Segway: An overpriced mall cop ride

it was bound to happen and it just happened last june segways president miss judy kai announced that the company was utterly seizing the segway pt production or as it was initially named the segway ht for human transporter a pretentious name for a futuristic device that came with high hopes back in the 2000s yep the new millennium was all about technological dreams and optimism and the segway became the hottest tech product in 2001 even before anyone knew what it was some believe that it would revolutionize urban mobility make the last mile transportation more efficient redesign cities and other such high aspirations but you know how this show usually goes that glorified scooter that mall cops and tourists ended up rocking around some cities is officially on its road to extinction this is company forensics [Music] segway as you can recognize the segway transporter never really took off but it originally planned to sell as many as 100 000 units in the first year dean caiman the creator of segway reportedly forecasted that by the end of their second year they would be stamping out 10 000 machines per week the man was a dreamer reinventing the wheel by that time he was already a consolidated tech entrepreneur who had several patents on medical devices such as the insulin pump used in portable dialysis machine and the all-terrain electric wheelchair known as the ibot the gyroscopic motorized technology that allows balancing on the segway came from the development of the ibot it was a sturdy electric wheelchair capable of self-balancing lifting its rider rolling through tough terrain and climbing stairs during the development of ibot cayman realized that they had something bigger than just an accessible device it was a transportation technology that could impact society more broadly so they started working on the dream and around a decade later came up with the segway but far from those 10 000 units that cayman had projected to be producing weekly they only ever sold around 140 000 vehicles total in around two decades by 2009 he had already sold the company to a british firm backed by the investor jimmy hesselden whom we will remember again later in 2015 the beijing firm 9 bond acquired segway and developed iterations of the device along with others that it continues to produce like electric scooters and other personal vehicles despite its fates the truth is that the segway transporter caused unparalleled hype and anticipation in the tech world and the media before it even launched an overblown leak months before the device was presented to the public there was no shortage of speculation about it fantasies would be a hydrogen-powered hovercraft a magnetic anti-gravity vehicle and other imaginative things of such nature even south park took a shot at it and you know that can only mean spot on nasty parody yes the segway was being mocked even before it was released this fever sparked with a leak that came out on a website in early 2001. it was about a book written on the development and financing of ginger the segway project code name the alleged author of the book didn't reveal what ginger was but his narrative included over-the-top statements from some of silicon valley's mightiest lords about it reportedly steve jobs himself at the invention would be as big deal as the pc maybe bigger than the internet even said john doerr a venture capitalist who also predicted segway would reach 1 billion dollars in sales faster than any company in history his fund backed it up with a 38 million dollar investment the hype was genuine and you can see how it turned out not so great for segway expectations were set ridiculously high among the public and probably nobody wanted to settle the hype with something like an upgraded scooter a marvel of technology still the segway worked beautifully and the technology was impressive to experience almost magical according to some testimonials and yet we can't blame those who were well unamused when they finally got eyes on the segway on tv after all the build up check out part of the unveiling of the device on the good morning america show in 2003 do we have to do something here or does it it does it by itself but looks can be deceiving despite its simple appearance the technology and segway was pretty impressive it was a cluster of aviation great gyros and accelerometers sensors batteries and sophisticated software all linked by a set of computers that monitor the rider's center of gravity more than 100 times per second to maintain balance while moving around the rider drives it by just shifting his weight forward or backward and steered by pushing the handbar left or right rolling at speeds of around 12 miles per hour it was a complex bundle of hardware and software with no brakes no engine no throttle no gear shift and no steering wheel capable of carrying the average rider for a full day on only five cents worth of electricity is it safe according to a senior official from the consumer product safety commission back then the segway had safety features far more substantial than normally seen in a consumer product features closer to those associated with medical devices so yes it was safe but it also had wheels and motors and that means accidents were pretty much inevitable also naturally as more segways made their way to the streets more accidents were bound to happen according to the annals of emergency medicine between 2005 and 2008 the george washington emergency room in that city's hospital started receiving more segway injuries than pedestrians struck by cars of course you can find funny segway fault on youtube but some incidents had lesser laughable outcomes than those among the most iconic slips involving segways are former us president george w bush falling while riding one at his family estate or the infamous cameraman that ran over olympic gold medalist usain bolt in a more tragic event the segway was involved in the death of jim hesselden in 2010 yeah that british millionaire and philanthropist that acquired segway only a year before passing away plunged into a river while riding the device near his home in west yorkshire apparently after maneuvering to make way for a pedestrian a consumer market of one beyond safety concerns the adoption of segway by the end consumer the real interaction with the city pedestrians cars crossroads was a huge gray area for everyone the police didn't quite know how to deal with it when the first one started popping up soon it was evident that the unique vehicle required special regulations and then the bureaucracy began different states dealt with it in different ways with somewhat mixed results and segways road to the cities looked long and bumpy somehow cayman hoped this process would happen more organically just by having more segways rolling out there but when you think that cities have struggled even to embrace bicycles which have been around for a couple of centuries you can imagine the issue isn't that simple knowing this cayman first managed to close deals with the corporate and institutional markets police departments in different cities as well as the postal service national park service and other corporate clients were the first ones to adopt segway cayman hoped that if enough police departments and other public and corporate entities adopted it it would be natural for consumers to take it as well that's both bold and naive but on top of regulations and safety concerns the segway had yet another problem for the consumer market it was expensive the release price was around five thousand dollars making it more of a luxury gimmick than a commuting workhorse another business mogul who reacted to the segway in its early days jeff bezos did express that he saw the potential for the device in the corporate market amazon itself was among the first segway buyers and implemented them in some fulfillment centers but he was more reserved about its insertion in the consumer market at amazon we didn't know at first and nobody knew whether people would want to buy books online and the same is true for whether people will want to write these he said on time magazine on that story it's told that bezos and cayman once met in seattle for a demonstration of how segway could improve employees picking productivity in warehouses as the amazon boss tested the device and raced madly around the warehouse hooting and flapping his arms someone yelled jeff what were you saying about the consumer market rolling past bezos shouted back there's definitely at least a consumer market of one but now we know there was a consumer market of around 140 000 people so bezos was closer to reality and still today 20 years into the new millennium the dream of a transportation revolution remains just a dream thanks a lot for watching we hope you enjoyed this episode of company forensics make sure to subscribe hitting that big red button down there and we'll see you next week [Music] you

Channel: Slidebean

Views: 173,236

Keywords: Segway, segway failure, segway company, what happened to segway, Segway company, segway story, segway stroller, mall cop ride, segway crash, hoverboard, segway ride, Segway PT, segway pt crash, company forensics, slidebean, Slidebean CEO, Caya slidebean, Segway HT, Segway human transporter, urban mobility, startup company, startup stories, startups explained, segway pt

Id: HIz0g4gRwfY

Length: 9min 20sec (560 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/redbananass]

Didn’t the guy who invented it use the money he made on the Segway to fund his clean water work in developing countries?

[u/akurei77]

It's almost a shame they didn't take off more. He mentions that there was trouble integrating them into cities, and like he said, bikes already had that problem and still do.

But more recently we've had electric bikes, electric scooters, the boosted board, and hoverboards all being hampered by the fact that most cities still have no place for small personal vehicles. Most places just tell you to use the road. And from personal experience I can say, that feels mildly suicidal.

[u/Meior]

They have their place. Cops in Sweden have started using it for inner city patrols, to enable them longer patrols without needing to stop, and to reach further out in the city. Plus, they're faster on the Segway than on foot.

Here is one of the first cops to be part of the Segway teams in Stockholm, he's a cool guy!

[u/darkenseyreth]

I was actually seriously interested in buying one until I saw the price. As a mid-20s guy still getting on his feet back then, nearly $7k in early 2000s Canadabucks was just too outside my realm of purchase when I was making less than $11/hour and dealing with the new realities of paying rent and bills on my own. Then I just sorta forgot about them.

[u/Smagjus]

A local retirement home adopted them. The first time I saw a group of pensioners on Segways I felt like I was in a science fiction movie.

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/AmateurHero]

I feel like the information towards last 1/3 of the video actually highlights the problems, while the title and thumbnail are clickbait.

Segways were never made to be pretentious. Manufacturing costs kept them at a high price that kept the general public from adopting them. Since the public couldn't afford them, cities never adapted their infrastructure for them. That likely wouldn't have happened regardless of adoption rates, because cyclists still struggle to find safety in cities.

[u/Lovely_Ol_Coconut]

Mall Cop 3 the Segway

[u/minnesotaris]

Quality content. I think he really left out the public perception of the device. The hokey image of people on Segway tours of cities, all wearing helmets, wearing Gap clothes. It is a cumbersome device that sort-of replaces walking, but not at all. Paul Blart did not help. It seemed like the most people reacted to it was, "Huh, there it is." The public infrastructure for that between walking and a bike did not and still doesn't exist.