

GM and Segway create new vehicle  - fiaz
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7987301.stm

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wmeredith
If you two people are drowning and they grab onto each other, does that
increase their odds of survival?

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whacked_new
Literally, probably yes. You decrease the freedom of movement, which likely
decreases the unstructured thrashing that is often detrimental. Then, you may
also leverage each others' buoyancy.

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swillden
What happens when two drowning people grab onto one another is that they both
start trying to push the other down in order to push themselves up. The result
is that both of them drown.

One of the things any lifesaving class will teach you is to always approach a
drowning person from behind, because if they can get their hands on you they
try to push you under.

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wmeredith
This is what I was thinking of when I wrote the original comment. Lifesaving
techniques are a bizarre mix of completely control them/help them.

It just came to mind as soon as I saw this headline. I read it as TWO
COMPANIES WITH ABSOLUTELY DOOMED CURRENT BUSINESS MODELS JOIN FORCES TO ANSWER
A QUESTION NO IS ASKING

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electromagnetic
So the real question is which one drowns and which one gets to use the corpse
as a life raft?

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radu_floricica
Whenever I'm stuck in traffic I tend to come up with ways to solve it. So far
I have only two solutions which can actually completely eliminate the problem:
rented small cars (preferably electric), and AI drivers. Having them together
would be bliss.

And the second one isn't even as science fiction as is sounds. You can cheat
in any way you want, as long as you get the job done. You can tell the AI the
map of the city, down to traffic signs. Keep the AI in one place and drive
remotely. Put cams all over the city (or better above the city), with cars'
roofs painted with barcodes. Hell, you can probably simply drive remotely and
it'd be enough of a killer app.

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juanpablo
It's only feasible right now in a controlled environment (all the drivers are
the same AI and no humans doing unexpected things). Otherwise is a hard and
complex AI problem.

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radu_floricica
Yes. But I don't think you need all the pieces to make a whole system. How
about small electric rental cars, which you drive yourself to the destination
and once you get there are remotely driven to the nearest parking/charging
station? For practical purposes it's the same thing... and slowly you add some
AI to the mix.

But they have to be small, cheap and can't depend on you driving them to a
dedicated parking lot.

On the other hand it's perfectly ok if they never go past 40 mph and need
recharging twice a day - as long as they don't need the "client" to take them
to the fuel station.

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anamax
As always, cost matters.

If you're trying to get folks into a part-time vehicle to save gas, that
vehicle must cost under $3k. It is unlikely to be a big success if it costs
more than $1,500.

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AndrewO
I kinda like it. It seems to solve the Segway's chief problems: 1) standing
and looking like and ass and 2) getting rained on.

Plus, side-by-side seating is a win compared to front-and-back.

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asnyder
Is there any reason why one would prefer this over a bicycle? I personally
don't see how this is any improvement over a bicycle, except possibly for
those with disabilities.

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tvon
Potentially, more protection from the elements and safer.

I mean, neither is demonstrated in the videos, but it looks like it could be
much safer than a motorcycle (or a scooter) and it seems like the openings
would be easy to weatherproof.

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czcar
With their combined R&D budgets I am still waiting for an autonomous vehicle.
This to me is an unnecessary incremental improvement on current vehicles. When
I can sit in a vehicle and not drive, that I'd pay anything for. The darpa
grandchallenge seemed to prove it's possible today, different companies are
coming at it from different angles (irobot, autonomous warehouse robots).

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jrockway
Or, you could get a bicycle.

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tdonia
i find the small wheels on the back disconcerting. presumably they're still
working out some bugs keeping it upright, which is understandable as this is
clearly a prototype, but the implications there are still troubling. It's too
big to work on the sidewalks but it's hard to imagine trusting their stability
controls on a crowded road full of other traffic.

Reminds me of the Dymaxion:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_car>

<http://images.google.com/images?q=dymaxion+car>

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a-priori
The small wheels are probably for when the thing's turned off, like a
kickstand on a bike.

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truebosko
For a company that's extremely close to bankruptcy I was expecting something a
bit more exciting and well, reasonable.

I think Segway only selling 2,000 units in the UK since 2002 isn't very good
news either.

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halo
In the UK they can't legally be used on pavements which restricts their
usefulness.

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jodrellblank
Really?

I guess that's why I've never seen any <http://citysegwaytours.com/> around
here.

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aoeu
Wouldn't this be a better bet..

[http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/bring-back-the-
ev1-press-...](http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/bring-back-the-ev1-press-
conference/)

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endtime
Honestly, I don't see anyone driving this thing. It doesn't make you look any
less silly than a Segway.

If anything, this makes me wish we'd stop throwing money down the drain that
is GM.

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babo
Comparing to my bicycle what I'm using daily all year long this is just a
fancy overkill. Good luck but the original Segway even had a style unlike
this.

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brk
More info on the Segway website: <http://www.segway.com/puma/>

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TweedHeads
The Toyota iReal looks like a better option with superb design.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/nmsi/3025451321/>

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pgebhard
It looks like the cruise ship chairs used by all the obese people in WALL-E. I
really hope that movie's futuristic scenarios aren't fulfilled.

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Watts
That was exactly my first impression as well!

