Okay, I'm at my local bestbuy looking for a can of compressed air so I can try to clean the innards of the motor on my electric motorcycle. Walking through the store I see a Segway ride by but it barely registers. I find the air, go to the checkout, see a plaque about Segways ... and ...
http://www.7gen.com/blog/20081005/24937-segway
Seems there's a trial promotion going on where Segway's are being sold at selected BestBuy stores around the country. Somehow they picked the one that's in walking distance from my house.
I didn't take a test ride .. think I'll go back when I have more time. In any case I've ridden a Segway before.. about 5 yrs ago at the first V is For Voltage Antigravity gathering (the 'V is For Voltage' moniker has a long history...) ... There was a couple Segways at that gathering, and I rode one, and out did G.W. Bush's experience with the Segway (that is, I didn't fall off it).
They're really cool scooters, a lot of fun to ride, etc. I remember being excited and trying to think of how to raise the $4500 to buy one, but after awhile I realized they wouldn't be too practical around here. Maybe I'm wrong but here's how I thought about it.. my commute is 10 miles, and it's unlikely to be a great experience to be standing for the time it would take a Segway to go the 10 miles. It might work to take the Segway onto a mass transit like the light rail train. But the size/shape of the Segway doesn't seem that it would be compatible with taking onto mass transit. Unlike the bicycle that I take onto mass transit all the time.
Ive always been quite skeptical of the Segway.
They seem to be deliberately designed, not a replacement for the automobile (which would be welcome) but as a replacement for walking - which is not step in the right direction (no pun intended).
The huge resources that Segway put to work - hiring lawyers and lobbyists to push for new laws in hundreds of localities legalizing the use of Segways on sidewalks, only deepened my suspicions.
Aside from perhaps a few occupational applications like large manufacturing plants or security guards, Segway always looked to me like an inappropriate technology that is working overtime to manufacture a demand.