SEGWAY VS. RAZOR
We all heard the hype about Dean Kamen's Segway (née Ginger, née IT): It will indelibly alter our transportation paradigms! It will transform our lives more than the Internet! Now that we've seen it, four words come to mind: really expensive Razor scooter. Call it Kamen's worst nightmare, but we did the only logical thing - side-by-side test-drives.
NAME SEGWAY HUMAN TRANSPORTER
LIST PRICE $3,000 to $8,000
WEIGHT 80 lbs
CARRYING CAPACITY 250 to 325 lbs
TOP SPEED 12.5 mph
RANGE 11 to 17 miles
PORTABILITY Turns into a powered hand truck that can be yanked up a flight of stairs.
STEERING Moves where you lean, seeming to sense the direction you're going.
COLLISION CONTROL Backs up when you hit something.
SAFETY RATING Won't cause harm to body parts or objects it runs over.
TARGET MARKET Warehouse workers, postal employees, forest rangers, and eventually, urban dwellers.
UNDER THE HOOD A network of digital signal processors with gyroscopic sensors that monitors the rider's center of gravity 100 times a second.
CURB APPEAL I think, therefore I move.
NAME RAZOR-E ELECTRIC SCOOTER
LIST PRICE $400
WEIGHT 30 lbs
CARRYING CAPACITY 220 lbs
TOP SPEED 10 mph
RANGE 6 to 8 miles
PORTABILITY Folds up for easy carrying.
STEERING Minimal.
COLLISION CONTROL Motor stops automatically when you hit the brake.
SAFETY RATING Pedestrians beware.
TARGET MARKET Consumers, ages 16 an dup.
UNDER THE HOOD There ain't one: WYSIWYG.
CURB APPEAL Skateboarding for the geriatric set.
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