So this is "It", Ginger, ect... The mysterious personal transporter that made Bob Metcalf and Steve Jobs weak in the knees; around which future cities will be designed. I'm a bit underwhelmed. Maybe if they affix push-mower blades between the wheels, we can use it clean up that ornery strip between the curb and the sidewalk.

Next time Steve Jobs wants to pour millions into a project of dubious value, he can give me the seed money for that herbal meditation center in Jamaica I've been thinking of starting.

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"You'll burn for this. Burn in jail!"

The following quote is from CNN.com.

If that's true, being able to think forward or backward and have the device go that way, IT's lived up to every bit of the hype.

Looking a liitle deeper though, ABC NEWS says:

Which makes it seem more like an advanced sensory system which stabilizes the rider's center of gravity and uses that cg input to initiate motion. Not a bad little device, but not revolutionary.

Time will tell, I suppose.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

You'll all be using one in the end. Moh!

'Ski

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mentski.co.uk - Home of Rubbish. NOEL STILL LOVES YOU

Many things may be used in the end, but this doesn't look useful.

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet

I'll bet that within three months of this being released to the public some Yahoo drives one across the country.

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100 pounds of shit in a 25 pound sack.

They put $100 million into developing this. Why can't they put $100 million into developing a computer peripheral that'll give blowjobs? Now that would be useful.

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100 pounds of shit in a 25 pound sack.

That's ginger, alright.

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What others say about boorite!

Apparently you can buy a machine called the "suck-o-matic" that plugs into your car cigarette lighter and, ahem, sucks you off. It's supposedly for lonely truckers on long journeys. Oh dear.

No man would be happy unless it was a fully automated, realistic woman, who gave blowjobs, always orgasmed, does the washing up, and never argued.

And you know it....

(Hell, I do. Ahem.)

'Ski

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mentski.co.uk - Home of Rubbish. NOEL STILL LOVES YOU

quote:

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No man would be happy unless it was a fully automated, realistic woman, who gave blowjobs, always orgasmed, does the washing up, and never argued.

And you know it....

(Hell, I do. Ahem.)

'Ski

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New York to LA, averaging 8 mph with a range of 15 miles between 6-hr charges, figuring a sixteen-hour day, that comes to just... 92 days or so!

Hoping there's an electrical outlet every 15 miles in the middle of Northern Arizona.

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What others say about boorite!

No, not bad. I guess I was just spoiled by months of internet hype. After all, who wouldn't want thier own antigrav Ski-Do with optional death ray?

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"You'll burn for this. Burn in jail!"

Why this thing is not revolutionary: You can't use it on the street without getting pasted, and you can't really use it on the sidewalk, not in any reasonably crowded place, without bumping off pedestrians. So it has the same problems that bikes have, except you don't have to pedal it. Ever tried getting a city to build bike-related infrastructure?

What strikes me is that there are already efficient modes of transit, like bikes, electric cars, and even gas scooters. There's even this thing called "walking." Problem is that everything in the States is built around the 2-ton car and the eleventy-leven-ton tractor trailer, which will smash your alternatively-transported, tree-hugging hippie ass like a ketchup-filled Ziploc baggie.

What would be really revolutionary would be protected lanes for slow and small vehicles, and maybe some bike racks here and there. Real urban-planning type brain surgery there. And what was ever wrong with electric streetcars? They're just a stupid electric motor and handbrake, and they work great. I'd think we can be at least as smart as people in the 19th century.

These guys have some ideas.

These guys like bikes.

Hey, it's Personal Rapid Transit.

I get irritated when a corporation comes out with some doodad they can sell for a couple thousand bucks and calls that a revolution. I could've used a revolution during the 15-odd years I used a bike for transportation and was constantly in fear for my life.

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What others say about boorite!

My mates and I were thinking about getting this guy a blow-up doll for his birthday as a novelty gift, the shop we went to sold many "Male masturbation" devices, one was called (no shit) The Virginator and the blurb on the back of the box said "for discreet use in cars or on the train", I mean, come on, can you imagine sitting on a train and it gets delayed and the guy besides you discreetly whips one of these out and starts using it?

surely it would make a mess!

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Dad was flammable

The reason this is revolutionary over a bike, is that you can whack people with this easier than bikes and it'll hit harder too. Your neighbor piss you off? Last time.

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My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in. -Weird Al Yankovic

Here's some more details about how it works

I think it seems like a neat idea, but I still have some reservations. I would think that this thing, despite its fancy balancing mechanisms, cannot negate momentum. What happens when you run this thing into a curb or just need to stop suddenly at 12 mph? A hell of a nutcrackin' and/or your brains on the sidewalk is what I'm thinking would happen. And who is going to want to ride one of these things through snow or heavy rain?

I would like it better if it had a seat, restraints, and some protection against the elements. It would also be nice if it had a longer range so that those of us in the suburbs can use one. Heck, why not throw in a stereo, climate controls, some cargo space, etc. Hmmm. That sounds a bit heavy, so it would probably need to be four-wheeled and it will need a lot more power, so maybe I'd sub in a gasoline-powered IC engine instead of the batteries. Hey, maybe I should try to get a patent on this idea!

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"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

Good point. This is designed for us city folk, after all. And at 65 pounds apiece, you'll be able to toss a half dozen of these trendy toys in the back of your pick-up truck and be on your way to Freddy the Fence's warehouse down by the loading docks in no time flat.

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"You'll burn for this. Burn in jail!"

I hear ya. Phrases like "bigger than the computer" and "we'll build cities around this device" keep echoing in my head. I expected to be traveling home for Christmas next year with the words "Beam me up."

quote:

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These guys have some ideas.

These guys like bikes.

Hey, it's Personal Rapid Transit.

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quote:

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But when the technology arises making solar-energy powered cars function as smoothly as their gas-powered counterpart, you won't have to legislate change. People will be flocking to buy them.

I know I sure as shit don't like paying for gas.

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quote:

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You'll all be using one in the end. Moh!

'Ski

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You know it's funny, but as far as weight, that's really how it works. I remember as an undergrad me and a bunch of other students had to design an electric car. We'd notice our range was a little low so we'd add a battery. Then we'd notice our battery just added a little weight, so we'd add another battery. Then we'd notice that battery added a little weight...etc, etc.

EVs are a tradeoff between weight and range. The more range you want, the more batteries, the more weight, the less range, the more batteries...

Almost like god's little joke on engineers. (That and the pocket protector thing.)

I thought of that when I was writing it. I'd add that the science itself is a ways off as well.

But when the science is there, that choice, the choice of solar power over gas could be a turning point not only in how we treat our planet, but also in how society functions as a whole. It could be a catalyst to the StarTrek-esque dissolution of a monetary system.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

Commie.

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"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

Communists did it all wrong. They forced it on the people. Imo, capitalism is the correct system for the current packaging of homo sapien. It takes what we do naturally (be greedy) and channels it into a system where buyers and sellers merge, decide on a fair price, and both leave relatively happy. (Not an easy trick since the system's constituent parts are only looking out for themselves.)

But eventually, as humans evolve, our primary concern won't be on material things and making sure we have a better lawnmower than the Jones next door. It will be on improving ourself and our minds. And when that day comes, I'll be the first to burn my wallet.

Taking my picture of wirthling out first, of course.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

Ever the aesthete, the thing that shits me most about IT is the trendy mis-spelled name - "SegWay". Call it a fucking "Segue" and slap a TM on it, for goodness' sake. I remember an idiotic (but expensive) home computer course, being sold on infomercials about a decade ago, called "Komputer Tutor". For fuck's sake... if you can't spell "computer" I'm not trusting you to teach me to use one.

*ahem*

I think that the SegWay is pretty cool, though. I saw the blueprints online ages ago, and thought the whole thing was a scam. I looked at the picture and thought, "How would it stay upright?" - not realising it was chock full of gyroscopes.

Gyroscopes are funky, but that's another story.

Practically speaking, I think the SegWay's two big problems are that its range is far too short, and its price is far too high. I realise that the price will drop if it proves to be popular, but you could buy a damned good second hand car for the price of a basic SegWay, and that just isn't right. Come on, it's a pile of plastic with an electric motor and wheels. How on earth can they justify charging so much for it? I get the feeling the marketing costs have a lot to do with the price.

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This signature has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down.

You miss the whole point of it. You can now have:

What's a SegWay?

About 5 kilos.

Just try doing that when some dumb American asks:

What's a seg-yew?

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ken.kaufman@gmail.com