[IP] Segway Gives an Easy Ride, But It's the Best on Sidewalks

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
>Subject: Segway Gives an Easy Ride, But It's the Best on Sidewalks
>Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 18:05:03 -0700
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>
>April 10, 2003
>
>Segway Gives an Easy Ride, But It's the Best on Sidewalks
>
>By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
>
>I took a drive the other day through downtown Washington, D.C. I
>started at Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House,
>and made my way up busy Connecticut Avenue to DuPont Circle. I
>continued down several streets to The Wall Street Journal's
>Washington bureau. I drove right through the lobby and into an
>elevator. Emerging on an upper floor, I sailed straight into the
>newsroom, maneuvering around cubicles and other obstacles.
>
>All along the way, people smiled and pointed and shouted
>encouragement and questions. Many asked for rides on the unusual
>vehicle I was driving, the new Segway Human Transporter -- an
>electrically powered, two-wheel, self-balancing superscooter that is
>to the sidewalk what a Lexus is to the road.
>
>The Segway has been the subject of more hype and speculation than any
>other recent technology product. Starting well before it was ready
>for production, when it was code-named Ginger, it prompted wild
>stories claiming it would change the world.
>
>Its specs are impressive. The Segway can go up to 12.5 miles an hour
>and travel 10 to 15 miles on a single charge of its batteries, which
>can be recharged overnight via a standard electrical outlet.
>Controlling the thing involves little more than leaning forward
>slightly to move forward, and leaning backward to back up. It's so
>easy to balance you can stand in one spot without effort, and turn
>360 degrees in place by just twisting the handgrip.
>
>But how does it work in real life? Is it worth the $4,950 price? To
>find out, we conducted an extended hands-on review. For the past
>couple of weeks, my assistant, Katie Boehret, and I have put miles on
>a production-model Segway lent to us by Segway LLC, the Manchester,
>N.H., company founded by Dean Kamen, the scooter's inventor. We rode
>it on city sidewalks, and through parks and public plazas. We glided
>through hotel lobbies and shops, and tooled around suburban
>subdivisions, parking lots and shopping centers. We rode in the rain
>and even in a light snowfall, at day and at night. And we gave
>test-rides to neighbors, co-workers and strangers on the street.
>
>...
>
><http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20030410.html>

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