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> A similar product launch was the Segway, where we went from this incredible vision of everyone on Segways to nobody wanting one. The problem with Segway in

> A similar product launch was the Segway, where we went from this incredible vision of everyone on Segways to nobody wanting one. The problem with Segway in Germany was rather the certification for road traffic. Because of the insane red tape involved, the introduction was delayed, and for the same reason nobody thus wanted one.

mring33621 1y ago
The children of Segway are still here! Electric unicycles and Onewheels! And they're really fun!
- _ea1k 1y ago
  Yeah, for me Segway has been a great lesson in how patents can hold back innovation. It was a niche player that prevented others from trying to innovate on the form factor for a number of years.
  - mring33621 1y ago
    True! In a similar vein: One of the dads at school runs a company that does a nanotech waterproof coating for electronics (backed by patents). I told him that it would be very useful for personal electric vehicles, like electric unicycles. He replied that they looked at that, but decided not to license the tech for that use, because there wasn't enough money in it. Sad.
    - 4ggr0 1y ago
      > because there wasn't enough money in it i wonder what the world or progress in general would look like if profit-incentives didn't matter (as much as they do), and instead just "would this take us forwards as societies?" or in a different way, what are we missing out on just because some people think stuff has to be profitable in order to be "good".
cycomanic 1y ago
I seriously doubt that was the problem. The issue was always that these things were essentially a walking aid for the price of a motorbike/small car and were particularly useless in Europe where you had to transverse cobble stone roads or take one onto the metro (good luck with that). They were a complete hype product, their projections that they would essentially replace walking and pushbikes were just crazy. I don't think I know anyone who wanted one for more than as a toy. As a side note, at a ee department where I was teaching around 10 years ago, one student build one as his final year project. Pretty awesome, he essentially did everything himself from software to all the mechanics/electronics... Worked very well as well.

mring33621 1y ago

The children of Segway are still here! Electric unicycles and Onewheels! And they're really fun!

_ea1k 1y ago
Yeah, for me Segway has been a great lesson in how patents can hold back innovation. It was a niche player that prevented others from trying to innovate on the form factor for a number of years.
- mring33621 1y ago
  True! In a similar vein: One of the dads at school runs a company that does a nanotech waterproof coating for electronics (backed by patents). I told him that it would be very useful for personal electric vehicles, like electric unicycles. He replied that they looked at that, but decided not to license the tech for that use, because there wasn't enough money in it. Sad.
  - 4ggr0 1y ago
    > because there wasn't enough money in it i wonder what the world or progress in general would look like if profit-incentives didn't matter (as much as they do), and instead just "would this take us forwards as societies?" or in a different way, what are we missing out on just because some people think stuff has to be profitable in order to be "good".

cycomanic 1y ago

I seriously doubt that was the problem. The issue was always that these things were essentially a walking aid for the price of a motorbike/small car and were particularly useless in Europe where you had to transverse cobble stone roads or take one onto the metro (good luck with that). They were a complete hype product, their projections that they would essentially replace walking and pushbikes were just crazy. I don't think I know anyone who wanted one for more than as a toy. As a side note, at a ee department where I was teaching around 10 years ago, one student build one as his final year project. Pretty awesome, he essentially did everything himself from software to all the mechanics/electronics... Worked very well as well.