IT UNVEILED

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Dec 3, 2001

'IT' Unveiled: Inventor Ready to Reveal His Highly Touted Innovation

By Jim Krane The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - The nation is finally learning what "IT" actually is.

Capping months of rampant speculation about his mysterious and much-ballyhooed invention, Dean Kamen was set to unveil the Segway Human Transporter on Monday, a one-person, battery-powered scooter that supporters say will revolutionize transportation much like the automobile did a century ago.

Kamen and his backers have big hopes for the agile Segway, saying the scooter will displace awkward, polluting cars, leading to a realigned cityscape that is more people-friendly.

The Segway, initially known only as its codenames "IT" and "Ginger," "will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy," Kamen told Time magazine for Monday's edition. "Cars are great for going long distances. But it makes no sense at all for people in cities to use a 4,000-pound piece of metal ..."

Kamen holds roughly 100 U.S. patents. His other inventions include the heart stent used by Vice President Dick Cheney and a wheelchair that can climb stairs.

Kamen said the battery-powered device requires little electricity. Kamen's Manchester, N.H.-based firm DEKA Research and Development will oversee production of the machine.

The two-wheeled Segway, which looks like a cross between an old rotary lawn mower and a Razor scooter, travels at a top speed of about 17 miles per hour.

According to those who have ridden it, the scooter is difficult to fall from or knock over due to gyroscopes that work to keep it upright and discern where the rider wants to go. Speed and direction are controlled by the rider's shifting weight.

Riders stand upright, facing forward over the invention's single axle, navigating with a bicycle-like handlebar. A single battery charge can propel the scooter 17 miles over level ground, with each hour of charge providing power for two hours' use, Time reported.

The U.S. Postal Service, General Electric and National Parks Service will be the first customers to purchase them, buying 80-pound heavy-duty models for $8,000 apiece, according to the magazine.

The Postal Service plans to test 20 Segways on mail routes in Concord, N.H., and Fort Myers, Fla., starting in January, in hopes of enabling carriers to cover more ground, according to a report on The New York Times' Web site.

The City of Atlanta plans to use several dozen starting in February in an effort to reduce emissions and traffic congestion, the Times said.

A 65-pound, $3,000 consumer model won't be available for at least a year.

Kamen, who said he withheld information on the Segway until he had finished filing related patents, is an accomplished inventor and recipient last year of the National Medal of Technology, awarded by President Clinton. Kamen's previous inventions also include the first portable kidney dialysis machine.

Kamen was scheduled to unveil the scooter on ABC's Good Morning America. ABC's parent company, The Walt Disney Co., has sponsored Kamen's robot-building competitions for students.

From the time plans for the machine were first leaked to a Web site called Inside.com almost a year ago, tantalizing but vague mentions of the project kept the device in a controlled state of pent-up hype.

Corporate luminaries who'd gotten sneak previews described the machine's impact as "as big as the PC" and "bigger than the Internet."

Others have labeled the invention as a bunch of hype.

Time said its article's author was given license to shadow Kamen for three months, on condition of secrecy. Other publications, including the New York Times, were given advance information on the project in return for pledges to secrecy.

The Associated Press was offered an advance look at the invention on condition it did not release the information until an hour before the Good Morning America broadcast. It turned down the deal.

---

On the Net:

http://www.dekaresearch.com/

AP-ES-12-03-01 0246EST

This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAX3BHZRUC.html

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001

Answers

I am very confused here, but am also blonde..... I watched the channel 8 news last night, or else the channel 3 news...anyway, they said "IT" was this thing like a vcr....that you could pause it and everything, only it worked on live tv???

Did anyone else see this???

Soooo what is IT...really?????

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001


A scooter.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001



-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001

The $64 question is whether this thing will save people a lot of time, when everything is taken into account.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001

You'll be able to get to your car faster, if that's what yer asking.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001


Another question about the Segway Human Transporter (SHT) is whether ownership will be seen as cool or dopey. SHT jokes are already appearing.

Actually, though, there is a class of people who won't care whether it's seen as cool or dopey. These are people who walk with difficulty. Two of the women closest to me have had really serious bunion surgery. One of them has a metal plate in her foot. And it's a real drag to drive their cars to do every little errand, sometimes having to spend time searching for a parking spot and then having to walk a goodly distance.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2001


SHT.

Our SAR thought of it first.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2001


OG: Why am I not surprised.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2001

The guy in green looks cool riding it. the ones in the blue vests look dopey.

If you own one, IT's cool. If you don't, then anyone who does is dopey. Or at least dopey lookin' when they ride it.

Eventually IT will be sitting in the garage.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2001


Nope. It'll end up like exercise bikes and treadmills--something to hang clothes on.

SAR was the first one to use "SHT" as an abbreviation for the "Science, Health, Technology" category. She didn't realize what she had done until people posted things like, "why is that shitty?"

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2001



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