Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might • Hacker News Board

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

#71

Post by village-idiot » Sun, Nov 04, 2018, 4:32 PM UTC

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.

I know it’s silly, but Americans won’t walk. The average single car trip in America is 5.95 miles long, with many rides falling into the 1-2 mile range. That is already easy biking range, and lots of Americans could walk that, but they dont.

If electric scooters change that, even only for the able bodied who don’t need to carry a ton of gear, it would be huge.

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

#72

Post by dionidium » Sun, Nov 04, 2018, 4:38 PM UTC

pvg wrote: post #54

dionidium wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

we should alter everyday language to drone on with endless hedges and caveats in an attempt to cover every combination of human traits. I'm not sure how you get that from anything I said. I'm saying that 'lol, yanquis are fat' is not a sensible response to some random story about a person making good use of assistive technologies. It seems like a totally unnecessary distraction that comes from not-a-good place.

We might both be guilty of bringing pre-existing grievances to this conversation :)

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

#73

Post by justinator » Sun, Nov 04, 2018, 5:13 PM UTC

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…

Eh, I try not to judge too hard. Who knows? Maybe she got hit by a bus and lost the full use of her legs?

The rest of your post, I generally agree with - I walk, or ride a bike everywhere. It's been a great while since I've owned a car - best decision of my life was to get rid of it, and I agree that walking is excellent exercise that we all should try to do more. I can only encourage others to try to do the same.

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

#74

Post by justinator » Sun, Nov 04, 2018, 5:16 PM UTC

ukulele wrote: post #18

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.

Regarding the other comment: you probably meant "anecdote"

Haha! Thanks, I did! Sometimes I think I have a mild speech impediment; other times, it's probably my brain's internal autocorrect before it comes out of my mouth (or out of my fingers, as it is)

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

#75

Post by masonic » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 1:45 AM UTC

njarboe wrote: post #60

masonic wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

without seeming nearly as threatening Quite the contrary. Scooters are viewed by the riders as less dangerous than bikes. Result: they take more risks, especially risks to pedestrians.

A person on a scooter is barely bigger than just a person. They stand maybe 4 inches higher. They are like like a person running. A bit annoying and going too fast, but not that big a deal. A bike going the same speed is a much bigger object.

  They are like like a person running.

You've clearly never seen a scooter clip a person's ankle and break it. I have. The point of contact is not torso to torso, it's metal to ankle.

It's common here for scooter retrievers to stack multiple scooters crosswise on the driven scooter's floorboard when carrying back for charging or deployment, making it a 3+ foot wide wrecking platform.

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

#76

Post by readhn » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

diogenescynic wrote: post #45

crehn wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

exactly. america is not just NYC&SF. Electric scooter is not going to solve bigger transportation infrastructure problem the one that really needs to be solved. I see at as a supplementary mode of transportation that will be MAYBE overall a 1% of the total solution.