7 ms·

> The real reason the Segway didn't take off, in my opinion, is that it didn't solve any real problem. This can't be the answer, since it doesn't explain the h

• bornfreddy 4y ago
  Well, they are cheaper, cooler looking and faster (scooters at least). They are way more useful than Segway ever was.
  • calt 4y ago
    Most importantly, smaller. Segways are Huge.
• jandrese 4y ago
  Segway failed for one reason and one reason only: It was priced way outside of what people would accept for a scooter. Beyond the fact that they were simply too expensive for people to buy, it also gave them a reputation as a bougie display of wealth, which makes people hate them even more. All of these pay as you go scooter services solved the cost problem and are everywhere now, in exactly the same niche that Dean Kamen envisioned, minus cities redesigning themselves around scooters of course.
  • barnabee 4y ago
    Some cities are definitely and quite rapidly redesigning themselves around bikes/ebikes/scooters et al. (aka [electric] micromobility).
    • random314 4y ago
      Any example cities?
      • bjelkeman-again 4y ago
        Many European cities are expanding their bike paths quite extensively. As an example, this page in Swedish, published by the local government of Stockholm, has a map of the bike path network. https://cykla.stockholm/cykelnat/ https://cykla.stockholm/cykelnat/
      • bluGill 4y ago
        Even little des moines is greatly building bike infrastructure. Though i wouldn't call this designing around bikes. Bikes are clearly for going bar hopping on Saturday, not for any serious business dealings. Though the side effect of all these paths is a few die hards do real business on bikes.
        • kbelder 4y ago
          Is there a problem with drunken bikers on the weekends?
        • waste_monk 4y ago
          Seems that instead of bar hopping on bikes, you could instead start patronising one of those bicycle bars, which allow you to gain the health benefits of pedalling and the alcohol benefits of alcohol at the same time. And you still get the bar experience, as between drinking on the bike you stop at pubs and drink there as well. These also use the existing car infrastructure (as they're usually 6-10 passengers drinking + the driver (who stays sober for obvious reasons) and thus about the same size as a transit van), no specialised bike infrastructure is required.
        • barnabee 4y ago
          In central London a Lime (or similar) ebike is very often the fastest and most convenient way to get around bar none. The other big advantage of ebikes specifically is that you don't need a change of clothes and won't arrive dripping with sweat.
  • amalcon 4y ago
    For what it's worth, the "cities redesigning themselves around them" thing actually came from a news report about some guy's book about Kamen. As far as I can tell he never said that himself.
    • jandrese 4y ago
      Maybe not, but it certainly sounds plausible given the level of hype Mr. Kamen had around the project prior to its announcement. I remember it being a total media circus. One thing I had completely forgotten is how mediocre the specs were on the first generation Segways. Top speed of 17mph, but realistically more like 12. Range: up to 17 miles. Charge time: 10 hours. MSRP: $4,500. This is also one of those rare consumer products with dubious distinction of killing its own creator.
      • xsmasher 4y ago
        Just so no one is confused - inventor Dean Kamen is still alive, but CEO Jimi Heselden who bought Segway in 2009 died.
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  • ls15 4y ago
    > It was priced way outside of what people would accept for a scooter. Exactly. When I first saw them I thought that they look like fun. When I saw the prices, I decided that the fun can wait.
• thatguy0900 4y ago
  Maybe if Segway had dropped hundreds of segways into every city to rent it would have taken off.
• ghaff 4y ago
  >These things are absolutely ubiquitous in any major city, US or Europe, right now. Ubiquitous is doing a lot of work there. In the Northeast US, I've probably seen an increase in bikes given some dedicated bike lanes but I rarely see anything else.
  • dionidium 4y ago
    I'm in Providence and the scooters are everywhere, still.
    • ghaff 4y ago
      This is something like seems to vary a lot. Depends of course on whether rentals are available. I rarely see them in Cambridge. But while they were quite popular when they first came out in Raleigh--and I believe rentals are still available--you didn't see them much last time I was there.
• mixmastamyk 4y ago
  > From scooters to electric skateboards to hoverboards to a number of single-wheeled designs. These things are absolutely ubiquitous These have all declined a lot from our view in Southern California, seeing a lot fewer of them after the peak in... 2018 was it? Electric bikes are still increasing slowly but surely every year as the price comes down.
  • Ekaros 4y ago
    I should look around more, but I don't think I see too many of non rental ones being used.
  • ghaff 4y ago
    I haven't travelled as much as I did pre-pandemic. But my sense is that, even in US cities where escooters were big when they first came out, you don't see them a lot any more. And things like hoverboards are pretty niche--again based on what I've seen.
    • mixmastamyk 4y ago
      One Christmas several years ago everyone got hoverboards, but haven't seen one since. Possibly their batteries died, otherwise it was one of the quickest fads I've ever seen. Must have not been practical on the sidewalk. The wheels were very small.
• toss1 4y ago
  YES! It did solve a real problem, it just did so badly - it was heavy, expensive, clunky, and had no suspension so could not handle much surface imperfection. I think Kamen's big mistake was that he was pathologically afraid of anything smacking of speed, competition, or plain fun. He explicitly worked to avoid any association or possible diversion of use of the Segway in anything like that, because he thought a key audience was city planners who hated skateboards, and thus any fun at all would result in them being banned from city use. Maybe he's right, but if so, the solution space was zero. Yet, that total avoidance of fun resulted in a number of disasterous results. First, as PG pointed out, the users all looked like dorks - because they were riding a device designed only for dorks. This also resulted in zero engineering being dedicated to performance, and the, IMO, insane decision to have no suspension. This resulted in the spectacle of President Bush falling off one on his very public ride, simply from riding over a very small hole. Another very public black eye. and the general absolutely clunky engineering of the thing resulted in no fun, no enthusiasm, and the only real use case being the mall cop market. And a few isolated groups playing Segway Polo is not exactly an activity to generate enthusiasm. I'm quite convinced that if he'd engineered the thing to be fun, or at least hackable to be fun, it would have taken off. It would have been much more streamlined, cool looking higher performance, and with a suspension to be able to handle at least a bit of terrain (heck even 2" of travel would have made a huge difference). It would not have been that hard to add a "Calm Zone Mode" akin to phone's Airplane Mode for use in the city... But, that's all history now
• kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  You can't carry a classic Segway up stairs. It is a balancing wheelchair technology that was turned into a consumer product without considering the usability flaws.