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

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

#41

Post by pvg »

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…

Walking is not a universal medicine for someone who has trouble walking. You don't see that person running to catch the bus because they can't. They might not even be able to get to the bus stop. They can't get their own groceries. Sure, you can try to tie this to some generic tangent about 'car culture' or whatever, but the idea that a person (whose health history you know nothing about) being able to exercise their autonomy is somehow a bad thing is pretty odd.

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

#42

Post by arcticbull »

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…

Indeed, we're going full-on Wall-E.

[1] https://giphy.com/gifs/wall-e-HSLbIjLk2GsBa

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

#43

Post by arcticbull »

pvg wrote: post #41
rsync wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

Walking is not a universal medicine for someone who has trouble walking. You don't see that person running to catch the bus because they can't. They might not even be able to get to the bus stop. They can't get their own groceries. Sure, you can try to tie this to some generic tangent about 'car culture' or whatever, but the idea that a person (whose health history you know nothing about) being able to exercise their…

I think the argument being made is a lifetime of neglecting your body (poor diet, lack of exercise) leads to an inability to use your body, which in turn encourages you to use these assistive devices, which makes the problem worse still in a viscous cycle.

A biological analog would be Type II. You consume too much glucose, you develop insulin resistance, you take insulin, which makes your insulin resistance worse, and so on. The problem there too, is diet and exercise.

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

#44

Post by vegasdew »

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.

My office is 3km from nearest Metro station in a hot humid country. If I walk it would take me 20-30 mins and I'll reach office tired and sweaty. Current scenario, my company provides cab that drives me 20 km in peak traffic. Alternate, I take a folding scooter, which I can carry in Metro and reach office in 10 mins still presentable.

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

#45

Post by diogenescynic »

crehn wrote: post #27
27182818284 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not with you on this one. I don't live in California and the amount of electric scooters I've suddenly seen out of nowhere is crazy. It might be a fad, but unlike you, I'm more like 30% thinking it is a fad vs 100%. My reasoning: * Batteries have gotten better than even the basic Segway days * The scooters are portable. You can fold them and take them in to your dorm, apartment, etc, preventing theft. A lot of wo…

Same in Korea. Electric scooters everywhere. Even scooter rentals are popping up around the city.

Korea is a lot more dense than California though and Korea has better public transportation to complement/supplement the scooters. The scooters are only going to work for people in denser cities. We need more high speed rail and mass transit options. These scooters are only a partial solution to a much larger and complex problem.

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

#46

Post by dionidium »

pvg wrote: post #41
rsync wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

Walking is not a universal medicine for someone who has trouble walking. You don't see that person running to catch the bus because they can't. They might not even be able to get to the bus stop. They can't get their own groceries. Sure, you can try to tie this to some generic tangent about 'car culture' or whatever, but the idea that a person (whose health history you know nothing about) being able to exercise their…

This comment is a totally unnecessary distraction. Yes, of course, obviously there's no statement that applies to literally 100% of the population, but that doesn't mean that we should alter everyday language to drone on with endless hedges and caveats in an attempt to cover every combination of human traits.

I know you’re coming from a good place, but I think it’s misguided.

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

#47

Post by DoreenMichele »

pvg wrote: post #41
rsync wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

Walking is not a universal medicine for someone who has trouble walking. You don't see that person running to catch the bus because they can't. They might not even be able to get to the bus stop. They can't get their own groceries. Sure, you can try to tie this to some generic tangent about 'car culture' or whatever, but the idea that a person (whose health history you know nothing about) being able to exercise their…

"Use it or lose it."

It took me years to recover from being bedridden for 3.5 months. Recovery involved enormous amounts of walking, many hours a day, in fact, for long periods.

The easy answer may get you to the grocery store, but it won't restore function.

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

#48

Post by pvg »

arcticbull wrote: post #43
pvg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walking is not a universal medicine for someone who has trouble walking. You don't see that person running to catch the bus because they can't. They might not even be able to get to the bus stop. They can't get their own groceries. Sure, you can try to tie this to some generic tangent about 'car culture' or whatever, but the idea that a person (whose health history you know nothing about) being able to exercise their…

I think the argument being made is a lifetime of neglecting your body (poor diet, lack of exercise) leads to an inability to use your body, which in turn encourages you to use these assistive devices, which makes the problem worse still in a viscous cycle. A biological analog would be Type II. You consume too much glucose, you develop insulin resistance, you take insulin, which makes your insulin resistance worse, an…

Right, but there's nothing in the story posted that suggests this argument is relevant or appropriate - it's just judgy, tangential ranting. You can be the world heavyweight champion of walking and still end up disabled late in life.

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

#49

Post by 393339 »

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?

I think Segway is just the brand, seems to just have a button for acceleration. This article was a real eye opener for me, the Segway is just a horrible product. They sold 10x more kick scooters in a year than they ever sold Segways.

What I got from the article, was that a Segway is a 3 wheeled car with a joystick in stead of a steering wheel. The kick scooter is just easier to use, simpler to make, cheaper, more efficient, more reliable, more stable and safer.

This might be a fad, but it's much closer to a usable product than the Segway will ever be.

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

#50

Post by RyanShook »

ihuman wrote: post #38
touristtam wrote: post #15

Is Ninebot not owned by Xiaomi? https://www.mi.com/global/mi-electric-scooter/

Xiaomi has invested in Ninebot https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ninebot-xiaomi-investment...

They also make an electric scooter that competes directly with Segway/Ninebot https://amzn.to/2RvYp4b
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