Ginger/IT is a damp squib.

[Kautilya]

Well it's here. The invention that was supposed to be as big as the Internet ( or was it bigger?) that would make its inventor Dean Kamen richer than Bill Gates and man of the year.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,186660,00.html

It was what a lot of people expected a self-balancing scooter where you move forward and backward by leaning. It appears to be highly sensitive to your movments as described in the article and also pretty energy-efficient.

The big catch: the average speed is only 8mph so it's not a substitute for even a scooter let alone a car. Kamen talks about people using this for short distances and especially in city centres but I am quite skeptical since it costs 3000 dollars.

I am sure there will be specialized business applications where it's highly useful and perhaps the technology will be useful in other applications.

But as big as the Internet? Come on. The actual thing is pitiful compared to the hype: I I guess that was to be expected.

Oh well. At least we will get a few Roland cracks about the American genius for self-promoting hype.

[David Floyd]

:roflmao:

I bet a few people are feeling right nitwits around now

[The Mad Monk]

Drudge has been snickering about it since early this evening...

[Kautilya]

Indeed.

The amazing thing is that some people still refuse to believe this is IT and think that it's some big diversion in preperation for the real release tomorrow.

See www.theitquestion.com and check out the forums.

A lot of people were hoping it would fly and they have just fallen flat on the ground.

[Gatekeeper]

Kautilya, et al.:

Hmm ... the Associated Press article on AOL stated that the scooter could go up to 17 mph. Anyway, it won't sell at all to the general public at $3000. Jesus. A person can buy a decent used vehicle for that kind of money.

Bring it down to $500 to $1000 and I might look twice.

CYBERAmazon

[Imran Siddiqui]

Of course it could never live up to the hype... however, it is an engineering marvel! A scooter that moves based on your motions, just running on a bit of electricity? Could you imagine what this could lead to? This could really change things in, about 20-30 years.

[Kautilya]

Cyberamazon,
There seems to be some confusion about the speed. I read it as the average being 8 and the max being 12 but maybe it can do more. 17 ain't all that much either though it would be much better.

Imran,
Sure the technology is very cool and 20-30 years down the line could evolve into something really mind-boggling. But so will a lot of things and in the meantime we just seem to have a very cool toy.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Of course it is a nice toy.

But like you said in 20-30 years it could be mind boggling. This is a technology that could change everything. Imagine it being integrated into cars... having just a joystick drive the car, or something. Of course, you'd have to work on that electricity thing .

And Kaut, it already seems to be faster than a bike... and allows more flexiblity.

[KrazyHorse]

This is one piece of Internet hype I missed completely. Where the hell did you guys hear about this?

[Gatekeeper]

Kautilya, et al.:

The two-wheeled Segway, which looks like a cross between an old rotary lawn mower and a Razor scooter, travels at a top speed of about 17 miles per hour.

I suppose we'll have to wait until later today to find out what the true speed of this scooter might be. If it can go 17 mph on level ground, it might not be too bad for folks like me (I live a little more than one mile from work).

CYBERAmazon

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
This is one piece of Internet hype I missed completely. Where the hell did you guys hear about this?

Um... all over? Yeah, that sounds right .

[Victor Galis]

"And Kaut, it already seems to be faster than a bike... and allows more flexiblity."

-At 8mph it's only 50% faster than me walking, and I'm willing to bet it doesn't handle The Hill as well as I do, not to mention stairs and being something of a hassle to store while I'm in class or at lunch. While it looks like a cool toy, it's completely useless to me at this point.

I wouldn't mind at 17 mph, but there's are a good 300-400 ft. of 10-15% slope ground between me and my classes, and I can walk up it as fast as I walk up level ground (admittedly more tiring, but same stride rate same length of steps, while a wheeled thing would have more trouble).

[orange]

damnit, I thought I had the scoop.

This thing is going to be revolutionary.

Two words...

PURCHASE STOCK

[Asher]

Originally posted by orange
PURCHASE STOCK

Two words:
DOT COM

[orange]

Originally posted by CYBERAmazon
Kautilya, et al.:

Hmm ... the Associated Press article on AOL stated that the scooter could go up to 17 mph. Anyway, it won't sell at all to the general public at $3000. Jesus. A person can buy a decent used vehicle for that kind of money.

Bring it down to $500 to $1000 and I might look twice.

CYBERAmazon

Think of the first home computers! They cost $5,000 and look at them now, you can get something twice as good as what I'm typing on now for $750.

Besides, it will first be an industry sensation, and later move on to become a household item.

Think about computers, yet again. And the internet. Same deal.