe it was Clinton who signed it... not 100% sure on that though ).

 

[k000]

Originally posted by: ICantAffordIt
This is fun! I think Kamen has done many good things... I also think he's insane. I remember some bio I saw on him... probably on techtv... he has his own island somewhere which he has declared a sovereign state (not legally obviously) and made himself emperor or king or something... even has a treaty of non-agression signed with the U.S. ( I believe it was Clinton who signed it... not 100% sure on that though ).

I don't know what Clinton would be getting out of that deal !

 

[bonk102]

ok, this was posted months ago ( i should know, i posted it in off topic the first day i saw it) so this is def. not breaking news, and 2nd, this really isn't a hot deal because it is a well known fact, methinks this needs to be moved to off topic

 

[Marauder-]

Originally posted by: k000

Originally posted by: ICantAffordIt
This is fun! I think Kamen has done many good things... I also think he's insane. I remember some bio I saw on him... probably on techtv... he has his own island somewhere which he has declared a sovereign state (not legally obviously) and made himself emperor or king or something... even has a treaty of non-agression signed with the U.S. ( I believe it was Clinton who signed it... not 100% sure on that though ).

I don't know what Clinton would be getting out of that deal !

 

[Pardus]

this is definately not hot, this deal is colder than a ice cube...

Improvement on walking? This is a goofy looking device to me, who in the right mind would go down the street on one of these. They dont show anyone using it in the rain or snow, so its only useful when its nice outside.

At $5000, your better off with a car which can not only transport you but others as well and have room to spare.

This thing looks like something from a Woody Allen movie where a cop would pull you over riding these geek-mobiles.

I be surprised if amazon sells any of these, its a rich boy toy, has no practical use in everyday life.

btw-- if you ride this down the streets of nyc, your a nice moving target

 

[Devistater]

Anyone else notice that amazon isn't showing/allowing comments/reviews for this? I read the amazon reviews a fair amount if I'm undecided about something. I would never buy this, but I went to their site to see if anyone had written comments on it.

 

[BaboonGuy]

come on people, think about it. we'll all be using this thing in the future, the collectibility value of one of the very first models is worth over $5000

 

[UncleWai]

How is the return policy on Amazon?
I want to buy one and try out for 30 days, then refund it.
I will be the coolest person for 30 days, woohoo me.

 

[sparkyclarky]

I can see using it on campus, if the price goes down. Here at UW, quite a few people have mopeds, and something like this would work as a decent replacement for those. But really, we're a niche market and most of us are pretty broke

 

[yddadnarg]

well this seems to be getting more off topic all the time, so I'll just tell you I rode one of these bad boys and it was actually pretty fun. Rode is probably an overstatement since I was confined to a small area in a presentation booth at the recent RSA conference but it was still pretty sweet. I asked the guy if the price was coming down anytime soon and he said probably not. The gyroscopic unit(don't ask me I think, that's what he said, but don't quote me) cost $2000 alone and almost everything on it is proprietary. I really wanted one of these things too but $5000 is definitely out of my price range.
By the sound of the webpage, it makes it seem like it's powered by your weight shifting. Bullsh**. It's the electric motor inside. That's a good thing or bad thing depending on how you look at it. Atleast hills won't be the obstacle I thought they would be. 12 mph seems slower than what he was describing but I guess that's probably right. It was on the slowest setting when I rode it, and it still seemed to have some getup. Anyways, no relelvance, but since the thread was on top anyways, I thought I'd share.

 

[chexi]

If you use it to go to the store, you better not buy anything. Where would you put it on the way home? Unless of course you were planning just to go buy some gum.

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: UncleWai
How is the return policy on Amazon?
I want to buy one and try out for 30 days, then refund it.
I will be the coolest person for 30 days, woohoo me.

Yeah but there's a Non refundable $495 deposit or something. So you could be cool for $500 for 30 days...

 

[nebula]

I was at DisneyWorld about a month ago. Some of the employees were riding these, now that seemed like a good place/use for it. Those people that have to run around the park all day...

Let's repost this when they slash the price to <$1000

 

[ragazzo]

we need a modded segway with no verticle bar. make it look like a skateboard, but without wheels. a hoverboard just like the one from back to the future movie. there we go

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: laugh
so the future of human is bigger brain, smaller body like the aliens in sci-fi or smaller brain (dumber) and fatter body (no workout)?

2

Evolution doesn't work that way.

If having a smaller body and bigger brain makes us reproduce more effectively than yes, otherwise no.

 

[wakeboarder]

Originally posted by: sumrtym
You know, this is why I think people aren't worth saving. Honestly.

Does anybody actually making these posts have a clue who Dean Kamen is? Or how he's made this a better world for tons of people?

Segway wasn't meant as a replacement for WALKING (only thick skulls or the infinitely unimaginative see that), but for short trips that people are ALREADY using a car for (lots of exercise there, too). Non-polluting, cheap, and ideal for those short trips everyone makes that they don't walk (when's the last time one of you wise guys said "I'm going to jog down to the store 5 miles away and back.") No, you hop in your CAR and go.

Yeah, but at a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour, you would be spending 48 minutes commuting if you were going top speed the entire time. Waste of time. Plus where do you stick what you bought for the ride back, no storage compartments and you need both you hands to hang on. Not that it isn't a good concept, it just needs a lot more refinement before people will take it seriously.

 

[JoshMKiV]

Someone brought one to work the other day, and we all took turns riding it. I wouldn't buy one, but it sure was fun to play with. And 12.5 mph is pretty quick when you are on one of these things...

 

[Ziptar]

Segway Type R

 

[gotincon]

I wouldn't be caught dead on one of those things. And if I was caught dead on one, you can be sure I didn't approve of it before I died.


If lazy people who want to save the Earth would just buy a bike instead.....


I ride all the time, but not to work, as i have a 30 mile commute, and really dont have the 4 hours a day to ride in and go home.