Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
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Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
1–10 of 51 posts
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#2>"I think the emphasis of this conversation is wrong," said Bezos. "You have a product so revolutionary, you'll have no problem selling it. The question is, are people going to be allowed to use it?"
Bezos and Jobs were right. Bicycles have been around since the 19th century and yet city planners are still struggling against mainstream political opinion to be able to set aside dedicated space for their use. If most cities currently only barely tolerate bicycles, the Segway was certainly dead on arrival.
I think Jobs' idea for starting small at universities was a bit better of an idea than Bezos' idea of starting in a small country. Davis California for example is the most bike friendly city in America (20% mode share). That would have been the perfect place to start.
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#3A (feeble) plug for my hometown, Manchester NH (where Dean Kamen is currently located): I just visited the Millyards and they have apartments there that would cost $3500/month in Boston (more in SF) for $1400/month, Dean just pledged $300 million to biotech startups right there. Not much nightlife but not many distractions either, and they've put these beautiful restaurants in the old mills. It's about the same distance to Boston as Palo Alto is to SF. So if you want to drop off the grid for a while to focus on developing a product it's a great place to get started. Yeah.
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#4I would say that ultimately the Segway was a failure, but that perception is partially affected by the hyperbolic hype that preceded it. I wonder what its own inventors think.
How popular did they expect it to get? How did they expect people to use it? How did they not foresee the backlash to its incredible dorkiness? Would a smaller, handle-less form factor (like the Chinese clones now known as "hoverboards") have been possible with the battery technology of the time?
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#5Using a Segway on a college campus would be great.. Wish they had convinced campuses to buy them for students.
The unveiling was so lame.. People wearing khakis and super lame helmets and going over little bumps and looking so non-cool.. I watched way back when and was like... Uh... No.. First should not have helmets on.. Should have been very attractive people and should have showed how quickly they could get from point A to point B in style and comfort and convenience..
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#6A (feeble) plug for my hometown, Manchester NH (where Dean Kamen is currently located): I just visited the Millyards and they have apartments there that would cost $3500/month in Boston (more in SF) for $1400/month, Dean just pledged $300 million to biotech startups right there. Not much nightlife but not many distractions either, and they've put these beautiful restaurants in the old mills. It's about the same dista…
It seems not Biotech in general, but growing human organs in particular:
http://www.unionleader.com/business/kamen-to-lead-294m-effor...
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#7[deleted]
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#8I would say that ultimately the Segway was a failure, but that perception is partially affected by the hyperbolic hype that preceded it. I wonder what its own inventors think. How popular did they expect it to get? How did they expect people to use it? How did they not foresee the backlash to its incredible dorkiness? Would a smaller, handle-less form factor (like the Chinese clones now known as "hoverboards") have b…
Hm. Calling it a failure is pretty strong. It is used. What hindered it was a) the expensive price and b) at least in many country it was/is illegal to use. Is it like a bike? Or like a motor vehicle and needs insurance and license tag? A drivers license? Can you ride it on pavement or do you have to use the street?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11926027/Hoverboa....
> like the Chinese clones
A bit sad: Segway inc was bought up by one of these Chinese clone companies (Ninebot) for its patents.
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#9I would say that ultimately the Segway was a failure, but that perception is partially affected by the hyperbolic hype that preceded it. I wonder what its own inventors think. How popular did they expect it to get? How did they expect people to use it? How did they not foresee the backlash to its incredible dorkiness? Would a smaller, handle-less form factor (like the Chinese clones now known as "hoverboards") have b…
It feels like failures on the scale of Segway are now pretty run of the mill. They "only" raised a 166MUSD [1]. Doesn't really compare to modern failures like Theranos, 686MUSD.
[1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/segway#/entity
[2] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/theranos#/entity
Re: Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" (2003)
#10> "Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras.
I was wondering what exactly did Jobs mean when he said that the design was not "anthropomorphic". I mean, the shape of an iPhone does look very different from that of a human figure.
EDIT: perhaps he meant that it wasn't ergonomic?