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Monday, December 3, 2001
The Segway (aka Ginger)
A high-tech scooter that won't fall over? That's it?!
This was the response from many who followed the "Ginger" story since last January, but make note that the inventor and his company rarely made extreme fanciful claims about it, mostly other people did all that work and it made unrealistic expectations fall flat (a lot like rumors that circle prior to every MacWorld keynote). Yes, it is fun to think of possibilities but set your expectations low and then you'll be pleasantly surprised. Or go out and do it yourself. He did.
Anyway, this little device features DS (dynamic stabilization) and won't fall over, it can turn on a dime (quite literally), costs about five cents for electricity per day, goes 17 mph, and just plain looks pretty neat. There is no throttle, no brake, no engine (small electric motors). You simply get on, lean forward, and there you go. Lean back to stop. Lean back to reverse. Twist to turn.
I bet the true impact of this thing won't be felt for a while -- the technology inside it will trickle into other things and then we'll wonder how we ever got by without it. Like the phone, or radio or the car, even.
Now we just have to wait for his Stirling Engine devices to appear!
Posted by Jeremy at 11:52 PM |
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