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Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

cnn.com

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Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#31

Post by all2 »

Retric wrote: post #5
Svexav wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You expect a high speed train station outside your front door? Awfully optimistic of you.

Little need for high speed rail when you’re talking about daily commuting. Personally may last five apartments have all been in short as in under five minute walking distance of a subway, that’s the advantage of living in high density areas.

High speed rail would allow people who live in Milwaukee and Madison to commute to Chicago, and vice versa. What is a 3 hour drive would become a 45 minute commute, which is reasonable considering the distance.

Cost of living drops off as you leave metro areas. Like another responder to your comment noted: people pay for convenience. I'd say cost is a disadvantage of living in a high-density area.

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#32

Post by toast0 »

readhn wrote: post #2

ohh another hot air bubble product.. "electric scooters" ... that will pass too. what we really need is updated modern public transportion network, high speed electric trains/ efficient transportation hubs..... not bicycles and scooters LMAO !! This is a 21st century! Why are we going backwards? They make a good toy though.

Electric scooters are easier to take on public transit than bicycles, and enable more trips without cars for people who are electric scooter close to a transit route on both sides.

More than anything else, people actually taking public transit enables more spending on public transit, and more spending on building public transit accessible housing and workplaces, both of which will again encourage more use of public transit.

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#33

Post by davidmr »

village-idiot wrote: post #21
RyanShook wrote: post #20

Not sure about the article’s “world changing” claim but I do love electric scooters. The Segway ES1 is $600 on Amazon - https://amzn.to/2SH2zYh

Replacing the car for last mile transit is world changing, if it happens.

Other than for people with limited mobility, can you help me understand why people think this is so? To me, it seems like evolution solved this problem for us when we became bipedal. It’s entirely possible (even likely) that I could just be a crank, but I genuinely don’t see the point of scooter rentals for healthy, sufficiently mobile people.

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#34

Post by telltruth »

analogmemory wrote: post #26

I'm surprised they didn't talk about the crowdfunding campaign they have going for their new e-skate, The Drift https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-drift-w1-experience-s...

Wow. Is this already copied by the Chinese cloners?

https://www.amazon.com/Koowheel-Electric-Balancing-Hovershoe...

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#35

Post by rsync »

justinator wrote: post #9

I really don't know what's happening with Segway, but an antidote: I was at the grocery store, and an older lady was riding one of those cheap-looking hover board type contraptions inside the store - except that there was a post, and seat attached to it. She was whizzing all over the place on it with ease and grace. It was an excellent sight.

"She was whizzing all over the place on it with ease and grace. It was an excellent sight."

I was in a country other than the United States and I saw an older lady run to catch a bus. She was easily 65, maybe 70. It was neither interesting nor noteworthy to any of the other (swiss) people on the street with her.

Walking is the universal medicine and we live with an enormous burden of health, fitness and longevity problems (including obesity, diabetes, "lower back problems", knee and hip issues, etc.) due to the car culture that we live in and the related near refusal to walk anywhere.

No, this was not an excellent sight - it's the sign of a sick society that will do anything to avoid the simple, free and easy remedy to almost all of their problems.

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#36

Post by Laforet »

davidmr wrote: post #33
village-idiot wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Replacing the car for last mile transit is world changing, if it happens.

Other than for people with limited mobility, can you help me understand why people think this is so? To me, it seems like evolution solved this problem for us when we became bipedal. It’s entirely possible (even likely) that I could just be a crank, but I genuinely don’t see the point of scooter rentals for healthy, sufficiently mobile people.

A fit person can walk at the speed of 3 mph or 5 kph, anything faster would be in jogging/running category. A electric scooter can easily each a speed of 12 mph or 20 kph - 4 times faster which is quite significant.

A 10 minute walk becomes just under 3 minutes on a scooter, and the time saving adds up over longer distance: Suppose you live 3 miles from the closest bus/train stop, it would be an hour on foot which is not practical for daily commute; 15 minutes on a scooter, however, is much more manageable and be competitive with driving.

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#37

Post by shawn »

gwern wrote: post #7

One thing I didn't understand here was, what exactly does Segway have to do with electric scooters in the first place? Why do scooters need the fancy self-balancing tech from the original Segway, or, if that's not what it's doing, what are they doing? Surely it's not something as lame as having a bunch of patents on the idea of sticking a battery in a scooter?

One Wheels are better anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4_736KQyeQ

Also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbqWFVm9cD0

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#39

Post by njarboe »

davidmr wrote: post #33
village-idiot wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Replacing the car for last mile transit is world changing, if it happens.

Other than for people with limited mobility, can you help me understand why people think this is so? To me, it seems like evolution solved this problem for us when we became bipedal. It’s entirely possible (even likely) that I could just be a crank, but I genuinely don’t see the point of scooter rentals for healthy, sufficiently mobile people.

A scooter has about the same functionality as an e-bike but can go on sidewalks without seeming nearly as threatening. Use in bike lanes, go 4 times as fast as walking, no sweating like a bicycle, and more portable and much cheaper than an e-bike. If my commute is a mile from a train station on both ends, that is 40 minutes of walking a day. Probably good for your health, but cutting that down to 10 minutes by using a scooter could make trains much more useful for many people. Make it 2 miles on each end, then a bicycle is really needed. Bulky and not allowed on many subways. e-scooter could work just as well.

Plus they are pretty fun to ride.

Re: Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might

#40

Post by buzzert »

rsync wrote: post #35
justinator wrote: post #9

I really don't know what's happening with Segway, but an antidote: I was at the grocery store, and an older lady was riding one of those cheap-looking hover board type contraptions inside the store - except that there was a post, and seat attached to it. She was whizzing all over the place on it with ease and grace. It was an excellent sight.

"She was whizzing all over the place on it with ease and grace. It was an excellent sight." I was in a country other than the United States and I saw an older lady run to catch a bus. She was easily 65, maybe 70. It was neither interesting nor noteworthy to any of the other (swiss) people on the street with her. Walking is the universal medicine and we live with an enormous burden of health, fitness and longevity pro…

You must be fun at parties!
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