Segway's Brilliant New Strategy? Leasing!
from the that-all-you-got? dept
Yesterday, people were talking about how the latest in a long line of CEOs for Segway is desperately looking for a "liquidity event" of some sort. Of course, for that to happen, it would help if more people were, you know, actually buying the damn balancing scooters. Apparently, someone among the Segway braintrust realized that it's a pretty tough sell when the vehicles cost about $5,000. So, their latest strategy? Leasing! Yes, it only took the company about five years to recognize that financing might make sense for pricey vehicles. Of course, among their long line of chief executives, there once was a former President of Subaru America who had planned to set up a dealer network similar to the auto industry. You would have thought the idea of dealer financing might have occurred back then as well.
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leasing
I didn't even get an auto response!
They deserve what they get.
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Re: leasing
I contatcted the folks at Seqway and suggested we set up a rep relationship where I would lease to, (that's where the dough is anyhow, in financing,) to municipalities, Malls, sporting events and big companies like Boing but that I would need to have price protection, so that folks couldn't go around me and lease directly from Segway. They wouldn't give me the price protection.
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These guys thought they were going to change the w
Nobody told them that standing for long periods with your feet together isn't comfortable, and that the human body was BUILT for long walks.
Trading the flexibility of walking ad-hoc where you want, for even a fairly efficient 5000 dollar machine isn't idea for most people.
At some point, they realized what they really had was a great PLATFORM for building stuff onto. Robots, medical aid equipment, moving tools, whatever.
Strange though, they don't seem to have sold many for that either. I guess they're just too proud of the their toys to actually sell any.
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That's why God made SUVs
Heck... we were designed by god to sit in our SUV and anyone trying to change that is crazy. Just accept it, we replaced walking with the SUV, our legs are now vestigal and we get plenty of exercise on our ass driving down to the video store.
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Re: That's why God made SUVs
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Jesus...
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Finally
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Doomed
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What we really need ...
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Re: What we really need ...
I think there was a pretty cool wheelchair designed with similar technology some time ago It had four wheels, but also had a central pivot between the front and back pair, so it could rotate and balance on two wheels to reach things at standing height and could even climb some stairs and kerbs by changing the rotation of the wheels and rotating the central pivot. Pretty cool, but way out of the reach of most of the people who would have found it useful.
No idea if it ever came to market or passed the safety tests if any exist. Given all the computer gear built into it, I doubt the battery life would have been long enough for anything but short trips.
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Re: Re: What we really need ...
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Re: Re: What we really need ...
The iBOT is the product you are referring to...
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there is a wheelchair: the iBot
Seems the company and its founder are good and well at creating things - just terrible with the execution.
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Re: there is a wheelchair: the iBot
So imagine if Honda sent three of their engineers to your house when you bought a new car, and they spent two days showing you how to drive. Great customer service, but really....they could have saved a pound of cure if they'd done an ounce of product design.
But Kamen's problem is that he regularly doesn't realize that people aren't as infinately wealthy as he is (private island), nor is every commercial device able to sell at the same price point as medical equipment (portable insulin shot - Kamen's claim to fame and big money maker).
The guy's a great engineer, and not a bad marketer, but he's a crappy designer. Problem is, he won't hire anyone who is. Otherwise someone would have said, "Wait...$5k alternative to walking that hurts you when you go over a curb, goes slower, is prohibited in many areas, and is bulky when not in use?"
Also: you can cut the cost of production by 90% by adding a third wheel right in the front. Maddox illustrated it best: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=segway_more_complicated_than_it_needs_to_be
Kamen still follows the .com business model.
1) Invent cool technology
2) ?
3) Profit! IPO! Private Jet!
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uh huh...
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but a motorcycle
And you can't look nearly as geeky, or as lazy.
Mind you for the pre-teen coolness, either does well with tassles on the handlebars.
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Re: but a motorcycle
No decent motorcycles are limited to 12.5mph, either.
Between the "IPO" idea and this, it's pretty clear what "IT" really is: a failure.
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Americans Have Tons of Belly Fat Energy
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Segway in City Traffic
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lower the price
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where to park?
so WHERE do you store those things?
If you don't have a garage, then in the house but how do you get it into your house if you have steps?
Did anyone tried to lift that thing?
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Re: where to park?
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Re: where to park?
No parking hassels. It great.
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utopia
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How to get into the house?
EL-E-VATE.....El-E-VATE.....
Oh wait, that was TV. Never mind.
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Should look at past
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Re:
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Re:
Have you not gotten it through your thick skul that we're in a free country?
Now, here's the choice for MOST americans:
Take the SUV, or (in this case) take the Segway to work. VERY few are going to EVER take something that you must exert energy and arrive sweaty to the meeting at work. Just not going to happen. GET OVER IT!
Now, people still have daily routines as they SHOULD but excersizing for transportation in the 21st Century just doesn't make sense...
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Segways9
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Leasing might allow pedestrian rentals
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Re: Leasing might allow pedestrian rentals
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There is a wheel chair
They harped on about it failing during a stair climb and dumping the passenger. They seemed to overlook the redundant systems that prevented that.
Innovation and a lot of people suffer at the hands of our govt. "protecting" us.
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How to render the Segway obsolete
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Re: How to render the Segway obsolete
Hah, I was just thinking about that page. The problem is that adding a third wheel would actually break the functionality of the segway in a bad way.
Try standing on a dolly and have someone push it. Goodby cocyx. The problem is that it's almost impossible to intuitively shift your weight so that your center of mass is still over the accelerating base. Your feet will fly out from under you without months of training (see: unicycles).
Segway's one big trick is that it doesn't move forward until you have correctly shifted your weight. Without that, it's impossible to have a usable vehicle with a base shorter in both dimensions than your height. Once you have a small base, you can then treat the vehicle like a pedestrian in ways you can't with a bike. You can get in elevators with other people, you can park it in the corner of your cubicle, and you can travel more than 2 miles to work in summer without having to take a shower to avoid offending your coworkers.
As a piece of technology it's great. Cities are generally not built for it, so few people have reason to buy it, so cities won't change to accomodate it because it's not prevalent. Stupid vicious cycles. As a product, it's hard to sell and costs too much, so it may never get a chance to really shine. Sad.
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Re: How to render the Segway obsolete
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stairs...
They have fairly large wheels and a nifty feature that lets you ease the throttle with the handlebar (usually meant for turning) to power up a flight of stairs. They have a blurb about it on their website: http://www.segway.com/segway/model_i180.html
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Be Kind
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Be kind.. .was with you...
I am considering getting one as a toy, but the biggest problem remains price. Even at half price, 2,500 is out of the range of most people. Leasing might be a good idea for warehouses and places like that. I worked at a warehouse years back that was 5 football fields side by side and they used bicycles. Its not a smart corporate move to replace a $200 bicycle with $5,000 Segway. The higher end one with li-ion batteries (which should be standard) cost up to 5,500. As for getting up stairs, I have read many have something called stair assist, don't know what it is offhand.
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I can just see the insurance company loving it,
Segway insurance: For Those Collisions That Matter, "we care".
Can Americans get any more lazier.
Damnit... myy wirrelesss keybboard and mousse neeeds too be rechargedd, aw man i have to get up now.
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Take care all...
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Re:
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So Many Misconceptions
Segway (the company) and Dean Kamen were not responsible for the hype surrounding the device and the inevitable lackluster response from the public. (People were expecting hovercraft?) That was the public/media/Internet's own (un)doing. (Spoiled children; all of us.)
The technology involved wasn't even available 15 years ago. For a version 1.0 product, it's remarkably well-engineered and put-together. Obviously, $5,000 is too expensive; they intended to debut them for $2,500, but the lack of sales, legal expenses, and factory-building necessary to meet potential demand (40,000 units/month!) sent that price skyward. Had they sold, they likely would have dropped to ~$1,000 or less.
After you've ridden one for a while it hits you: this little 83 lb gadget is carrying your fat 200 lb ass up/down hills for up to 24 miles @ 12.5 mph on a relative energy consumption of 450 miles per gallon with zero emissions. Your awareness shifts; you see how utterly lazy and impratical it is to drive a 2500 lb box around in traffic, cut-off from your fellow man.
It wasn't meant to replace walking; it fills the gap between walking and driving. While that isn't necessary in many parts of our world, why does it bother you that someone else might have that need? Because you don't like the idea of eating sushi other people shouldn't too?
I ride my Segway out of my apartment, down the elevator, and 4 miles to work each day; it takes 25 minutes. Bussing takes 30 to 45, walking is 60, biking's ~20 but leaves one sweaty. Driving my Subaru WRX STi is almost as fun as Segwaying, but takes the same amount of time and costs a lot more.
Did I mention it's fun? Remember how you felt when you first rode a bike? It's even better than that!
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Segways are for faggots
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Very cool machine, but too pricey.
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Ignorance
Why do you think these are a replacement for walking? Did it ever occur to any of you that perhaps, just perhaps you don't need to lug your 4 ton SUV to pick up a roll of toilet paper? Maybe a Segway would make more sense than driving on some occasions.
Let me repeat, not a substitute for walking, but a substitute for driving at times.
Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
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Re: Ignorance
Why do you think these are a replacement for walking? Did it ever occur to any of you that perhaps, just perhaps you don't need to lug your 4 ton SUV to pick up a roll of toilet paper? Maybe a Segway would make more sense than driving on some occasions.
Let me repeat, not a substitute for walking, but a substitute for driving at times.
Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."
For 1/5th the price of a segway you could buy a really nice, faster, bike and you could build some muscle while you're at it.
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Segway still has some legs
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Segway into an EV-1 !
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Leasing
Really had they done this from the beginning, who knows how many segways they would have collected on by now.
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re. Bing
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A foot and a half
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fun helper
I say, if these will help the environment and me at the same time, I would use the money for a segway instead of a big screen tv and chance looking like a 60 year old retard as long as I can breathe.
Too many advantages for me not to save and get one.
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