I have been on one these things...I can buy 30 completes for the same price...and a skate is ready to go...no need charge them up.
Segway getting test drive in Ontario, legally
Mike Oliveira, Canadian Press
TORONTO (CP) - Five years ago, it was billed as a revolutionary means of transportation that would one day make the automobile obsolete. Now, the two-wheeled gyroscopic scooter known as the Segway Human Transporter is finally getting an official test-drive in Canada.
A five-year pilot project is underway that makes London, Ont., the first Canadian city to allow the battery-powered Segways on sidewalks and streets, Ontario Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said Friday.
People with disabilities over the age of 14 can now drive a Segway on any Ontario road, but London is the first municipality to allow the vehicles on sidewalks as well, to help gauge how well the Segway integrates into city life.
The Ontario government expects other municipalities will also change the appropriate bylaws to follow suit, while police officers in Windsor, Ont., and letter carriers in Ottawa are also slated to eventually join the test project.
The Segway "brings us one step closer to having an Ontario that is accessible and inclusive to all," Cansfield said in a release Friday. The scooters, which can hit a top-speed of 20 km/h, can offer those with a disability a wider range of accessible transportation choices, she added.
Hype surrounding the Segway began building in 2001 when inventor Dean Kamen revealed some scant details about a new invention that was supposedly going to change the world.
The public's imagination and curiosity were seized, the Internet buzzed with theories, and months later - to a somewhat muted response - the Segway was unveiled.
Although it lacked the allure of a flying car, three of the first models were auctioned off for more than US$100,000 each, and Kamen boldly told Time magazine that the Segway "would be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy."
More than 40 American states have deemed the Segway roadworthy, but Canadian officials haven't followed suit.
Curious Canadian drivers found they could buy a Segway, but had nowhere outside their own private property to legally operate it. That, combined with a Canadian price tag between $6,195 and $7,995, has indefinitely delayed the promised Segway era.
But it's believed that there are tens of thousands of owners around the world, and its legions are slowly growing, say proponents.
Jim Ewing runs Great Hobbies, a store in Stratford, P.E.I., a few kilometres outside Charlottetown, and began selling Segways after taking a ride during a trip to the United States in 2004.
He's among the proud few in the Maritimes to own a Segway but the numbers are growing; Ewing has opened additional sales offices in Burnaby, B.C., Calgary and Edmonton to capitalize on its growing popularity.
Ewing is difficult to miss during his daily sojourns around the town of 7,000, where he gets mixed reactions from local residents.
"You'll get anything from angry scowls to, 'Oh, absolutely awesome,"' Ewing said.
i lived in london for 16 years and i cant imagine people riding a segway there. the sidewalks suck and theres always old ladys that yell at you for skating or biking on sidewalks. they wouldnt like that at all. downtown would be too crowded most days to be able to ride on the sidewalks and theres no space on the roads for a segway either. with all the busses downtown theres barely any space for bikes let alone a segway going like 3mph
I think my 600w electric skateboard (cheap Exkate clone) is a better means of transportation, at the very least more respectable ... and yet I doubt it will ever be considered "sidewalk safe" by the local constabulary.
I remember getting in a HUGE argument with one of my friends when the SewGay first came out. The Segway one of the most ridiculous things that have been invented in my lifetime -- and I'm including all of the things that I've seen advertisted on late night television!
The way that the Segway was originally "Hype Marketed" and the fact that people are STILL continually trying to find various "practical reasons" to spend an absolutely insane amount of money on a high-tech motorized roller walker should be enough of an indicator...
id much rather have a skateboarder whiz by me on a sidewalk (or street for that matter) than a gianormus segeway.
plus, you look like an evil dictator from the future when you ride one those things.
EDIT: haha! i just found this on the segway website. i would laugh if i saw this happen.
Quote:
Hazard: The personal transporter can unexpectedly apply reverse torque to the wheels, which can cause a rider to fall. This can occur when the device is tilted back by the Speed Limiter and the rider comes off and then back onto the device within a short period of time.
Hate to add fuel to the fire.. And granted it isnt the FUTURE of transportation or anything, but have any of yall ridden one? The wildest thing I've ever done! It truely is almost telepathic, and capable of around 15mph on flat ground. Downhill a little more (not nearly longboard speeds, mind you) and uphill obviously a bit less. But for a few hours to ride around a sprawling urban development, well worth my while and my $20! Not the future, but a fun toy for the rich, to be sure!
For the rest of us, those pesky kids and their skateboards will have to make do for now..
A nifty little toy. Granted. I don't much agree on some of ideas they have for those things. having them on busy sidewalks and in the malls and marketplaces seems a bit hazardous. First guy that runs over my foot with one gets the thing shuved up his bum. Athough in conjested urban areas it seems a better idea that driving a car for short jaunts. But then again so does a bike, skateboard or skates or scouter. And those don't require a possible environmentally damaging battery and you get exercise which is good.
So I don't have a problem with the device per se....just the marketing plan.
__________________
I went up the Arch and went down the Arch I went under the Arch I went around the Arch.
a summery of my last trip to St Louis.
One thing that the Segway has over a skateboard is that it is REALLY SAFE. Like, as safe as walking. They are so easy to control, that, with a little practice, you can zip around at 13mph all day, and be in absolute control on flats, hills, around corners, in hallways, through doors, etc. You can't do that on a skateboard. How many people here have 'gone down' on their longboard at least once? I'd bet, EVERYONE. Segway riders almost never fall, and then, its only if they are doing something stupid.
The Segway was never meant to be an extreme vehicle. The prototypes were! They had no-handle versions that you leaned to steer like a skateboard and went 20mph. Of course, they weren't making x-treme things, they were after something that anyone who has enough balance to walk can safely ride (which they did).
Now, all this said, I think they are silly for most people. Most Segways are owned by people with too much money who wanted a fun toy.
However... There is a BIG segment of the population that most Segway bashers completely forget about. For every person riding a wheelchair, there is a big crowd of people who aren't quite ready for a wheelchair, but who don't have 'real' mobility. My girlfriends mother has diabetes, and she can walk around, but not for long. Her balance is fine, but she gets worn our instantly. So, she either drives places, or sits at home. She can't even go get her own mail at the end of the long rural driveway. A Segway would mean she could go get the mail, go to the local grocery for a gallon of milk, etc. Basically live her life the way she used to.
She doesn't think of herself as 'disabled', so wouldn't want/need a wheelchair, but she is still a prisoner of her condition. I'm sure you all know someone like this.
Also, Segways seem expensive, but they are cheap compared to powered wheelchairs, which can cost 10,000-40,000$! A Segway, if it works for someone, is a huge bargain.
There is a guy in St. Louis with no lower legs, a double amputee. He gets around all over the place on his Segway (with a custom platform installed up the handle shaft a bit). I taught Segway classes for a while at my museum, and I taught a guy with only one leg how to ride. He was overjoyed, because he was going to get to go to the hardware store again.
In short:
a. Don't bash them till you've tried them, they really are amazingly cool machines, they don't work like any machine you've ever ridden.
b. If you are healthy enough to longboard, you probably don't need one.
c. If you are healthy enough to FALL OFF a longboard, then the EXTREME SAFETY of a Segway is probably not a huge selling point.
d. You probably know someone who's life would be significantly enhanced by a Segway.
peace,
sam
PS while I did teach Segway classes, we weren't paid by Segway to do them, they didn't donate the segways (we bought them full price), and we didn't sell segways. So this isn't an ad or anything.
When I occasionally see someone riding a Segway I think:
1. I'd rather be walking.
2. I'd rather be skateboarding.
3. I'd rather be sleeping.
4. What a waste of money.
5. No wonder us Americans are out of shape.
6. On my 1-10 Dork scale, it rates a 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAv5cheHnzI
Segway vs. Skateboard
Re: Segway vs. Skateboard
