

Dean Kamen on The Luke Arm.  Simply Amazing. - iamelgringo
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/09/the_luke_arm_at_all_things_d.html

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Ben65
I found this to be really touching. Dean's work is just amazing. I wish I
could give this 100 or even 1000 karma points. It's not just the technology
and the ingenuity, but the fact that he's helping people who are beyond help.
I'm truly inspired.

HN talks a lot about startups and I'm sure most of HN's readers dream of their
own startup. Something to think about before taking the plunge is "What
benefit is this startup offering?" It can't be just to "make a lot of money".
That's why I like what Dean has done. Sure he has made a lot of money, but
look at how much he's helped people.

They solve some really tough problems, but the rewards are unbelievable. The
video show's a guy named Chuck who has no arms and hasn't fed himself in 13
years, feeding himself. I mean can you even put a price on that kind of
reward.

That's the kind of thing that drives you. That keeps you going even when
things seem hopeless.

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ttol
Thanks for posting this! Extremely interesting.

Here's another very interesting story involving Dean Kamen, Steve Jobs, and
Jeff Bezos:

<http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3533.html>

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DaniFong
This excerpt was _awesome_. Thanks for posting.

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noonespecial
Agreed. Any man who can listen to Jobs prattle on about imacs and then tell
him that his invention sucks, but simply take it in stride as one guy's
opinion...

Much respect to Dean. Wow.

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lacker
I would say, much respect to Jobs, given that his analysis seems to be correct
in retrospect.

E.g.:

"You're sure your market is upscale consumers for transportation?" said Jobs.

Turns out Segways weren't a hit with the target market and they ended up
selling to enterprises and mailmen. Bezos had some good analysis too saying
the real question is whether it would be legal to ride them - in many places
it was illegal to drive Segways on either sidewalks or roads.

Of course, I don't have their initial presentations so it's possible they were
already expecting these to be their main problems. I just think it's unfair to
call it "prattling on" when in fact they were giving some pretty accurate
analysis on why the product wouldn't be a success.

~~~
noonespecial
The respect wasn't about who was right. Jobs is right a _lot_. That's why I
think its cool that Dean pushed on and believed in his invention anyway. The
world might just not be "hot, flat and crowded" enough for Segway yet.

I wonder what I might do if I had an invention and Steve Jobs told me it
sucked, or if I got Bill Gates' trademark "thats the stupidest f*cking idea
I've heard since I've been at Mircosoft." Considering their advice, shrugging
my shoulders and then pressing on anyway might not be high on the list.

~~~
DabAsteroid
_The world might just not be "hot, flat and crowded" enough for Segway yet._

According to New York city officials, New York is already _too_ crowded for
Segways.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/nyregion/12segway.html>

 _Gov. David A. Paterson signed a law in July legalizing Segways everywhere
else in the state.

Officials in New York City, where many streets are already clogged with taxis,
tourists, dogs and double-wide strollers, deliberately asked lawmakers to
leave the city out of the bill. ...

“To introduce a foreign, unproven, untested element into the mix complicates
the job before us, which is to make the most efficient use of city streets,”
said Noah Budnick, deputy director of Transportation Alternatives, a New York
advocacy group._

~~~
noonespecial
I think the idea might be that if there are more Segways, there could be less
cars. We're talking about a level of crowded here that's a little less like
_Its SO crowded in this city that I can hardly find a place to park_ and a
little more like _a CAR?! Those things haven't been allowed inside the city
limits for years!_

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michaelmurphy
At one point in the interview Dean says that's he's naive. That's a great
thing since anybody else would write what he's accomplished off as impossible
without even trying.

Not to take anything away from his work on the arm but I find his comments on
the US's education system and our cultural values from the last two videos the
most interesting.

~~~
jbl
I agree. Barring absurdly high levels of natural talent, wanting to do well at
something is the first step to doing it. It amazes me that this point has been
lost on a lot of people.

~~~
13ren
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=297737>

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eru
I remember a team from my school winning the national competition in Germany
and being invited to Atlanta with their Lego Robots. "For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology" is as amazing as his work in
prosthetics.

