There’s a good case for this
-
@inthehands hm
Postulate: Segways were douchy. 117% hype. The POGO stick of the 00s. Immediately marked someone as an utter, irrecoverable dork.
But per the posts above: look at micromobility, the current rise of scooters etc.
What if “douchy” was not an innate trait of the product, but something that a juvenile social consensus assigned to it?
What if that consensus was in part manufactured?
-
@dlakelan @inthehands The Segways at Google HQ were mostly parked when I arrived, but there was a large fleet of company bikes with baskets (like on an industrial campus or national laboratory), and company small electric scooters were popular for zipping from meeting to meeting across the growing office building footprint.
South of Market San Francisco is where I saw more of the personal folding scooters (the Xootr, kick not electric) and electric unicycles.
And Brompton folding cycles in folks' offices.
@dlakelan @inthehands I admit to giving electric standing unicycles some side-eye as conspicuous flashy technology and was surprised to see one show up on the busy streets in my Seattle neighborhood.
But that seems to fall under "let people like what they like, just ride thoughtfully." The form seems about right for transit to origin and destination cases.
-
I periodically think about the hype around the Segway, how luminary types were over the moon for it in private demos but then the general public decided it was uncool, and think maybe actually the luminaries had it right and it’s the public that biffed it.
@inthehands they were way too expensive and the width made then much less practical.
-
@chris_evelyn @inthehands Didn't the Segway need massive active control to stay stable, as opposed to a e-scooter?
Sure. My invitation is to think about the Segway as a •direction• in product category, not a perfected single item. What could it have become if even 5% of the population embraced it?
-
@inthehands maybe but I still think they’re worse than a bicycle
@aubilenon
I like bikes better too, but they require more skill / practice and a more physical abled rider. This: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/116466130920906169 -
@inthehands they were way too expensive and the width made then much less practical.
-
But per the posts above: look at micromobility, the current rise of scooters etc.
What if “douchy” was not an innate trait of the product, but something that a juvenile social consensus assigned to it?
What if that consensus was in part manufactured?
@inthehands remarks: nah.
Never seen any utility on a Segway.
It was just the "box goes beep boop, woohoo", of that time.
Besides being undignified. I can not, absolutely, comprehensively take anyone on a Segway seriously.
Turns everyone into the chubby shopping mall rent-a-cop, at best.
The official bird of the Portlandia tv series.
-
I periodically think about the hype around the Segway, how luminary types were over the moon for it in private demos but then the general public decided it was uncool, and think maybe actually the luminaries had it right and it’s the public that biffed it.
@inthehands I don’t know if the general public decided it was uncool or just incredibly dangerous. I tried it early on and crashed pretty badly. it was really hard figuring out how to operate it.
-
@inthehands @Nicovel0 Kamen (I think that's the spelling) is a pariah to big industry. He's not a braggard. He creates things people need to move to a better future, and works at nearly a zero profit. Granted he's made money, but he also pays well and does a shit ton of zero profit charity. And he is not a sham. He holds the most pilot licenses of any non-military personal, has been commissioned as a test pilot. Had created a lot of tech for other govt's for free. He's not just living off of other people's brains and claiming false accolades.
He is the complete antithesis of the broligarchs.
@retech @inthehands @Nicovel0 With the exception of his deep connections to Epstein and people associated with Epstein. In that way, he's very much like the Broligarchy
-
@inthehands maybe but I still think they’re worse than a bicycle
@inthehands okay well never mind bicycles. The launch Segway was $5000 (nearly $10000 in today’s money) for something big, heavy, with limited range, clunky steering, and slow charging.
The increase in popularity of e-bikes, scooters, and electric unicycles is partially driven by the fact that they’re way way better, but I think even more importantly, they’re affordable.
-
I think everyone was wrong on this one. The segway was ok, better than the public gave it credit for, but it was never gonna be a world changing technology. I think the public backlash was against the billionaires telling us what the fuck to do. It came out before the media collapse and the rise of social media and the rise of effective Russian propaganda that taught the billionaires how to do their own propaganda.
Segway? A classic solution in search of s problem, and emblematic of one of tech's social problems.
The technology itself was at the time quite amazing. And most tech folk stopped there.
It was a social disaster. Its position in the world was something like enhanced pedestrian, not streetable. They took up more room in ped space than a wheelchair, but their users were well off abled nerds.
Segway gave nothing to people with mobiity issues. We gladly give up abled convenience to support folks in wheelchairs etc (most of us anyway), but Segways were toys for the already privileged demanding even moreaccommodation.
Technically clever gadgets should not take priority of peoples daily needs. We need systems thinking not toys for the rich.
Look at the tiny niche they live in now; mall and airport security guard mobility.
-
Segway? A classic solution in search of s problem, and emblematic of one of tech's social problems.
The technology itself was at the time quite amazing. And most tech folk stopped there.
It was a social disaster. Its position in the world was something like enhanced pedestrian, not streetable. They took up more room in ped space than a wheelchair, but their users were well off abled nerds.
Segway gave nothing to people with mobiity issues. We gladly give up abled convenience to support folks in wheelchairs etc (most of us anyway), but Segways were toys for the already privileged demanding even moreaccommodation.
Technically clever gadgets should not take priority of peoples daily needs. We need systems thinking not toys for the rich.
Look at the tiny niche they live in now; mall and airport security guard mobility.
@tomjennings
At the time, toys for the rich yeah. These days we have lots of segway like devices, theyre inexpensive because of batteries and motors coming way down in price theyre smaller, and you see people riding them around college campuses and to and from public transport and things. so the execution on segways was early and clunky but the basic idea of an electric actively stabilized transport device is fine -
I periodically think about the hype around the Segway, how luminary types were over the moon for it in private demos but then the general public decided it was uncool, and think maybe actually the luminaries had it right and it’s the public that biffed it.
@inthehands I think a lot of the public dislike of Segways was the price point.
If they had come in at a more affordable price, we’d probably have seen much greater adoption. Sour grapes is a pretty good motivator if you can’t afford it, and that’ll shape public opinion pretty quickly.
The much cheaper price of e-bikes has overcome the “people are gonna be unhealthy” and “kids are too lazy pedal their own bikes” opposition… fewer sour grapes folks because there are fewer people who want but can’t afford them.
-
@retech @inthehands @Nicovel0 With the exception of his deep connections to Epstein and people associated with Epstein. In that way, he's very much like the Broligarchy
@glnfld @inthehands @Nicovel0 That sucks. I had no idea.
Yet another one.
-
I periodically think about the hype around the Segway, how luminary types were over the moon for it in private demos but then the general public decided it was uncool, and think maybe actually the luminaries had it right and it’s the public that biffed it.
@inthehands I think one of the key criteria for any solution for micro mobility is how mobile it is in itself.
I can lift a bicycle over stairs, get it into a bus or to my home. I don't like to, but I can, and it allows me to deal with the gaps in the current infrastructure.
E-bikes are already on the edge, as they are rather heavy, but still doable.
I have never seen a single picture of a person carrying a Segway.
-
This is what I’m saying! Was it just 25 years ahead of its time? Or was it at just the right time, and we delayed the future by 25 years because we’re dumbasses?
the dollop story about the segway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoHIuZrqhSoor the cliff's notes version
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-segway-is-dead-but-its-technology-and-vision-lives-on -
@inthehands well we’re definitely dumbasses so I’m inclined to agreeing with you
@Nicovel0 @inthehands We're definitely dumbasses for not jumping on personal e-transit vehicles sooner. But the Segway really was/is dorky. Ya just stand on it and lean!? Plus they're kinda clunky looking. And how do you carry stuff? E-scooters are sleek. And e-bikes can be tricked out with all kinds of gear for hauling cargo.
The Segway was expensive and not practical enough. Although it looked like fun, maybe.
I'd rather ride a bike though. -
I periodically think about the hype around the Segway, how luminary types were over the moon for it in private demos but then the general public decided it was uncool, and think maybe actually the luminaries had it right and it’s the public that biffed it.
@inthehands
The original Segways were designed in deliberate arrogant ignorance of sidewalks specifically and how people travel from place to place in cities in general. Not safe in car traffic. Too big to take on subways. A hazard to others on sidewalks. Bike lanes barely existed in most US cities.
I recall Steve Jobs saying cities will have to be reinvented to accommodate them.
So ... nah.
I think the technology wasn't ready. It needed to cook another 20 years. -
This is what I’m saying! Was it just 25 years ahead of its time? Or was it at just the right time, and we delayed the future by 25 years because we’re dumbasses?
@inthehands @Nicovel0 The scooters must be vastly cheaper than the Segway. The price curve has got to look something like solar power’s.
Also, most scooters around here have you adopt a skateboarder’s posture, which we all know is cool. Standing bolt upright gripping handles is not cool.
-
(I also wonder how much social countermarketing petrochem slipped in to kill it. If that story’s known, it’s not known to me.)
A lot of replies accurately enumerate all of the very specific problems with the Segway at the time of release, and…
Yes, I get it, I’m old enough to remember! It was not at all ready for prime time! It was a flawed and expensive product!
…at time of release. That’s all true, and not my point. I’m not asking for a release post-mortem. Instead…
