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Comment by tmuir | Hacker News Reader

"all I could think was that this will change how we interact with our cities."

Anyone else reminded of Dean Kamen's predictions for the segway?

This is a bit different, I believe. Segways just do not look cool, and you would be kind of embarrassed riding one, unless you really don't give a fuck what the world thinks. These on the other hand are cool enough that you are ride them without looking like a clown.

Interesting fact: in Prague there are people offering sightseeing tours on Segways; it seems to be quite popular there.

I think Segways are great for sightseeing tours, and I've done (and enjoyed) a couple on my travels. Segways basically created a new way to sightsee.

I can't imagine how tours would be able to operate 12-15 mile 2 hour "walking" tours otherwise. You're able to see a significant part of a city from eye level without a huge amount of physical effort.

There's tours like those in quite a number of big cities, including San Francisco. Whenever I was in the city, I'd see them all the time.

I've seen that in the States as well. Pretty much the only time I've ever seen Segways "in the wild".

Unfortunately, this device could run into the same legal issues the segway did. Since it's a motorized vehicle it is technically not allowed on sidewalks in many jurisdictions. But I also wouldn't feel nearly as safe riding this on the side of a busy street as I would on a bike. Hopefully forward thinking cities will come up with a legal solution because it's definitely a more practical mode of transportation than the segway.

Having riden mine in traffic, it's actually pretty reasonable to ride in a bike lane. Cars give a wide berth and are usually paying a lot of attention because it's unusual for a skateboarder to be able to ride alongside cars at bike speeds.

If the Segway was about a thousand bucks, way smaller, and more thrilling to ride... well, I'd buy it.

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