

Why Segway Failed To Reshape The World - jmarbach
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090730/1958335722.shtml

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SamAtt
I sincerely doubt any amount of invention would change the fact that it costs
$4,000 and essentially does the same thing as a $140 scooter.

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InclinedPlane
It does _less_ than a $140 scooter. A scooter can carry more cargo than a
segway, has a greater range, can be refueled at many more locations outside
the home, and can be driven on roads.

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ams6110
Without having read this or the referenced PG essay beforehand, my thought was
that the Segway did not take off because it makes you look like a dork.
Similar to a unicycle in that regard. Some people don't care about that; most
do and that's the big problem with the device.

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joshkaufman
Great example of the Iron Law of the Market: markets that don't exist don't
care how smart you are.

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InclinedPlane
The Segway is a good example of the pepsi challenge / demo vs. reality
problem. Just because some product comes across favorably in demos doesn't
mean that it won't get mugged by cold, harsh reality. There's a huge gulf
between "oh my god that is so awesome and cool" and "here's X months of my
discretionary spending budget, I want this".

The segway just isn't very practical, regardless of price. Once price is
factored in it's a non-starter. It has less speed, range, safety, off-road
capability, and cargo capacity as scooters costing 1/10th or less. It can't be
used on roads as a scooter or bicycle can. It has roughly the same
capabilities as a battery powered skateboard (an incredibly niche vehicle) at
an order of magnitude higher price.

Consider that for the price of a segway someone could buy an carbon fiber
bicycle (for when you want to exercise), a gas powered scooter (for when range
/ speed are a necessity), _and_ a battery powered skateboard (when you don't
want to contribute to traffic / pollution).

Sure, the segway is based on really amazing technology, but that's utterly
irrelevant to practicality. I a motorcycle with an EFI system written in
Erlang is still just a motorcycle, how it's made is beside the point.

The fact that the segway could get so far without taking any criticism
seriously is a testament to the human abilities in rationalization and group-
think.

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one010101
Price!

