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Poll: who thinks "Ginger" is stupid?

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I'm amazed by the number of small thinkers here. Had you been born in a different time, many of you would have called DaVinci and Einstein quacks as well.
 


<< I'm amazed by the number of small thinkers here. Had you been born in a different time, many of you would have called DaVinci and Einstein quacks as well. >>



I couldn't have put it better myself. 🙂

Rob
 
wrong, you would not be accelerated to 24mph, its all about momentum here, not force... yes you do feel a force, but momentum is more important here
 


<< When it rains now, how do pedestrians move around? Do they melt and die? Geez, you guys are making huge issues out of things that we already deal with. >>



Aren't you arguing this both ways? It's supposed to be revolutionary because it replaces automobiles. Not because it replaces walking. I'm almost certain that pedestrians *don't* walk 3 or 4 miles in the rain, with rare exceptions for some of the class of people who might actually want this thing, i.e. USPS, UPS, Fedex,
 
personally i think its retarded. i mean that is some pretty nice technology. BUT WHY? no one needs this thing. i mean, first off people are fat enough as it is. they should freaking walk.



now , i can see this technology, being ruggedized and able to go 30mph. THen like navy seals could just deploy one, with all sorts of cameras and explosives on it. and blow people up if the people are in sealed bunkers. of course a person wouldnt' be on it, but if it can turn so well, it'd be hard to shoot at.


the other good idea... is take it, take the top part off, make it remote controlled, put saws and flame throwers on it. it'd make a great battlebot
 
people keep saying its to be used on the sidewalk with peds.

ummm many cities have laws that do not allow motorized vehicles on the sidewalk.

**edit except for motorized wheelchairs
 
It's a great idea.
The technology available today has finally made it possible and the device should not be given a big whoop-de-do. It is an achievement, but will not replace my car.
 
It may be stupid, but the design will soon be used for a better cause. They are talking about put the gyroscopic idea into wheelchairs. This "scooter" has been in "designing" for over 3 years now. I'm surprised they still released it, considering they were not at one time.
 
I was hoping they invent a new much cleaner burning engine or something in that nature.

Oh, prediction. I don't think "IT" gonna sell very well here in San Francisco.
 
Can't wait to see these on the sidewalks. As soon as a "Ginger" rams into me from behind on a crowded sidewalk, I'll be screaming for a lawsuit. Who wants to bet the newest legal field will be Scooter collision attorneys?
 


<< The engine is what impresses me. reycycles most of its heat >>



Wrong. It's an electric motor. There was speculation that Kamen had perfected a Stirling engine to power Ginger (which you describe), but that turned out not to be true. That would have been a big breakthrough since a working Stirling engine could have tons of other applications.

This, however is just a self-balancing scooter. The self-balancing part is cool. But we've seen this before. Kamen invented a wheelchair with this exact same system awhile ago (Kamen's Wheelchair). So this drive system that everyone is hyping about is not new--and I don't see why people should be anymore impressed by this than that wheelchair which we already knew about.

I can see this as a toy for wealthy people who will buy it for the novelty. But I doubt you'll see many people willing to pay $3000 for one of these. And the prices will not come down unless they start selling a bunch of these. Besides, if you watch the Good Morning America segment, he said he HOPES to get it down to $3000--right now they're $8000 or so, so $3000 IS the lower price. And besides, most of the cost of these looks like it's in the mechanical parts. Car prices don't generally go down, and I doubt you'll see the price drop much on this thing either.

Basically it's a neat idea that nowhere near lived up to it's hype and is functionally not much different than existing scooters--except for the fact that it's self-balancing for clumsy people. For all those saying that this thing will be revolutionary, please explain how. I just don't see it. The only new thing about this device is that it balances itself. What's the big deal in this? It's still basically a scooter.
 
How do you think theives are going to steal this without your key? The key uses 128 bit encryption which makes it infinetly harder to hot wire then a car.

they could try and mug you, but few muggers can keep up to 12 mph for over an hour 😉
 


<< How do you think theives are going to steal this without your key? The key uses 128 bit encryption which makes it infinetly harder to hot wire then a car.

they could try and mug you, but few muggers can keep up to 12 mph for over an hour 😉 >>



well they could pick it up and stick it in a car and worry about the hotwiring at home when they have all the time in the world

Cessna172- exactly what ive been thinking...

and to those people who say it works "All Day", thats a lie...unless theday has been shortened quite a bit...the batteries need a 6 hour charge after every hour. so out of every 7 hours of the day u can drive it 1.

so i dont see how the mailman would use this, unless he can have 2 a bunch in a truck and every 30 minutes of riding he goes back and switches and gets anew one =)

but the balancing is amazing...but was in the wheel chair a while ago
 


<< I'm amazed by the number of small thinkers here. Had you been born in a different time, many of you would have called DaVinci and Einstein quacks as well. >>

DaVinci was a quack, but Einstein wasn't.

I've been checking Segway out a bit, and I have to admit that its certainly "innovative" and an impressive use of 50 year-old technology, but a "revolutionary technological marvel that will lead the way into the 25th Century" yadda blah yadda it is not.

Its an electric scooter that utilizes 50 year-old gyroscopic and constant velocity principles. I mean, its neat, yes, but give us a break on the "revolutionary marvel of technology and design" stuff. This is one of those nifty things that could easily have been built 25 years ago, but nobody saw the point in it.
 
I think that it is a major improvment over bikes because it is so much more manuverable. Again, I think they need to reduce the weight of this thing fast.
 
I wouldn't mind overclocking one and tearing thru some shopping malls. Seriously it looks like it could have a some useful purposes. Example: Huge warehouses.
 


<< Example: Huge warehouses. >>

I used to work in a warehouse that was about 35,000 sq ft. We wore roller blades and you'd have to tweak the hell out of Segway to beat roller blades, and you'd be entirely missing the fitness aspect. I was in shape when I worked there, now I'm starting to get all soft again (where'd these love handles come from?).
 
This is one of those nifty things that could easily have been built 25 years ago, but nobody saw the point in it.


Yeah, you could really stick 10 processors into it for the balancing system 25 years ago. LOLOLOL
 
Aren't you arguing this both ways? It's supposed to be revolutionary because it replaces automobiles. Not because it replaces walking. I'm almost certain that pedestrians *don't* walk 3 or 4 miles in the rain, with rare exceptions for some of the class of people who might actually want this thing, i.e. USPS, UPS, Fedex,


It replaces automobiles in urban cities. That's where its uses is probaby going to dominate. Instead of driving for 3 miles, or walking for 3miles, you can just stand still and zoom around. If you lived 3 miles from work, what woudl you rather do, use this 'scooter', or drive to work, worry about traffic, and pay parking?

And when he says it replaces automobiles, he doesn't mean EVERYBODY is going to ditch automobiles and start buying Segways, he means for those people that don't drive 10+ miles to work, or who need to haul a van full of kids, or those who need to move furniture. He means those who want to zoom around campus, who has a short distant to work, those who do a lot of walking in their day, or anybody else who would find it convenient.

and to those people who say it works "All Day", thats a lie...unless theday has been shortened quite a bit...the batteries need a 6 hour charge after every hour. so out of every 7 hours of the day u can drive it 1.

I'll like to see where you got this information... according to the Time article, it gets two hours of operations with every 1 hour of charge:

Reinventing the Wheel
 
I've known for months that the "computer" is nothing but a toy. How is a "computer" going to "change the way people live"? Do you think it's stupid or would you pay $3000 for one? Please cast your votes!
 
I think places like NYC should provide incentives for poeple to use things like this. I don't know how much it costs to drive into the city (tolls etc) and parking, but if they provided major discounts for the toll (90%) and cheap and convient parking, it would greatly reduce traffic, congestion and polution.

Granted, 3K is alot of money, but what do people working in the city pay in tolls and parking? A government tax incentive would also help.

Having said that. I wouldn't want to ride one of those on the streets on NYC or LA or Boston. You'd survive 5 minutes before being ploughed down.
 
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