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Isn't Segway protected by its uselessness rather than a patent? Edit: if you believe that Segway's lack of success meant nothing, and that many companies want
by cousin_it 16y ago
Isn't Segway protected by its uselessness rather than a patent?
Edit: if you believe that Segway's lack of success meant nothing, and that many companies want to build and sell self-balancing scooters but the patent system is stopping them, you should argue that point and downvote, not just downvote. I'm annoyed.
- jacquesm 16y ago> I'm annoyed. Rightfully so. Downvotes aside, it seems the segway has it's dedicated fans. I think the biggest thing that's wrong with it was the way it was launched, not the article per se.
- thaumaturgy 16y agoDEKA is a strange duck. They have some genuinely brilliant people there, working on some genuinely revolutionary inventions -- but they just can't seem to actually bring them to market. Or, they're not interested in bringing them to market. I've never seen one of their wheelchairs; I've seen some Segways, but they remain more a curiosity and spectacle than a common device; I've yet to hear of the Stirling engine / water purifier being deployed anywhere; and their cybernetics for amputees don't seem to be getting beyond experimental. I really don't "get" them. The best I can figure is that everyone (influential) there is happy just to be working on these puzzles, and they don't really care if anyone uses them or not.
- jemfinch 16y agoHonestly, I think you deserved your downvotes. The segway is clearly not useless; the market has shown that. Just because something isn't a runaway success doesn't mean it wasn't a success.