A Hypothesis On Segway Hate 487
theodp writes "Admit it, IT is ingenious. Also, IT is surprisingly effective for certain uses, including real cops and mall cops. And if you tried IT, you probably smiled to yourself. So why all the Segway hate? Paul Graham looks into The Trouble with the Segway and offers a hypothesis about what prompts people to shout abuse at Segway riders: 'You look smug. You don't seem to be working hard enough.' Not that someone riding a motorcycle is working any harder, adds Graham, but because he's sitting astride it, he appears to be making an effort. When you're riding a Segway you're just standing there. Make a version that doesn't look so easy for the rider — perhaps resembling skateboards or bicycles — and Segway just might capture more of the market they hoped to reach."
Re:Or maybe... (Score:4, Interesting)
I bought an electric scooter to use on the journey to work, and then after using it a couple of times, realised I'd be a lot better off just walking so as to get some exercise (and it's the best decision I've made for a long time - even since I started driving to work again I have kept up with doing a bit of walking in the evenings and weekends).
Sure a scooter is pretty fast on flat terrain with, but seriously I don't see the use in such a cumbersome device for a cop or mall-cop. If they are chasing someone they are bound to have to get off the thing at some point, and then will be so unhealthy for having not walked anywhere for a year (exaggeration of course) that they won't be able to catch up..
I don't hate it (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't hate it. I just don't see the point. It seems to try to fill a convenience gap somewhere between walking on one end and bicycles or scooters on the other. At least for me there's simply no gap there to fill.
The main reason I've seen for Segway hate (Score:2, Interesting)
The main reason I see that people dislike Segways is that on crowded streets, operators of Segways try to use the fact they are on a motorized vehicle and at a taller vantage point in order to force people out of their way. Its similar to being on a bike and bumping a pedestrian with the front tire so they see something bigger than themselves, which prompts an instant reflex of getting out of the way.
This is the exact same reason mounted police are excellent at crowd control, people tend to move out of the way for objects noticably taller than they are.
Re:Or maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)
I bought an electric bicycle for much the same reason. As far as I am concerned it is the best way to get around within the small city I live in. My Ducati is too fast to comfortably drive within the city. Finding a parking space for my car is frequently a pain. The electric bike gets me into the city in minutes, it park anywhere and on all but the hottest of days I get where I am going without soaking myself in sweat... often in similar or less time than using my car. I'm using this experience to engineer an ultra-lightweight electric motorcycle for the city.
Down the street from me is a place which teaches kids gymnastics and unicycles... Watching them, I think an electric unicycle would be a blast!
Re:Maybe if they could stand up to the hype .. (Score:4, Interesting)
Next on Slashdot: reports of overwhelming Zune hate. The reason that prompts people to shout abuse is "they look smug and cool and trendy. iPod crowd just can't stand it".
Re:like motorcycle riding? (Score:3, Interesting)
But I think my answer is the inability to perceive the utility of the thing. A motorcycle has speed. Even a very low powered scooter can do 30mph. The idea that people want to get from place to place considerably more quickly means I can see why you want one.
A 12.5mph Segway just doesn't seem fast enough to justify the cost. It gives the impression that the owner is a lazy rich guy. Maybe it's just envy, but it seems like a hell of a lot of money to spend to go a little bit faster.
Re:Segway-ers, rollerbladers, skaters, (Score:4, Interesting)
I think anyone who owns a dog or who has taken their kids out for a stroll in a carriage can relate to what you wrote.
The problem, I think, with rollerbladers and skaters is one of scale. If you're a normally functioning biped going about your business, someone travelling at speeds highly disproportionate to your own (or making a helluva lot more noise than you make as skateboarders do) can only be characterised (from your perspective) as somewhere between a danger and a threat.
Cars even more so. Walking your dog or and having cars drive by at 25-30 mph can be acceptable if there's a barrier, or enough distance separating you. Someone speeding by at 35-45 mph, on the other hand, will most likely elicit an extreme reaction from you. The guy in the car, of course, doesn't care and doesn't notice as he considers himself perfectly safe from you.
Segways typically don't speed, and they don't make a lot of noise, but they certainly share much in common with what we perceive as threats: something bigger than we are and something which is capable of moving faster than we move. Practically speaking that means they don't belong on the sidewalk, or anywhere people gather or walk normally. And because a slow-moving object on a roadway is also a threat, they certainly don't belong there. That essentially leaves them with nowhere that's appropriate.
Doesn't help that we tend to view mechanical devices generally with suspicion, and Segway owners specifically as oddballs. That's not to say that Segways themselves aren't interesting.
Re:Or maybe... (Score:5, Interesting)
Its not easy to begin with but you don't really need to worry about banging your head, the natural movement as soon as you start to totter is to just step off onto your feet and I've never heard of falling to the ground. I think probably because your hands are not holding on (when you panic learning on a bicycle, your hands will grip tighter which is exactly the wrong thing to do as it focuses your weight above the centre of gravity :). Shin guards are definitely a good idea though..
I used to ride a unicycle a couple of miles to work and just pushed it under my desk when I got there. Going up hills is ridiculously easy (the steeper the better you can zip right past bicyclists) but going downhill can be hard on the legs unless you get good enough to freewheel (foot on tyre as brake). If you want to get good, get a smaller wheel and find a unicycle hockey group to join.. (20" is maneuverable but 26" would be better for commuting)
Actually, very dangerous. (Score:1, Interesting)
If a bicycle hits a low barrier, it has a chance of riding over it, because the front wheel is so big.
The Segway I rode had a label with a strong warning about danger.
Segway hate?? Rather Segway admiration! (Score:2, Interesting)
You don't look smug ... (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't know why they let cops who can't seem to run faster than 12.5 mph out on the streets at all.
Re:Or maybe... (Score:5, Interesting)
That only explains why we don't all get one, not why we despise those that do.
Personally I think it's because it just looks silly / "gay". Some, like TFA, might argue that this is the result of intrinsic aspects of its design. I suspect that it is a more than sufficient combination that
A) We are not used to seeing it
and
B) It does not, unlike, say a motorcycle, exude power to counterbalance that unfamiliarity.
I believe if the regular bike was introduced today, reactions would be much the same.
Re:My hyptothesis (Score:3, Interesting)
it wasn't the marketing that made it a geek toy, it was the price tag and the utter uselessness of it. ("Look, we made it stand up on its own, using gyros!" "why?" "Buy one!")
Ridicule is different than hate (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Or maybe... (Score:5, Interesting)
Apart from being insanely expensive you can't ride it legally in most places, neither on the sidewalk nor on the street. And, oh - did I mention expensive? Nah, it's not that, it's how it makes you look...
Oh yeah, don't forget the incredible hype before the thing even came out. You know, how It was going to change the way cities were designed and It was the most revolutionary thing since the invention of the wheel. Yeah, it must be how it makes the rider look. /s
People hate the Segway because of the over the top, ridiculous pre-release marketing. The Segway is an interesting device, but it is a niche market. It is not a "world changing" device.
Re:like motorcycle riding? (Score:3, Interesting)
Seconded. Plus, a spirited ride on your average sportbike (which, incidentally most of them weigh north of 400lbs these days) can actually give you a pretty decent upper-body workout from the leaning, control and the constant movement in it.
It's funny... there's this attitude that riding a motorcycle is easy but it's coming from people who've never actually ridden one. I ride one most days during the year, even down to a few degrees above freezing (or sometimes below if there's no ice on the road) and love the fact that it gives me a feeling of exhilaration that my car just doesn't and allows me to do a little spirited riding and thus get a little bit of exercise before I melt into my cubicle for the day :)
Oh, and on-topic... yeah, I've ridden a Segway before. It was interesting, but only from a purely technological perspective. It's too big to be useful on the sidewalks of most cities I've ever been in, and too slow to actually do anything useful like... ooh, I dunno... go somewhere? Hell, if I even want to run to the store for a few small items I'd actually be far more likely to take my motorbike because between a backpack and my panniers (I ride a Kawasaki Concours 14) I can carry a hell of a lot more stuff than the Segway. So where's the point, again?
Re:Or maybe... (Score:5, Interesting)
No, it's not an effect of the hate, its an effect of the fact that you're not generally allowed to drive motorized vehicles on the sidewalk, and driving something whose top speed is 12 mph in the street isn't safe.
Re:Segway-ers, rollerbladers, skaters, (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, to get anywhere, those 3 lanes have to cross. Repeatedly. And interserctions are where most incidents occur.
How does the grade separation handle a cyclist going straight through, and a right turning motor vehicle?
Re:Or maybe... (Score:1, Interesting)
.... well, that and the fact that you look like a dork riding one. No seriously. You do. It's not smug, it's just stupid looking. There's absolutely no way around it. The girls giggle at you (not in a good, half flirty way), the guys scoff at you, and other people buy a motorcycle for the same price getting considerably more range, speed, fun, and looking much less stupid. There's just better options available for the same price that don't make you look like a tool.
I've ridden a Segway (Score:1, Interesting)
I have been lucky enough to operate a Segway twice in my life. The first time, afterward for about a half hour, I was all, "I have to get me one of these." It was an amazing experience. Then my pragmatism reasserted itself and I thought, "but where, why, and when would I use it?" And so I still bike to work and am Segway free.
Re:Or maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)
T really could have been a game changer. I'd totally take one to work... I live about 12 miles from my work which is too far to ride a bike comfortably as it's up and down hills and my work doesn't have showers...
an electric assist bike would have worked for you for around the $695.00 mark. I can ride one over the same commute you do without breaking a sweat at an average speed of 15-20mph. charge it when I get there and it's ready for my ride home.
Works great, my buddy's bike I tested has a huge hub motor in the rear that can actually accelerate my fat butt without me helping the pedaling so it can sustain a 25mph speed without a problem up and down hills. That's why he bought it. Cheap huffy-$99.00 Electrify that huffy at a bike shop $600.00
so he spent $4.00 more that you were willing to.
Re:just get a bicycle (Score:3, Interesting)
Except for the physically handicapped, except for people (like mall cops) who must spend about as much time stopped as going, Segways are not that useful. They're not as fast as bicycles; they're not as good with bad roads as bicycles, they cannot be easily carried if disabled, they don't go anywhere when they run out of power (how do they behave if you run them through a foot of water?), they're wider than bicycles, they don't give you any exercise.
Re:Or maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)
The "too wide" issue came up when I was borrowing a friend's Segway when the same friend borrowed my car, and left it ~4.5 miles away from where I thought it would be. I'd taken the Segway for a few rides before, all less than 1 mile and only on little neighborhood roads.
This time, I was going down a main street between Oakland and Emeryville. Since Segway + traffic scared the bejesus out of me, I was trying to stay on the sidewalk most of the way. I came up on an area where there was a phone pole on one side, and a low concrete curb/planter divider on the other, and the overall gap between was about 6" bigger than the Segway itself.
I approached the gap at full speed, and started over-correcting, since I"m not that great of a Segway driver. I cleared the gap, but was sort of 'fish-tailing' on the other side and lost control, which resulted in a collision with a parked SUV on the road, and a slightly bruised shin. The mostly-plastic Segway didn't damage the vehicle, but I instantly got an ear-full from the middle-aged black lady who was sitting in the driver's seat, telling me how ridiculous I was for riding such a dangerous thing out at night.
Re:Or maybe... (Score:1, Interesting)
Why do cops use horses for crowd control? They can make people move out of the way. It is probably similar with the Segway.