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0 pointsAdamH121133y ago0 comments

It is impossible to overstate just how much the Segway (then called "Ginger" or "IT") was hyped up during its secret development period. Bob Metcalfe said it would be bigger than the internet[1]. Steve Jobs said it would be bigger than the PC, and that cities would be redesigned around it[2]. Jeff Bezos was on board[3]. Dean Kamen, the inventor, was going to be richer than Bill Gates[4]. No one knew what the big deal was going to be, but it had to be something incredible with all those names behind it.

And then the announcement came, and it turned out to be a glorified electric scooter with a silly name and a $5,000 price tag.

Strangely, none of the big names involved seemed to suffer any reputational blowback for what now seems like outright lying in service of someone else's hype campaign.

[1] https://www.computerworld.com/article/2801380/dean-kamen-s-b...

[2] https://www.economist.com/taxonomy/term/34/14587780?page=293

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/04/engineering.hi...

[4] https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2001/01/27/ginger-in...

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5 comments · 4 top-level

gjvc3y ago· 1 in thread

excellent summary. how those people got roped in to give those opinions on the record, i'll never know.

cwillu3y ago

It was the style at the time: everyone wore an opinion on their belt.

tdeck3y ago

I remember this as a kid, boosters talked about the Segway the way they talked about Google Wave - something almost unexplainably amazing and transformative. There's even an onion video making fun of this years later:

"Do You Remember Life Before The Segway"

https://www.theonion.com/in-the-know-do-you-remember-life-be...

dekhn3y ago

I recall this because I was reading about it on slashdot during the "secret development period". Later I worked with a guy who rode one around and everybody thought he looked like a pompous ass on it.

Johnny5553y ago

cities would be redesigned around it

If that actually happened, then maybe the Segway would have taken off. San Francisco's core downtown area from North Beach to Mission Bay is only around 1.5 miles, with a Segway you could get from one end to the other in 5 minutes - faster than just the wait for a train or bus. Or from Ocean Beach to Union Square in 30 minutes, again faster than the train.

Of course, commute hour would have been a mess with a hundred thousand segways trying to commute to downtown.

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