Comments on: Comments on 5234

Post number 5234

tiaka — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:34:24 -0800

A wearable car? is this really 'IT'?

By: thirteen

thirteen — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:54:57 -0800

Shouldn't this have een posted within the previous IT thread? That said, this guess sounds pretty cool, tho I'd rather have the new VW Microbus.

By: ritualdevice

ritualdevice — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:56:06 -0800

Between this guy and Wolfram I think I've just about had it with all-hype scientists. And what's with all the implications that inviting Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos to your house makes you somehow a genius? I'm all for a new wonder-scooter, but if that's all it is, then this is the most overhyped invention since the AIBO

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:56:36 -0800

BMW is also bringing back the Mini Cooper. Apparently people can't get vehicles small enough these days.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:56:40 -0800

A new Transporter? No Link??

By: xiffix

xiffix — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:57:28 -0800

This all reminds me of a picture in one of visual futurist Syd Mead's picture books. I think he called it a monopod. But I agree: tired meme.

By: Markb

Markb — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:12:59 -0800

No Link?? Link.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:15:01 -0800

Has anyone here seen The Wizard of Speed and Time? (A cult film, but worth watching for Angelique Pettijohn's brief appearance as a dominatrix, if for no other reason.) At one point, having hocked his car for operating funds, Mike Jittlov uses a car built into a briefcase to drive somewhere. That thing actually exists. In the mean time, I don't see what advantage this new gizmo has over a motorcycle.

By: palegirl

palegirl — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:18:07 -0800

speaking of all-hype -- this episode keeps reminding me of Dr. Randell Mills & Blacklight power

By: mikewas

mikewas — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:23:03 -0800

In the mean time, I don't see what advantage this new gizmo has over a motorcycle. Let's see... just as fast, half the stability... I'd guess it's being marketed as a means of population control.

By: Tubes

Tubes — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:24:22 -0800

I don't see what advantage this new gizmo has over a motorcycle. If it's the uni-scooter, it has several advantages: * smaller & lighter, requiring less fuel for propulsion * fewer moving parts, requiring less maintenance * the size of a Hoover, requiring only a closet for parking space. And some disadvantages: * inability to merge with freeway traffic....

By: Postroad

Postroad — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:43:20 -0800

I am certainly going to buy this item if my wife is unable to use her cell phone while using it to get about.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 09:00:50 -0800

Wait a minute, so these images are probably the real thing? I thought they were a joke.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 09:12:17 -0800

What keeps you from falling over at a stop sign or red light? (And why does it remind me of this?)

By: y6y6y6

y6y6y6 — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 09:13:26 -0800

Oooohhhhh....... I get it! 60 mph Razor scooters! People will buy these and then they'll end up having to buy the cool wheel chair. Nice marketing. Seriously, this is so dangerous I can't see it ever happening. Even if cities build around it, a private roadway filled with these things would be a roller derby. If it goes over 20 mph it's too fast to be safe. If it goes under 20 mph it's too slow to replace the bike. Plus, once people get really fat because they don't have to walk any more these will start using up too much power.

By: Avogadro

Avogadro — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 09:18:13 -0800

Riding the same train of thought with Steven... Why is it that when I see the patent images, this picture always pops into my head?

By: honkzilla

honkzilla — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 09:41:44 -0800

Mike Robbins: "I think Mr Kamen has invented a device which prevents Microsoft Word from doing things you don't want it to do. Such a device would have a global market."

By: Tubes

Tubes — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 10:08:25 -0800

Dr. Randell Mills & Blacklight power Whoa... Now Dr. Mills' work, if it pans out, sounds like stuff that could truly change the world. Much more so than a scooter. How has BlackLight not been a MF thread yet?

By: Hackworth

Hackworth — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 10:18:48 -0800

Mathowie...if you look at the front page of that patent, you can see Kamen's name listed as the inventor. And DEKA is signed on as the partners. Looks pretty close to me, although this Kamen guy sounds like quite and inventor, so who knows, this could just be another project of his.

By: jennyb

jennyb — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 10:36:57 -0800

Kamen, who according to Wired magazine holds a Guinness record for the longest interrupted span of time spent dressed in denim... I don't know whether I'm pointing out that a) this has to be a typo, b) if it is, man how stinky, c) if it isn't who cares or d) if it is, who cares?

By: captaincursor

captaincursor — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 10:42:12 -0800

I liked the design of the new bus when it was just a parody postcard designed by 6rady.

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 11:04:17 -0800

I think the one-wheel balance patent is misleading. After doing some searching and reading articles (heck, he sold Bob Metcalf) and looking at pictures of Kamen's IBOT (climbing wheelchair), I'm inclined to believe it's an individual personnel transport device of some sort.

By: cCranium

cCranium — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 11:22:36 -0800

I think the Washington Post article is a direct reflection of the /. thread. It neither confirms nor denies anything, but takes the best guess the "Digerati" could come up with, and suggested that as the truth. IT's a jet-pack, dammit.

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 11:39:46 -0800

IT's a jet-pack, dammit. Hell, in that case I'd prefer the Moller Skycar. It worked great for Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 11:42:57 -0800

But uv'course we've seen WOSAT. Anyone with brains, taste, and a sense of humor has. It's Pettyjohn, BTW. I liked Paige better.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 13:02:44 -0800

Um, bk? Your second link appears to have gone astray. Are you suggesting that there's actually a flyable M400 now? Even as a prototype?

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 13:40:51 -0800

Oops. And yes, there allegedly is a prototype that was fly-tested over 200 times by 1998.

By: harmful

harmful — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 13:44:19 -0800

I don't think IT would be that dangerous if the rider was appropriately dressed. [via The Reg]

By: Sal Amander

Sal Amander — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 14:10:13 -0800

If I had a choice, I would get one of THESE instead!

By: aaron

aaron — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 14:55:28 -0800

The latest Reuters article seems to side with my assertion that IT is just a stupid scooter.

A lot of people are going to be very disappointed when IT comes out.

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 15:12:38 -0800

Reuters has a bunch of morons on staff. They've printed that Bill Gates credit card info was stolen when it was found to be faked, that the Coolio picked up by the Feds was a member of a well-known defacement group, when a week earlier media outlets correctly placed the kid in New Hampshire (two hackers were using the same nickname), and used a known fraud as a source for a story he had no clue about. Their research skills suck. They probably just looked at the patent pictures and a few Internet posts.

By: aaron

aaron — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 15:23:52 -0800

Yes, but you could say that about any news organization. Sorting through a few days' worth of anyone's stories will bring up at least a few whoppers. Doesn't mean the rest of what they say is automatically incorrect.

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 15:46:17 -0800

The point wasn't the errors it was the lack of research Reuters does. If they had done a little more digging, they would have found that the Coolio they wrote about was not in SoCal and in gH but as other outlets were reporting, a kid in NH. If they had double-checked their sources, they wouldn't have used someone seen as a laughing stock in the computer security community. The patents with all the one-wheel scooter designs have been around for three days and many media outlets have reported it so far. But if you look at other links from this post, Slashdot and elsewhere people have actually dug deeper than a single document. Of course every media outlet has their screwups. It's just that personally, Reuters is a continued screw-up in my eyes.

By: metascene

metascene — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 17:00:01 -0800

Just in case you haven't seen it, boingboing has some good IT info, including a drawing from the patent that i haven't seen posted here. This is all just too good to be true. How ever did we manage to get along without this woudrous machine-perosnal transportaion device? This is my second metafilter post and boy does it feel good to be here. But you already knew that. Now I'm wondering if this post is too long.

By: fullerine

fullerine — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 17:42:38 -0800

Whatever IT is, the marketing is already sweet.

By: xiffix

xiffix — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 18:56:11 -0800

The "core technology" of which the "unicycle" is just one application is f*cking flywheels! Check it out: A company named Acros Technologies advertised for a Market Research Manager last August. Acros Technologies is a spinoff of Deka Research (Dean Kamen's Company). Stuck "Acros"in whois over at geektools.com and they registered flywheels.com and flywheels.org back on December 26, 2000. 340 Commercial St, the address of ACROS LLC the registrant of the two domains is also the address of Deka Research Deka Research has also registered stirlingelectric.com If that's a hoax, it's a good one.

By: xiffix

xiffix — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 19:15:19 -0800

The Acros LLC Company Profile. Check out the company logo. Company website will be at acrosllc.com

By: cell divide

cell divide — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 21:18:09 -0800

actually, meatscene, it's your 5th post. GOD!

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 23:29:55 -0800

For padding, I'd go with the Ursus Mark VI bear suit -- it's survived a crash test of sorts.

By: metascene

metascene — Fri, 12 Jan 2001 23:54:36 -0800

cell divide-- that's Mr. Meatscene to you fella. heh, yeah, after i posted i checked my profile and learned that i had posted 4 other times. i probably said some really dumb stuff (complete with typos) and thought, "gee, i'd better not embarss myself anymore." but i'm ready to embarass myself again. anyway, i'm pretty sure i want one. whatever IT is.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Sat, 13 Jan 2001 10:40:55 -0800

Some say that Kamen names many of his inventions with acronyms (I.T. = "Independent Transporter" (?), F.I.R.S.T. = "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," etc.)... What could G.I.N.G.E.R. stand for? (flash ahead)