
Whatever happened to the Segway? - peter123
http://www.slate.com/id/2222487/pagenum/all/
======
mdasen
1\. It isn't that fast. That makes it a no-go for suburbs/rural areas.

2\. It doesn't really fit in a bike lane, or on the sidewalk, or on the road.
That makes it harder to get around cities on one.

3\. Standing? That's for bipeds! But seriously, it's a less preferable way to
travel when compared to sitting for most people.

4\. Range. 15-25 miles isn't a great range on a 10 hour charge. You can't
count on 25 miles given that you don't want to abandon it by the roadside and
the charge time is too long. That's for the i Series. The p Series is capable
of 6-10 miles. I live very close to my work, but at about 4 miles, I'd be at
risk of having a p Series die on me (given the round trip). Eh, maybe I could
plug it in at work. Suffice it to say, range is a problem.

5\. It's expensive. You could get a nice motor scooter where you could sit
down, drive on the road, get to speeds of 30mph, etc. for less money. Plus,
while they don't use much gas, many do run on it and therefore you have the
opportunity to refuel in seconds rather than hours.

I thought the iBot wheelchair was amazing and it was really sad to see it
discontinued, but the Segway doesn't offer much. Sure, the gyroscopic
stabilization is awesome, but (partly due to how things are laid out) it
doesn't offer a better experience than cars, scooters, bikes or walking for
most people. A bike is cheap. A scooter will let you use local roads much like
a car. A car is great as a fast/long distance vehicle. Walking works best in
close quarters. And the segway, while cool, just doesn't hit the right spot
except in a few occasions.

------
dandrews
I'm an owner (about 30 months now) and won't part with it. I ride about 200
miles per month on the seg, and use it for all of my workaday transportation.
Gave my Volvo to my Mom in fact -- I just don't use it anymore.

Too true, when I first bought the Segway I was afraid that I might play with
it for a couple of weeks and then stow it in the garage. But instead it became
really useful to me, and a lot of fun to boot. I never get tired of it.

Everything works in my favor: my office is less than two miles away from my
front door. I live in Central Florida, where I can use the seg year 'round --
no pesky snow and ice to have to deal with. The sidewalks go everywhere I want
to go, they are smooth and well maintained, and the curbs all have wide
cutouts. Relatively few people ride bicycles or walk (suburban Florida sprawl
encourages long distance commutes) so the sidewalks are my private highway.

The drive to work used to take me seven minutes in my Volvo, and takes twelve
on the Segway. Not having to face the morons on the road first thing in the
morning is worth the price of admission all by itself.

Cost? About US$5000, give or take. 20 miles costs about 1KWH of electricity,
so figure that at about $0.13 where I live. Add in a set of tires at $80 after
3,000 miles.

I commute to work, come home for lunch, run small errands, sometimes riding
15-20 miles r/t. A perfect fit for my lifestyle and locale, and I'm not a
sweaty mess when I get where I'm going.

What I don't do is take it into stores and malls. I mean, that's just stupid
if you're not handicapped. Park it outside, like I would a bicycle.

I'm obsessively polite -- my seg is the first one that most people have seen
in the wild, and I don't want people's first exposure to a Segway be some
jerk. I yield to everybody on the sidewalk, slow down as I approach, call out
before I pass someone on the trails.

Yeah, I've heard "mall cop!" about a thousand times. Most of that sort of
thing I hear from high school boys, who also like to howl "awoooooooo" as they
roar by. (And what's up with THAT?) I remember turning into the university one
day when a couple of college-age boys were leaving in their red muscle car.
"Why don't you WALK, you lazy bastard!" one of them yelled out the passenger
window, as the driver tromped the accelerator. I contemplated the irony as I
watched them tear up the road to a nearby apartment complex.

Pretty much every right-hand-turn auto driver in the country is actively
trying to kill me. That Slate article is right about one thing; if you're
approaching an intersection at 12mph you'd better be damn sure to establish
eye contact with the driver making a right turn in front of you. She's not
looking your way, she's looking left to check for oncoming traffic, and she's
certainly not expecting traffic from the right at my speed. I almost was
clipped several times before I learned that green lights and "walk" indicators
should be taken as suggestions only. (Relying solely on your right-of-way
mostly means your estate will win in court.)

Segways do have their place. They won't change the world like Dean wanted, but
if you live a sane distance from your place of business it's the cat's meow.

~~~
footard
Congratulations. You've somehow made dumb redneck kids yelling out muscle car
windows sound reasonable.

------
tokenadult
Walking is better exercise and more healthy in a country in which obesity is a
major health problem. And walking is more adaptable to varied terrain, and
doesn't leave you with something to park.

------
wglb
I wonder if in retrospect the big buildup to its release spelled doom for its
ultimate acceptance.

We do often see policemen using them in the parks in downtown Chicago.

But as is pointed out in comments here, it fits an odd space in the personal
transportation choices. Maybe three or four times faster than walking, slower
than a bicycle.

~~~
dandrews
I'd imagine that Segways are useful for police officers doing crowd control
duty. First off, standing on that platform gives you an eight inch advantage
over everyone else -- you can see pretty well.

But more importantly: you can be SEEN. I think that most of a cop's job is
done when s/he is visible.

------
pie
In NYC, I have only seen the Segway used as a mobile advertising station. I
have never seen a "normal" person riding one.

It may be due to the ubiquitous stairs and subways, but this device would be
utterly impractical in most situations here, and it looks silly to boot.

~~~
TallGuyShort
There used to be a guy who would go zooming down Jamaica Ave on his segway. He
was dressed in a suit and presumably on his way to work (no advertising, that
I saw), but even when he was on a flat sidewalk (i.e. - no stairs or subways)
it really pissed everyone off to have to move out of his way so quickly.

~~~
quellhorst
People often get pissed when others are going faster than them, no matter the
mode of transit.

------
cglee
I've always loved the Segway, but never bought one because it's difficult to
find a lot of places where I can use it. Bikes face a similar problem, which
is why people in the US mostly use it for exercise.

The Segway would be a great device for the handicapped, except it requires
standing up and decent balance to use.

I've always enjoyed watching kids skate along the sidewalks and malls with
those shoes with wheels in the back. When they need to climb stairs or walk
carefully through a crowded area, they can; when they have some room to zoom,
they tip a heel back and they're gliding along. Segway needs to do something
like that.

~~~
thirdusername
I can't imagine why bikes would make it harder to get around, I live in a
country where people use bikes when there's decimeters of unplowed snow
outside. The only thing that's hard to do while riding a bike is getting up
stairs but it's only a tiny bit of a trip.

~~~
yummyfajitas
It's not so much getting to your destination that is the problem, but storing
your bike once you arrive.

~~~
JeremyChase
Finding a place to put your bike is typically not a problem. The problem I
find is that I am often too sweaty, and or dirty once I arrive at my
destination. This has always limited me to places where I can shower, or
places I don't care if I am sweaty/dirty.

------
Tichy
Maybe airports would be another good use, or other big buildings. Except that
probably you have to train before you use them? Would you fun if you could
rent them at airports like the trolleys, and zap from gate to gate.

Maybe they should create a segway for two persons, so that a pro could drive
around the passengers (a ka segway taxis).

------
akie
I've seen police men and parking inspectors on them, quite recently - both in
the Netherlands and in Switzerland. So I thought they were finally catching
on.

Also, it gave me (and some friends) a good laugh by yelling the A-team tune at
them while they were passing by :)

------
troystribling
I live in Annapolis, MD. Here the police just started them in the downtown
harbor area.

~~~
erikwiffin
I haven't seen that. Guess I need to go downtown more often then.

The mall cops at Westfield use them though.

