

How to render the Segway Human Transporter obsolete - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=segway_more_complicated_than_it_needs_to_be

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rottencupcakes
_"The reason for this cost: superfluous bullshit like high-voltage field-
effect transistors or FETs. What the hell does a FET do? Nobody knows, but I
guarantee some nerd spent months writing a graduate thesis on why it's
important (and failing)."_

Seriously Maddox? Try harder than that.

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Kadin
Yeah, that was pretty weak. But I do think he has a bit of a point; if the
Segway had taken off big-time after it was introduced (or if it ever does at
some point in the future), I'd fully expect 3-wheeled versions from China to
be in stores for half the price inside of a month.

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TomOfTTB
I know this is meant as a joke but he makes a really good point on how the
messenger can influence a message. If someone you think is a genius goes on
and on about how revolutionary a feature is people will often check their
skepticism at the door and believe the person. For example, I can't imagine
Steve Jobs still thinks the Segway will "change the way we build cities."

But when Dean Kamen was explaining how great it was to him I'll bet any amount
of money he believed cities would be rebuilt around the thing

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netsp
He has a point.

I imagine though that with a third wheel and a lower price tag, the segway
would be even less popular. It's the 'technological marvel' element that makes
the people who want them want them.

If I'm right, that doesn't take away from the point.

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amohr
A friend of mine won a 4-wheeled knock-off segway in the fall and kept it in
our basement and it was one of the best things that ever happened to us. We
set up a little solo cup marked course and ran through it all the time.

The really cool part about it was the drifting, the wheels were kind of janky
and our floor was really dusty so you could slide all over, not really
possible on a segway. I imagine if you could get it going fast enough,
portable enough (this thing was tremendously heavy and awkward) and rugged
enough, they could be really fun.

~~~
netsp
That's still a description of a toy not something that will change the way we
build cities.

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citrik
The "build one" link towards the end of the posted article is much more
interesting....

<http://tlb.org/scooter.html>

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TweedHeads
Idea: remove the handle bar and use an iPhone to control it.

With the accelerometer and the compass it wouldn't be that difficult.

Call it a Tri-pad, sell it for $999.

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sanj
The accelerometer on the iPhone updates far too slowly. You'd be much better
off using rate gyros.

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bhseo
What kind of "third wheels" have you used when creating software?

