Comments on: Segway killer

Segway killer

stbalbach — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:46:28 -0800

Toyota has a "Segway killer" called the Winglet (still being refined) including a hands-free version steered with the knees. Test riders say its fun, but Toyota has not decided to commercialize it yet (ie. no price info). Segway owners weigh in.

By: mullingitover

mullingitover — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:00:43 -0800

I wonder how long it will be until someone gets on a turbocharged hands-free one and gets in a half pipe.

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:05:23 -0800

Man I was hoping the Segway Killer was going to be some little remote device you could carry in your pocket and whenever you were in the vicinity of a Segway you could push a button that would cause the brakes to seize up. Segway killer Quest que cest Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better Run run run run run run run away Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh...

By: Shepherd

Shepherd — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:06:29 -0800

I would gladly pay to see a movie about the Segway Killer, especially if a gruff but loveable Captain Tasker (Sam Elliot) has the assigned the oddball partners of by-the-book near-retiree John Walters (Tommy Lee Jones) and the manic Troy "Spitball" Jalowsky (John Turturro) to bring him down.

By: furtive

furtive — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:10:51 -0800

At 6km an hour (3.75 miles an hour) it's no wonder it hasn't been commercialized yet. The segway tops out at 20km/h (12.5 mph).

By: Nelson

Nelson — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:17:09 -0800

Boy I can't wait to see that massive Segway market split in two. How many healthy people are there who need wheelchairs?

By: sonic meat machine

sonic meat machine — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:17:28 -0800

Doesn't it have to be alive before something can kill it? Of course, with strange eons even death may die.

By: eye of newt

eye of newt — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:19:50 -0800

The Segway killer? An electric scooter. It is faster, much much cheaper, and safer. The Segway is really just a rich man's toy. Also, I've seen Segway tour guides (you've heard of Segway tours?) who can drive the things with just their knees.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:20:19 -0800

It fails the 'Would Gob Bluth look more ridiculous on it, or less?' test.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:25:05 -0800

It also weighs twenty pounds, vs what, a hundred or so for a Segway?

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:25:12 -0800

Ahh, Gob Bluth. Good times. Also: At 6 MPH and a 1-hour charge, I can easily outrun this thing should it turn predatory.

By: Sam.Burdick

Sam.Burdick — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:25:44 -0800

::bikes on through::

By: fuzzypantalones

fuzzypantalones — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:34:09 -0800

i thought maybe the segway killer would be like, um. self esteem or something.

By: barnacles

barnacles — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:36:14 -0800

Mister_A, the top speed is just 6 kilometers an hour (about 3.5 mph). Save outrunning for another time; you can out-leisurely-stroll this thing.

By: Mitrovarr

Mitrovarr — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:41:04 -0800

The segway-killed was invented over a hundred years before it. It was called the bicycle.

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:11:37 -0800

Snark if you will. If you played with one of these for two goddamn minutes, you would be grinning hard enough to split your goddamn face, because playing with something like this would be FUN. In a nutshell? Be jaded internet people if you like. Me? Want. Want hard.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:23:35 -0800

Those Segway owners are a strange bunch, aren't they? They seem to be hating on this because it only goes 3 miles an hour, as opposed to their Segway's blistering 12 miles per hour. I mean, if you want speed, why wouldn't you just buy a motor scooter? A little Chinese 50 cc two stroke would cost about the fifth of a Segway, move around five times faster and let you carry a passenger on the back seat.

By: optovox

optovox — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:31:11 -0800

I used to have one of these, but I called it a skateboard.

By: netbros

netbros — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:36:09 -0800

When they can fly, call me.

By: Mitrovarr

Mitrovarr — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:59:49 -0800

middleclasstool: Snark if you will. If you played with one of these for two goddamn minutes, you would be grinning hard enough to split your goddamn face, because playing with something like this would be FUN. In a nutshell? Be jaded internet people if you like. Me? Want. Want hard. Do you really think this would be more fun than, say, a dirt bike or a snowmobile? As a power toy, it'd have to compete with other power toys and I don't know how well it'd do in the comparison.

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:17:56 -0800

Do you really think this would be more fun than, say, a dirt bike or a snowmobile? Not necessarily. Just fun enough that lazy internet sarcasm would dissolve in less than a second. Until you (not you personally, just the nonspecific you) wrote up the experience in your blog later. Then there'd be plenty of time to let the snark reserves build back up.

By: furtive

furtive — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:29:19 -0800

I fulfilled a longstanding wish by riding a Segway for several minutes at the Calgary Stampede. They were touting how cheap it was compared to the price of gas. I started thinking that maybe I'd want to own one of these too, I mean, for two grand it would pay for itself after two years. So I popped the inevitable question to the sales rep: "How much does it cost?" The answer? "Six thousand." Pfft, I can buy a scooter, a bike and a car for that much and still have change for a car, a scooter and a bike.

By: Mitrovarr

Mitrovarr — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:42:11 -0800

middleclasstool: Not necessarily. Just fun enough that lazy internet sarcasm would dissolve in less than a second. Until you (not you personally, just the nonspecific you) wrote up the experience in your blog later. Then there'd be plenty of time to let the snark reserves build back up. I'm not contesting that it would be fun, but the fun/money ratio would suck. You'd be better off just buying fireworks or something. The fun would just be the novelty associated with any new vehicle.

By: sebas

sebas — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:46:42 -0800

You can't kill something that was never really alive.

By: Miastar

Miastar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:04:14 -0800

Metafilter = Lazy internet sarcasm.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:54:22 -0800

I don't get how it would be worth it to try to steal Segway marketshare, anyway.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:59:29 -0800

I'm going to hate it when these things finally take off and no one walks anywhere anymore. And this shit will come, because people are too lazy to walk and are just waiting for a way to avoid it. People will drive to the mall or work or wherever they're going, unload these things (or rent them at their destinations), and then roll around until it's time to drive home. Toyota and competitors will market vehicles made to carry a couple of them under the hatch in the back, and they'll make faster versions for "people in a hurry" (everyone), fat-wheeled off-road versions for destroying natural areas, amphibious versions for fishing and "walks" on the beach, semi-enclosed versions for winter excursions, sport versions that can keep up with the cars, and hardened versions for police and soldiers (with shields they can duck behind). Sidewalks that used to be good for walking will be crowded with these things instead. Shoes will be made for people standing or sitting. There will be just a skinny little "Emergency Walking Lane" for people whose wheeled transportation has failed. And there will be my lawn.

By: rhymer

rhymer — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:21:57 -0800

Who in the hell uses Sedgeways anyway? I live in London which I'm constantly told is a reasonably au courant-bleeding edge-of-now type place and I have never, ever seen one in the wild. Not even in the really wanky bits of Shoreditch.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:31:15 -0800

Who in the hell uses Sedgeways anyway? I live in London... According to this site (is it up to date?):

The Highway Act of 1835 renders the Segway PT illegal in the UK, everywhere other than on private property (and only with the owner's permission).

By: clearly

clearly — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:48:39 -0800

This is going to change everything!

By: P.o.B.

P.o.B. — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:25:54 -0800

I was thinking about the Segway and how it's cool to crap all over it. Then I thought about jet packs, and I'm sure most people here would probably blow a gasket to pay 5 G's for one. Then I thought about how every single argument against the Segway could be applied to jet packs. Then it dawns on me, just how ridiculous these arguments are.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:46:29 -0800

Let's have a look at claim 1 of US patent 5,971,091 (aka "the Winglet killer") issued to one Dean Kamen: A vehicle, for transporting a human subject over a surface that may be irregular, the vehicle comprising: (a) a support for supporting the subject, the support having left and right sides and defining fore-aft and lateral planes; (b) a ground-contacting module, including a pair of ground-contacting members, laterally disposed with respect to one another, movably attached to the support, for suspending the subject in the support over the surface, the support and the ground-contacting module being components of an assembly; (c) a motorized drive arrangement, mounted to the assembly for causing locomotion of the assembly and the subject over the surface; and (d) a control loop, in which the motorized drive is included, for dynamically maintaining stability in the fore-aft plane by operation of the motorized drive arrangement so that the net torque experienced by the assembly about the point of contact with the surface, taking into account torques caused by gravity as well as by all other external forces and by the motorized drive, causes a desired acceleration and sustained locomotion of the assembly, such stability being maintained even while the assembly experiences varying forces and accelerations; wherein the control loop is configured so that fore and aft sustained motion of the vehicle is controlled by fore and aft leaning of the vehicle caused by the subject, and in maintaining stability in the fore-aft plane the control loop does not cancel out such leaning under normal conditions of locomotion. Forget range or speed, I guess that the rather limited market of the Segway just isn't worth the patent infringement lawsuit for Toyota.

By: influx

influx — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:04:20 -0800

The Highway Act of 1835 renders the Segway PT illegal in the UK, everywhere other than on private property (and only with the owner's permission). Well that never stopped the guy in a suit I used to see trundling down Shaftesbury Avenue most days.

By: Grangousier

Grangousier — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:58:06 -0800

I'm going to hate it when these things finally take off and no one walks anywhere anymore. And this shit will come, because people are too lazy to walk and are just waiting for a way to avoid it. Ultimately turning into....

By: mary8nne

mary8nne — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:36:14 -0800

1. are we so lazy that we can't even be bothered to, you know like, "walk" somewhere now? According to wikipedia the average walking speed is 4-5 km/h. this goes at 6km/h. There is already an obesity epidemic. and 2. 'segway killer'? what the fuck? I thought the segway had already commited suicied?

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:51:32 -0800

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Metafilter: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Metafilter: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: HoverBoard Metafilter: Just how do you mean that, sir?

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:51:59 -0800

Personally, I think Segways are a complete waste of time. That said, I find it interesting that the argument for outlawing their use in Japan disappears once a Japanese company makes a copy.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:44:38 -0800

middleclasstool: "Snark if you will. If you played with one of these for two goddamn minutes, you would be grinning hard enough to split your goddamn face, because playing with something like this would be FUN. In a nutshell? Be jaded internet people if you like. Me? Want. Want hard." Totally agree. It's really funny how emotitional people get about these devices. I suspect there is a fear that "everyone" will do it, thus forcing ME to get one, and I don't have 6 grand, so lets socially ostracize it early in the bud as a "lazy rich mans toy". My prediction? These devices with time will become more and more diverse, cheaper, and popular. In particular a 20 pound portable! Wow, that is really amazing.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:50:27 -0800

Then I thought about how every single argument against the Segway could be applied to jet packs. Then it dawns on me, just how ridiculous these arguments are. Exactly, not only jetpacks, but cars. How many car trips are made each day that could be made in a Segway instead? Say, under 7 miles round-trip. Anti-Segway arguments applied to under 7 mile car trips: 1. Car people are too lazy to stand up, they have to "sit down" in plush chairs for that 10 minutes of traveling. 2. Car people spend way too much money, some cars cost 30 grand or more, it makes a Segway look like a bargain. 3. Car people spend $1.50 or more in gasoline to go 7 miles, Segways it's next to nothing. Society would benefit if more people stopped driving, and whatever alternative transport: walk, bike, Segway, Winglet .. who cares, it's all good.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:55:19 -0800

Well that never stopped the guy in a suit I used to see trundling down Shaftesbury Avenue most days. Yeah, I've glimpsed them in the wild a couple of times, so they do exist.

By: gorgor_balabala

gorgor_balabala — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:25:04 -0800

More like a long, protracted transition.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:30:16 -0800

At 3.5 mph max, it seems to eliminate the one positive trait that the Segway had. Namely, being able to transport me effortlessly faster than I could (relatively) effortlessly walk. I mean, how many folks would ride a bike if bikes only had a maximum 3.5 mph?

By: lodurr

lodurr — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:30:30 -0800

pracowity: And this shit will come, because people are too lazy to walk... There are several billion people in the world who will continue to walk or (if they're really fortunate) bike almost everywhere they go. (Show me a Jetsons world, and I'll wonder who feeds it... )

By: pracowity

pracowity — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:50:07 -0800

Yeah, sure, in poorer countries people will walk, but in the US, to take the most obvious example, people will not. I only hope these things will have spokes I can put sticks into. Or maybe there will be a way to electronically jam their sense of balance long enough to put them horizontal.

By: P.o.B.

P.o.B. — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:12:56 -0800

I only hope these things will have spokes I can put sticks into. Or maybe there will be a way to electronically jam their sense of balance long enough to put them horizontal. Ohhh me too, I can't wait! I hope someone creates a small portable EMF Generator that I can use on people with pacemakers!!! Let the lulz ensue!

By: docjohn

docjohn — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:56:25 -0800

Indeed, then I can finally take out all those annoying iPhones around me as well...

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:47:54 -0800

Indeed, then I can finally take out all those annoying iPhones around me as well... Portable cell phone jammers exist, however they are sadly illegal to operate or import in the US, and illegal to operate in most other places. That hasn't stopped me from frequently contemplating the purchase of one, however.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:31:35 -0800

That hasn't stopped me from frequently contemplating the purchase of one, however. You can build them.

By: availablelight

availablelight — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:08:27 -0800

Funny, I had wondered if these were being steered with the knees.

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:29:15 -0800

Winglet? Doesn't Applebee's sell those?