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Transportation Technology

Transformer-Style Scooter Lets You Ride Your Briefcase To Work 102

Posted by Soulskill from the pretty-much-what-meets-the-eye dept.
cartechboy writes "If you're going to sell a brief case for $6,000, there better be a pony inside — or at least an electric scooter. Who wouldn't want to transform their boring old briefcase into an electric scooter and zip off to (or away from) work? The Commute-Case, as it's known, is essentially a briefcase you can ride to work. While in briefcase mode, if you extend sections of the front and back, wheels, handlebars and a step for your feet pop out. In 3 to 5 seconds, your briefcase is now an electric scooter that can go up to 25 miles on a single charge and weighs 27 pounds. Don't count on actually carrying stuff to work with this briefcase (there's a scooter inside)."
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Transformer-Style Scooter Lets You Ride Your Briefcase To Work More

Transformer-Style Scooter Lets You Ride Your Briefcase To Work

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  • Briefcase!? (Score:3)

    by El_Muerte_TDS ( 592157 ) on Saturday March 15, 2014 @06:02PM (#46495297) Homepage

    Really... it's 2014. A Briefcase?!

    • It is a 27 pound briefcase!

    • Not everyone wants to look like a bike messenger. (re: real briefcases, not this thing.)

    • It worked for Iron Man.

    • "Really... it's 2014. A Briefcase?!"

      I wouldn't pay $300, much less the asking price of $6000.

      Heads up to potential buyers: have you ever hit a 1" rock with tiny wheels like that? Showing up to work with road rash on your face probably would not go over well.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AK Marc ( 707885 )

        have you ever hit a 1" rock with tiny wheels like that?

        Yes. It was a non-event. Perhaps you are unqualified to operate wheeled vehicles.

        Showing up to work with road rash on your face probably would not go over well.

        Have you ever ridden a scooter? You can run faster than that, so if you "crash" your scooter, you just step off. When you are pushing yourself you have one foot mostly waiting to step off at any point. So maybe there'll be a difference if you are resting both feet equally on a powered scooter, but I've gone over 1" obstacles without an issue. And even if I didn't roll over them without issue, were I on a scooter, I'd just

        • "Have you ever ridden a scooter? You can run faster than that, so if you "crash" your scooter, you just step off."

          Yes, I have, and rocks that size are a problem. You avoid them when you can for that reason.

          Besides, this isn't a scooter, and it's not as easy to just step off of it. There is a briefcase between your legs.

          I had an electric scooter. Fortunately, though, it had 10" wheels with pneumatic tires. Even so, a 1" rock could give you quite a jolt.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by AK Marc ( 707885 )

            Besides, this isn't a scooter,

            That says it all.

            The title says "scooter". The summary says "scooter". The article says "scooter". But you disagree with everyone and use unique definitions for all words. No real point when you either don't know Engish, or are being argumentative for the sake of arguing.

            • "The title says "scooter". The summary says "scooter". The article says "scooter". But you disagree with everyone and use unique definitions for all words. No real point when you either don't know Engish, or are being argumentative for the sake of arguing."

              It's NOT the kind of scooter you're talking about, like a Razer scooter or similar which don't put a big box right between your legs. That's what I meant, and I think it was pretty damned obvious.

              Of course it's a scooter, technically, but it's not a scooter LIKE most scooters on the street today, okay? The box between the legs is a safety issue if you want to "step off and run" like you suggested.

              Further, neither OP or TFA say how fast it is. The electric scooter I had went significantly faster than m

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by gl4ss ( 559668 )

              difference between a scooter and a motorbike generally is that the scooter has an open middle section.

              I commuted today to work on a rather normal scooter that goes up to 60mph..

              this(briefcase gadget) however is like a kick-scooter.. good luck commuting on one. or registering it. or finding subway walkways where it's legal to use..

    • Believe it or not, some of us actually enjoy looking serious. You can take your hipster bag and shove it up your girly ass.

      • Believe it or not, some of us actually enjoy looking serious. You can take your hipster bag and shove it up your girly ass.

        Just remember that some of us have been cycling (wearing a "messenger" bag) for *far* longer than it was ever considered "hip". Actually, I like the idea of this product, but the fact is that a decent folding bicycle weighs less (~22-26lbs) & can go much faster, (especially for athletic cyclists.) I wouldn't go so far as to suggest you "shove your [briefcase] up your girly ass," but picturing your post-suppository gait does make me chuckle.

    • Would it make you feel better if it were a messenger bag?

    • Don't forget about Mike Jittlov's 30mph Briefcase.
      It had a fun scene in the 1989 movie "The Wizard of Speed & Time".
      Yes, it was a prop, and yes, it was fully functional according to all the reports I've seen.

      So anyhow, these guys built one 25 years later and it's a bit snazzier. yawn.

    • Really... it's 2014. A Briefcase?!

      If I'm going carry a scooter in a case, it's going to be a guitar case!!

      Obvious username is obvious.

      Strat

    • Exactly! Given that even segways are an antique, I was thinking more of this:
      http://theonewheel.weebly.com/ [weebly.com]
      THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Except there are other variations lol. Plus it's only 21 pounds, not ugly, and 1/10th the cost. Nobody is going to drop $6000 on that. A folding electric moped or bike even costs less than that.

    • What a fantastic product. Lets see how I would use it.
      I have a flight to take, and I need to get there on time. Vehicle parking, waiting for the parking lot bus, etc, make for long pre-trips.
      Ergo, I let my wife drop me off, I take my "briefcase" with me, and I am on my way.
      I arrive at my destination, I wait for the baggage and take my "briefcase".
      Instead of renting a car, I convert it to a scooter. I am on my way. No fuss, no hassle, just on my way.
      I complete my meeting, (perhaps even charging the batter

  • I want a flying car that folds into a briefcase like George Jetson.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I want a flying car that folds into a briefcase like George Jetson.

      And I want Megan Fox on a solid gold bed, but that's not in the cards now, is it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      Which is what I was thinking. I must be old if the memes have changed that much. In any case transformers are weapons, not tool of productivity. What I want is a job where I go for 10 minutes a day, push some buttons, and get pain enough for an apartment, a car, and a robot. At this point I would be happy just to have enough expendable income for a rommba and a robomow.

    • How about a parasail?

    • I want a flying car that folds into a briefcase like George Jetson.

      Me, too.

      Other "prior art" occurs in the 1988 feature movie version of Jitlov's The Wizard of Speed and Time [youtube.com].

      See 1:05:25 throug 1:11:10

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mpe ( 36238 )
      I want a flying car that folds into a briefcase like George Jetson.

      Inch High: Private Eye is another Hana Barbara cartoon which depicted "modern technology" long before it came into common usage.

  • Great detective work (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ArcadeMan ( 2766669 ) on Saturday March 15, 2014 @06:41PM (#46495471)

    Don't count on actually carrying stuff to work with this briefcase (there's a scooter inside)."

    Either the built-in storage compartment doesn't count or Soulskill didn't even bother to watch the video.

  • You're supposed to ride this thing standing up, sitting on the handle or sitting at the back of the briefcase?

    At least it makes charging a breeze.

    Boss: Hey, why is your briefcase plugged into the wall?
    You: My work laptop is inside it and I don't want people to steal it, I'm protecting the company property, sir!
    Boss: Carry on, then!

  • Wrong price point, wrong demographic, wrong style (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ModernGeek ( 601932 ) on Saturday March 15, 2014 @06:59PM (#46495535)
    Business professionals such as attorneys and executives are the only people still using briefcases, middle management and your average run of the mill desk jockey might buy one of these as a toy, but not at this price point. You'd have to get it down to the sub-$500 level to hit that target market. This thing is defective by an order of magnitude on many levels.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by s.petry ( 762400 )
      I don't mean this to be a Debbie Downer, but...This is not a briefcase, it's just made to look like one. The storage space on here would barely hold a phone and a snack, there is no space for a legal pad or laptop. So if you are attorney you are going to either be lugging 2 briefcases (and this one is 27lbs unloaded) or more likely a backpack and this because at 27lbs it's unwieldy at best.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by s.petry ( 762400 )
        Before you correct, remember that there is a difference between Legal and Letter and they show a spiral notebook (letter) in the cargo space.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mpe ( 36238 )
        I don't mean this to be a Debbie Downer, but...This is not a briefcase, it's just made to look like one.

        It's a folding bike. So it would make more sense to compare it with other folding bikes. Both pedal and electric...
    • I was thinking this would make a great tool for an lawyer who might want to make a quick getaway. Too bad Linoel Hutz is no longer with us.

    • That thing weighs in at 27 lbs. That's a lot to carry around with one hand for us older folks who can afford a $6000 toy.

      As a point of reference, I recently bought a real scooter for $1400 that goes 35 mph, has a ton of storage, and doesn't look like a death wagon. I commute to work on it. It gets about 125 mpg.

  • I don't get it, it looks like a horrible scooter, a horrible briefcase, and a horrible travel case. It probably weighs a ton to carry, and it costs $6,000?

    This looks like an idea better left in a cartoon. It's not compatible with the real world.

    • This looks like an idea better left in a cartoon. It's not compatible with the real world.

      A scooter that comes out of a luggable case is a great idea. But if it has to cost this much then it's a non-starter.

      Maybe in a hundred years we'll have the battery and materials technology to do it for real. Or twenty, who can say any more.

  • and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard.

  • A Scooter would be "GoBot-style". *scoots away*

  • i could buy a good motorcycle

    there is no way i would spend 6 grand on a electric minibike that folds in to a briefcase

  • D&D (Score:3)

    by ed1park ( 100777 ) <ed1park@ho[ ]il.com ['tma' in gap]> on Saturday March 15, 2014 @08:32PM (#46495943)

    I'm still waiting for someone to invent a magic bag of holding!

  • If I remember correctly, Gobots was the one with kind of scooter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... [youtube.com]

  • Bad pictures (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jesseck ( 942036 ) on Saturday March 15, 2014 @08:42PM (#46495981)
    If they have a product, they should use actual images of those. Their homepage has fake pictures, done poorly. The man boarding a train? Probably not their market, and his reflection in the train clearly shows no "transformer" scooter. The lady in the airport? Looks like an out-of-place runway model, with unnaturally straight features. Man by the bus, he also has some unnatural characteristics. I understand using props for marketing, or prototypes. To do "press releases " with poor photos is bad form. Then again, I'm not sure who will use this product either, and if it exists beyond a designer's computer.
    • The discouraging thing is the one guy in the entire world who owns one of these contraptions is taking the train!!!

      • What is so bad about the train? Walk into the train station, get into the train, do wtf you want during the trip, walk out of the train into a different train station and city. That's pretty awesome and the closest technology we have to traveling by teleporter.

        Likewise, the other day I went to a postal office. Very little wait and I picked up an item from China that they had kept there for me.
        Yesterday I bought a magazine (an independant one, not cluttered with ads and tabloid crap), it feels like dual 4K d

  • Fake... (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Retailer: http://greenenergymotors.com/
    Price $6k (but atm its 50% off)
    Max speed is 12Mph (based on 1 mile per 5 minute claim) so 19.31kmph (fast run)
    All the images are Cgi/photoshopped I cannot see 1 pic of the actual scooter the group that also apprently collabrated with them on the design/build http://livingstonproducts.com/ has no images of the product either.

    Features include:
    Power and mounting for GPS type system or phone (And not enough power to power the device)
    Cup holder (where)
    Electronic Horn (but n

  • It's nice to know that Segway guys can finally point to something that would instantly make someone 12 times geekier-looking than a Segway ever could.

  • Mike Jittlov.

  • save $4000 and get a solowheel

    http://inventist.com/soloindex.php

    • save even more and just get one of those fold-able jobs and they come in gas or electric.
    • The Solowheel is actually not a bad idea: it has the right speed, range and portability. But it looks hard to ride, especially getting on and off the thing. Something that improves with practice I suppose, but I haven't read any account of anyone actually trying to use it daily. Reviews & videos are either Solowheel "pros" doing neat tricks and making it look really easy (after god knows how many hours of training), or faceplanting beginners. Anyone out there using a Solowheel as part of their commu

  • Did anyone think it looks like this? Going to work with an Osborne Personal Business Computer [computerhistory.org].
    Now too you can swing a bulky and extremely heavy "briefcase" around like it's 1981, pretending it's lightweight or you're so manly you can handle it like it's feathers inside.

    I don't know how it feels like, might be awesome but I would risk breaking windows or tripping on the ground in bad ways.

  • Tomorrows World a UK science show demoed a fold up suitcase car decades ago
    http://www.roadraceengineering... [roadraceengineering.com]

    • Ha! The page is still up.
      I managed to get him to bring that to a small meet we had in 2004 and there are some pics of it unfolding from the suitcase and a video of someone "driving it" here [microcar.org]

      If I recall the brief history correctly, Mazda engineers created this as a fun concept and then the sales force got hold of it and would bring it to shows and give rides on it until it broke (it was always a prototype and they should have used splined shafts for the driven wheel, but did not).
      Anyways, the thing would go

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Cool, but I'd rather see more companies just issue workers a cell phone and laptop, so they can telecommute from home.

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