

Segway inventor's next endeavor - mactitan
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/01/segway-inventors-next-endeavor/?iid=SF_F_River

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rauljara
<pedantry> David did not kill Goliath with a slingshot[1], the weapon of
choice of Dennis the Menace. He killed Goliath with a sling[2], a weapon
capable of hurling stones 400+m and one which was regularly used by ancient
armies. </pedantry>

[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot>

[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)>

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dougk16
I'll take your pedantry and raise you one: "Slingshot", the shot (rocks, clay,
etc.) that is slung from a sling.

It's a stretch though...

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andreasvc
Or "sling shot", as in the event of a shot with a sling.

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jacquesm
I sure hope Dean Kamen will not be remembered as the guy who invented the
Segway but as the guy who came up with AutoSyringe and his work on dialysis
pumps.

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colinsidoti
Fun fact: The core of AutoSyringe and his dialysis pumps was delivering super
precise dosages of medication. DEKA applied that same technology to the new
Freestyle Coke machine (delivering super precise amounts of soda concentrate),
in return for Coca Cola helping them distribute the Slingshot.

~~~
DeepDuh
That fact is not just fun but incredibly helpful to understand what's going on
with this story.

The Cola company is apparently not that altruistic after all - world view
saved.

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avar
"Kamen believes that the program could have 5 million women entrepreneurs
running businesses by 2020."

So they're only hiring women? Why? Seems like a pretty sure way to violate
local anti-discrimination laws.

~~~
dvdt
First of all, it doesn't sound like they are "hiring" anyone; that would run
counter to being an entrepreneur =).

Second, I assumed the statement meant that Kamen et al. would be especially
receptive to local women running the machines. Remember, that women are likely
to be repressed in countries where this machine is going to be useful.
Empowering women in developing countries has a history of being an effective
way to lift people out of poverty. For examples, I point you to the success
that microfinance has had in lending money to women.

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ilaksh
I think that localization and distribution of these types of processes like
making water drinkable is going to become a huge trend, just because it makes
a lot of sense.

For one thing, its easier to scale out in smaller chunks. Its also more robust
to have lots of small production going on than to centralize. And technology
tends to miniaturize.

I think that there may be other small but incredibly capable devices for
producing things like food and goods. This leads to less reliance on more
centralized traditional 'economic' distribution systems and greater security
for local groups and individuals.

~~~
Gormo
There does seem to be a trend toward more distributed and self-reliant
production being enabled by improving technology: 3d printing, aquaponic
gardening, biofuels, etc.

Still, the lower-level components and building blocks of the technologies that
enable these applications still needs to be designed and distributed, and even
those who generate their own electricity, grow their own food, and purify
their own water are going to find it challenging to manufacture their own
solar panels, construct their own pump systems, etc. More and more hackers
might be designing homebrew electronics, but we're still a long way from DIY
silicon fabrication.

So it's not that the large-scale, centralized economy will go away; it's that
as the value of economies of scale in production of consumption goods
diminishes, the centralized production systems and complex distribution
networks of the industrial economy will pivot, and end up supplying tools and
raw materials more, and finished goods less.

I bet over the next century, we'll see a gradual reversal of the economic
patterns of the last 150 years or so, with more and more people adopting a
kind of high-tech homesteading, fewer people working as employees for others,
and finished goods being increasingly produced by end-users themselves or by
smaller cottage industries, with the industrial infrastructure increasingly
supplying inputs rather than final products.

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mikecane
I don't understand. What happened to his Stirling Engine that was supposed to
provide low-cost energy and _also_ produced potable water as a side-effect?

~~~
huxley
I think that was a common misunderstanding/misreporting, Dean Kamen proposed
using the Stirling Engine to power the Slingshot (the Slingshot being the
waterpurifier which is mentioned in the linked article).

At least according to How Stuff Works, they were two separate machines:
[http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-
tech/re...](http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-
tech/remediation/slingshot-water-purifier2.htm)

"But the two devices may fit together even more harmoniously. The generator
happens to make a lot of extra heat as it burns fuel -- up to 85 percent of it
doesn't get used. But when the generator and purifier are connected by a tube,
hot air can blow into the purifier. There, it can do work, heating the
incoming water and surrounding the purifier like a jacket, trapping heat
inside. With help from the generator, the purifier can be even more
efficient."

~~~
sp332
I used to work at DEKA, and this is correct.

~~~
mikecane
Hmph. And I recall seeing Kamen on TV touting the completed Stirling Engine
and showing pure drinking water as a side-effect. This is why I asked.

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JoeAltmaier
It creates drinkable water, which is valuable in the absense of drinkable
water. But its a stretch to think everybody should use one, to 'save water'
somehow. It takes energy to run; that energy comes at an ecological price. In
fact, energy and water have been called analogous in ecological calculations
(reference?). So it may be a net loss, greenwise, to use this machine to
recycle wastewater from your house for instance.

~~~
veemjeem
True, but if you have energy that can't be easily stored or transported, it
might be worthwhile using that energy to make clean water. For example, the
solar panels in 3rd world countries can only charge batteries up to a certain
point. The solar cells would still generate energy but there's no place to
store it so one might as well use the excess for clarifying water.

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syassami
Interesting move from Coke, especially after their criticisms by countries
such as India after abusing the water supplies in rural cities.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Coca-
Cola#Water_us...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Coca-
Cola#Water_use)

~~~
jayfuerstenberg
I don't trust Coca Cola on this one bit.

They're in the business of scarcity (Dasani bottled water).

Why teach a man how to fish when you can keep selling him the fish?

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pseut
>Why teach a man how to fish when you can keep selling him the fish?

If you think someone is going to come along to teach fishing anyway.

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samstave
I want one of these hooked up to my house - all outbound water should be run
through it and i would like to be returning/recycling the water I receive.

At 8K in its current form, that's worth every penny.

They should get the cost to 4K and charge everyone in the developed world 8K
for it - get one give one fashion.

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DeepDuh
Rainwater and urine - ok. But when it comes to human waste (the other kind)
I'll rather trust our waste processing / drinking water facilities (as well as
a couple hundred kilometers of nature in form of rivers).

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xd
"Coke has the distribution channels to get the Slingshot into the hands of
those who need it."

I think this is the key .. as long as it's not anther profit venture, this
might just work.

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mhb
Why is it the key that a company helping people doesn't make a profit?

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xd
Because I don't want to live in a world of profit and power.

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salvadors
Even if that were shown to be a much more effective way to reach these goals?

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gmkoliver
I'd like to know how much water this makes in how long. A hair dryer is no 60w
bulb, that's for sure.

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weaksauce
Well you are looking at 24-48 kwh per day of use and the article says that the
machine purifies ~250 gallons in that time. So approximately 10gph at 1-2kw.

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beefman
(1.5kW*24hr)/225gal ~~ 150 J/g, which is in line with the figures reported
here

[http://www.aquatechnology.net/vaporcompressiondistillers.htm...](http://www.aquatechnology.net/vaporcompressiondistillers.html)

Ideally, one only has to push the water back and forth over its phase boundary
by an arbitrarily small delta-T, so the energy consumption can be arbitrarily
small too. The 150 J/g is all heat leakage.

