Dean Kamen wrestles with decision: should he quit the Segway?
By Darren Murph 
posted January 12th 2009 5:51PM
posted January 12th 2009 5:51PM
[Image courtesy of SimplyMoving]
posted January 12th 2009 5:51PM
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Once again, a group of idiots spouts off about the Segway with little thought about what market it's really supposed to address.
It is not meant to replace the bicycle. The Segway is supposed to actually go inside buildings and into tighter spaces than a bike can get into.
It is not meant to replace walking, at least not for the able-bodied. The idea here is that if you live far enough from work that walking is uncomfortable, you might consider a Segway instead of a car. Yes, you could use a bike, too, though a Segway wouldn't leave you sweaty at your destination. There actually is a market of buyers that would like to dispense with cars but can't or don't want to ride a bike. It clearly isn't a huge market, but it might just grow over time.
It isn't meant to replace the car, either, though a family that owned one might just use it occasionally to replace some car trips.
Is it more expensive than a decent bike/scooter/used car? Yes, it is. It's also includes better engineering than some space craft. The Segway has a very sophisiticated gyroscope system to balance and control the vehicle.
The Segway isn't for everyone, not even me. I live too far from my work for this device to be practical--for ME. But I do admire the engineering, and the initiative that Dean Kamen has shown in bringing it to market. I believe this kind of vehicle has a future, and I would be very disappointed to see it leave the market.
Re inside buildings: Once I'm inside a "tight space," I find the legs I was born with quite adequate.
Re you just said it doesn't compete with a bike, but then describe how it does: At the price he's pushing this thing, it will simply never have a market where the mid-range debate is "car or bicycle?" And if sweating is an issue there are much more comfortable and affordable scooter alternatives for half the price. That would even include low-end electrics that go just as fast as the Segway. That niche is small, and where it isn't, good old-fashioned tech still reigns due to pricing.
I won't argue that there are some niche markets and customers with unique needs that the Segway can satisfy. Wealthy people, large indoor complexes and injured/disabled folk exist. But I cringe the moment I see any arguments to this being a revolutionary consumer-oriented product. In the eternal words of Wayne Campbell: "When monkeys fly out of my butt.
Steve Jobs will buy the company.
I agree with the majority here. Cost is the factor. When I go to Best Buy and I see them in the store for $5000, I laugh and pass. If that price was $1000 to even $2000, I would be coming up with reasons not to buy one. At $1000 or under, I would be justifying the purchase to my wife.
They have them in Best Buy???
If they were cheaper and I had a walking path to work I might consider it. As of now I'd just get another GSXR600 and and have WAY more fun.
Hello.
Hi!
Yeah, right.
It was good enough for Obadiah Stane.
I'll take one. Just make them a little more affordable. =)
Don't stop the segway! I would love to buy one if I could afford it. The segway looks like a transporter you would buy if it costed €1000. I would never pay more for a transporter that cant keep me dry.
I haven't been able to "enjoy" a walk in a year. I can barely go 39 feet. I wish someone would give me a Segway. Because of my leg I can't seem to find a decent Job. I need some help here. How do I get a segway?
In all the years since the Segway came out, I have seen one of these, ONE, and that was in Vienna at a conference venue a couple of years ago. I live in London, one of the most populous and metropolitan cities in the world, and I've never seen a single Segway anywhere in the UK! I know there's all sorts of legality issues about using them on public highways over here, but we have lots of pedestrianised areas in London, and lots of large shopping centres (aka "malls"...), so there are places you could use a Segway. I'm sure that 90% of the problem has alwasy been the ludicrous price tag; it showed a masive ignorance of the amount of disposable income available to the average person outside (and inside) the US, on the part of Dean Kamen. Many people I know would think seriously hard before spending £4500 ($6600!!) on a second-hand car, never mind on a scooter! My foldable bike cost me £400, it's virtually bomb-proof and maintenance-free, and I can take it on the train/tube: end of argument.
I just hope he never stops wearing head-to-toe denim.
"...On one hand, we could definitely see the rug being pulled from the two-wheeled transporter that never revolutionized public movement, but considering all the days in which it has lifted our spirits, do we really want it to?"
It is this attitude that explains this comment
"it's not nearly as glamorous as people think to keep working on something and to keep hitting roadblocks and to keep going."
You know, roadblocks, like the media poking fun at it constantly and saying that people who ride one are lazy and should walk instead.
I have owned my Segway for almost a year now and the rest of this comment is based on someone who actually owns one, not some "journalist" that probably have never even ridden one. My Segway has helped to save my health and that is no exaggeration. I was dealing with a lot of health problems and having to take a handful of medications per day to try to hold off the effects of these health problems. I really wanted to get back on my bicycle and was trying to figure out how I could bike home from work (17.5 miles). Since none of my co-workers lives near me, hitching a ride to work was not an option. I couldn't ride TO work because we don't have any facilities to clean up after the ride. I was stuck. Enter the Segway.
I took a Segway tour at Epcot Center in April of 2008. I really wanted one after the tour and when my wife suggested that I could ride the Segway to work and bike home, I had my Segway by May. After logging over 1,400 miles on my bicycle last year, I am down to only TWO prescription medications. Who knows what my health would be like now if I hadn't gotten the Segway. If I had a dime for every nasty comment I got while riding my Segway to work, I would have a fleet of Segways by now. It didn't matter that I was not driving my car to work on those days, people are just ignorant. It is this mentality that I perceive is the roadblock to adoption of the Segway.
So stop bashing it already!
it's way too expensive
Nowhere in the original article are the "comments" from Kamen in reference to the Segway. The article is about entrepreneur personalitites. Everything quoted in engadget from the CNN article is taken out of context. Kamen was talking about the dozens of projects he undertakes and deciding when to stop or continue. Shame on engadget.
Segway would have been a much bigger seller if they'd got the price point right. $5K is just at least $2K too much when you think that the competition for the device is something like a Vespa. If they'd been serious about grabbing market share they would have picked a price below the $3K for a machine like Vespa's LX50.
Can you drive a Vespa inside a building? I can ride my Segway into the building where I work, into the suite, and to my desk. No emissions, plug-in electric. Of course a Vespa is cheaper, it's low-tech.
I still want one. I tried an older model at a Segway rental store. It was awesome.
I would buy one if instead of wheels it had jets, and a closed canopy with auto-pilot. And instead of standing, you could lay prone and watch DVD's with the DVD player that is doesn't have.
Morons, he's not quitting the Segway. Did you even read the article?
Actually he may not be talking about the segway at all. The ibot wheel chair which was the device that the segway's technology came from was being worked on for 10+ years at DEKA. Johnson and Johnson, reciently announced that they are discontinuing the product. While the segway got all the press the real technology is in products that don't get so much PR. I am very sorry that disabled people won't get the opportunity to use the ibot as it totally changes the way they act with the world.
http://www.ibotnow.com/
Greg
Where abouts do you live?
@ Chris: Low tech or high tech isn't the issue. I agree that the Segway is sweet. I'm normally an early adopter and got excited about the prospect of getting one but even I bulked when I learned the asking price. Early adopters make up a very small percentage of the market. For a product like this (which no doubt had high RnD costs) to be successful it has to gain wide market adoption. When the average consumer takes a look at the utility they can get from a moped and compare that to what Segway offers the difference isn't great enough to justify the large differential in price. There's really not much to argue here. We've seen how the market adoption for Segway has gone.
I had to go back and read this article again after I saw this post. I thought I missed something in an article about the entrepreneurial spirit, and what makes start-ups work. It turns out I didn't miss anything, the poster either didn't read or didn't understand the article. I am amused by the hundred or so posts from people who also didn't bother to read the article.
If you've ever had the chance to ride one, you would be a believer.
I don't think anybody's doubting the usefulness or high-tech status of the product. I think the main complaint is that it's overpriced for what it does.
I'd love one, but for the price he's asking, I could get a decent used car.
The other factor is that about half the country has weather that makes the Segway impractical for about five months out of the year. Sure, it's great if you live in a no-snow zone, but I'd like to see someone try to ride the thing to work in Michigan between November and March. It would be uncomfortable, and probably wouldn't make it to the destination.
So he's got a product that, while cool, only really becomes useful for people who:
A. Have thousands of dollars to spare.
B. Live in a region that doesn't have snow, freezing wind, or constant rain.
C. Have the room in their home to use/store one. (Some people are apartment dwellers, you know.)
I can think of about 500 things I'd get before a Segway if I had a few thousands dollars laying around. I could get the very best electric bike on the market for the same price, and though I can't ride it in the office, it can carry cargo to and from work.
By the way-- In some areas, the Segway isn't sidewalk-legal nor is it street-legal. That's a factor, as well.
"Dan, London" you've never seen one because your nanny government has legislated and taxed innovation into oblivion...
I don't think he should throw in the towel on the Segway, he should however lower the price to a point where us older or disabled people could afford one..... He could be making money by selling them in volume instead of trying to make a killing selling just a few..... I know that with my back and legs I would have one if the price was $500.00, but I could never afford to take out a bank loan to purchase one....