IT -- A mysterious invention code-nmed Ginger is projected to replace cars (?) and transform society as we know it.

Details will be revealed Monday, Dec 3, 2001 on TV's Good Morning America.

IT is not medicinal, will affect cities, the environment, conventions, old money institutions and trains of thought.

www.TheITQuestion.com

GI ??

(Sorry, no links. Somebody is going to have to teach me how.)

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 02, 2001

Answers

Associated Press

(A related) document said IT represents the first generation of a new mode of transportation that will compete with and possibly replace automobiles.

... According to (inventor Dean) Kamen, his device will be an alternative to products that "are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities."

Some are convinced Ginger is a scooter; others think it flies.

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 02, 2001.

Sounds like horses.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 02, 2001.

Ummm...I'm really gonna have to wake up before I hit the submit button.I missed the word "replace".

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 02, 2001.

sounds like horses...um.....

PORCHES?

oh nevermind

-- =) (cin@cin.cin), December 02, 2001.

I recall a thread about this on one of the old forums. Perhaps someone will post a link.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), December 02, 2001.

"IT" is a system kinda like an electric wheelchair but is balanced on two wheels by a gyro system and allows the person riding it to stand up rather than sit. Thata way they can reach the top shelves in stores and be at the same height as walking people. I hope "it" is cheap, in 5 days..ooops make that 4 (Dec5) I go in for major surgery to repair the physical problem which has prevented me from standing or walking (or sittting normally, with my legs down) more than 20 minutes at a time without pain and swelling in my left leg. Hopefully I willl go back to being my old hyperactive self who never sat down for more than 5 minutes at a time.

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), December 02, 2001.

I hope your surgery repairs what has been ailing ya Cherri and that your recovery is swift, keep us posted.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 02, 2001.

The upright gyro-wheelchair hypothesis has been popular because that is something Kamen already has registered patents on. But with an inventor of his genius, there's a good chance IT is a departure in a new direction.

After all, first Edison invented an electric light. Then he invented a whole slew of electical generation and transmission devices to create an electrical industry. It was a pretty strong trend. Then he invented a hand-cranked phonograph and motion pictures!

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), December 02, 2001.

It's obvious. "IT" is an anti-gravity device and a perpetual-motion device.

-- (roland@hatemail.com), December 02, 2001.

Here's an advance preview pictue of IT from tomorrow's Time Magazine article. IT can run for a full day on five cents worth of electricity. Still, the secret is, what is the motor? It's looking like the Stirling semi-perpetual motion engine is still a good bet. Kamen's NH company registered a website using Stirling as part of the domain name. Nothing up on it yet, though. How exciting!!

from Time Magazine

-- (Just an@anonymous.one), December 02, 2001.

CBS news reporting IT has a top speed of 17 MPH. A consumer version will be available in about a year for $3,000. A commercial version for USPS will be available earlier, cost approx $8,000. Still no one saying what the engine is...

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 03, 2001.

Stirling semi-perpetual motion

?????????????

-- (lars@indy.net), December 03, 2001.

It LOOKS unremarkable. Promises much. You plug it in the wall, later go to the mall. 15 mile range per day on an overnight charge up. Stand-up scooter -- you think forward, it goes forward. (Well it interprets small movements.) has computers in it. The website was talking about some folks placing orders on a product not yet available, but commercial-industrial applications will be tried out first on small basis starting in weeks, including a police dept.

Differeny keys provide different speeds. Does that mean cops will have a 15 mph scooter and citizens a 10 mph version? Will we now have scooter jackings like car jackings? More vulnerable than an enclosed car, but definitely more mobile than plain walking.

"Magical sneakers" says Kamen.

I liked the other breakthrough presented on the Good Morning America show. Provigil, a mild pill available NOW that can keep you awake for a couple days with little side effect, excellent for narcolepsy, multiple sclerosis, parkinsons sleep dysfunction and promising to assist a more widespread populaion. Including long range military missions and bomb runs.

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 03, 2001.

Segway Human Transport

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 03, 2001.

So it will take me an hour to get to work? Lovely

So how am I supposed to get back?

-- (cin@cin.cin), December 03, 2001.

I saw the show. Cute gizmo. Certainly not a replacement for cars. Maybe of value in large office buildings or factories. Of no value in present form for handicapped people since you can't even sit down in it. Didn't see it climb stairs either. Provides no protection against weather.

-- (lars@indy.net), December 03, 2001.

Maybe it's my optimistic way of looking at things but I envision a whole new world of possibilities with this technology and imagine the car industry people are scrambling to get their share asap.This excites the livin' hell out of me, now I know it's not a warp drive but let your imagination run with it, think of all the possibilities.IMVHO this is a new dawning of technology that will superscede the present variety.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 03, 2001.

I'm an optimist, as well, Capn, but I don't see benefit in this device beyond what Lars has already stated. It seems to me like a lazy person's alternative to a bicycle or scooter. Like Lars, I like to be able to sit down. I can do that with a bicycle. I can even affix a basket at the front to carry groceries. I also needn't worry that if I scratch my nose, I may turn the damn thing in the wrong direction.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 03, 2001.

Mr. Garrison's device on South Park was better.

-- (what@i.think), December 03, 2001.

Really? I would have thought the benefits were apparent and I guess as with anything new there are naysayers but the technology alone is priceless when you look at it on a grander scale.I think it will be adapted quickly in metro areas and by specialized organizations, once it begins to saturate the market and costs come down I can see alot of the general population having one.

As to the issue of extra cargo space:the website mentioned a cart to go along with the Segway.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 03, 2001.

Some day in the distant future, the Walker families will be joined in the phone book by the Scooters.

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 03, 2001.

Provagil (ABC News)

-- (lars@indy.net), December 03, 2001.

Earleier discussion on UWWW: What is IT??

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), December 03, 2001.

-- seeker (searching@low.and.high), December 03, 2001.

Perhaps I’m just being an cranky old fart here, but IT looks like one of those brilliant but irrelevant inventions to me. Other than as a novelty, and to have fun, who’d want one? Want something that can go 10 or so miles an hour at minimal cost in good weather – might I suggest the bicycle. Want something that can go somewhere comfortably in rain or snow and carry things – might I suggest the automobile.

And, who’d bother with IT at a price of $8,000 (now) or even $3,000 (hopeful future estimate).

So, your thoughts – why would you or anyone pay that much money for an all terrain skate board?

-- E.H.Porter (just.wondering@about.it), December 03, 2001.

I don't think it serves any useful purpose other than to give incredibly lazy people a way to be even lazier. I imagine some of the CEOs, Vice Presidents, and Supervisors in factories and large offices will use them to sneak up on unsuspecting employees, but they really should just walk. The excercise will do them some good. Just another toy for the yuppies to play with that consumers and taxpayers will end up paying for and some people will probably even be laid off in order to pay for them. Pretty disgusting actually.

-- seeker (searching@low.and.high), December 03, 2001.

To be a trend setter and have the latest "gadget"? Because you are an extreme environmentalist and want to make a point?

I don't know E.H., I think your question calls for an analysis of human behavior and I'm not sure the true answer is there to be found. God knows why any of us do any of the silly things that we do.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), December 03, 2001.

P.S.

Speaking of unfathomable human behavior, Porter, don't you kind of miss KoFE?

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), December 03, 2001.

Police Officers in Two Cities Will Put Scooters to the Test

By Pamela Ferdinand Special to The Washington Post Saturday, December 8, 2001; Page A02

BOSTON, Dec. 7 -- As pedestrians strolled through Boston Common in mere sneakers and ice skaters whirled around on ordinary metal blades, police officer Vincent Stancato zipped along today like George Jetson on a space-age scooter known as the Segway Human Transporter.

"It's easy," he said, stepping down from one of the two-wheeled, battery-run contraptions. "There's no reason why any officer couldn't use this as a means of walking his beat."

Just days after renowned inventor Dean Kamen unveiled his latest brainstorm -- touted as a technological milestone, but greeted as something of a gimmick -- police here and in Kamen's hometown of Manchester, N.H., announced they will try out Segway HTs to determine the feasibility of scooters for law enforcement in urban environments.

The scooter, which weighs up to 80 pounds and can travel 17 miles per hour, relies on gyroscopes and computers for motion and balance. The industrial model costs $8,000; a consumer version is expected to sell for $3,000.

The scooter could be used to patrol busy areas such as Faneuil Hall, Stancato said. Officers would have to jump off the machines to apprehend a suspect, he said, but there would be benefits in speed and visibility for officers.

-- (taxpayers to be @ fleeced again. by lazy cops), December 09, 2001.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/12/07/segway/index.html

Some guy in Salon calls IT a way to make Americans walk even less than they do now. Interesting article....I agree with his hypothesis.

JC

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), December 10, 2001.

I am thinking about how to have sex on a SHT.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), December 10, 2001.

nem,

one person has to drive, so that's definitely a rear-entry situation. no reason why it shoudn't work though. if those things can support big fat lazy cops they should be able to hold 2 normal people.

-- good idea (sex @ 12. mph), December 10, 2001.

Nemesis, I volunteer to help with the scientific study.

-- Pammy (anything@for.the advancement of science), December 10, 2001.

They would be a big help for people who can barely walk and seniors who's walking causes them pain

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), January 01, 2002.

-- (fat cops getting fatter @ taxpayer's. expense), January 01, 2002.

I think they should have a "bar" that surrounds them, to be clicked into place so they can use they angle of their body to stear them, thus freeing their arms. They may cause some to think lazy people would use them, but look at all of the "lazy" people who sit in cars to go short distances now! At least they would take up less space and save an awful lot of unnecessary pollution.

Not to mention, once again, they would help people who can stand but have a very difficult time walking, like the little old ladywith her walker that slows you down as you are strolling through the crowd at your healthy fast pace (which ticks you off for slowing you down). No need for a healthy walker to get one, unless they just want to be lazy, and anyone who enjoys walking would not want one. As for the Police using them, if itadds to public safety for them to whiz through crowds of slow people to get a perpitrator, it's in the interest of public (your) safety for them to use them.

But then people complained about the advent of the horseless carriage and personal computer also....

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), January 02, 2002.

We have a lot of "park and ride" lots where people will drive a mile or two from home, park their car and take the metro. It would make sense to have a secure parking area for "it", maybe a locker to put it in to keep it out of the weather and keep it from being stolen, then on to the Metro to work and back. It would be convenient for short trips too far to walk and too polluting to justify. We have bicycle racks on the fronts of most of our metro busses here, if they could put on racks for "it", that would be cool too.

My youngest brother(47) has been in a whellchair all of his life and until the busses were made wheelchair accessable he was pretty restricted. Now every night he plugs in the chair to recharge it.

"IT" would not necessarally replace going the long distances cars do, but for short distances, especially for some groups of people, it would give them a certain amount of freedom they don't have now. I cannot see how a healthy person could justify using one if they were able to walk or ride a bike that distance, but for those who can't... It sounds great.

Kinda like those little electric carts a lot of seniors use these days. One of them sure would have made movement a lot easier and less painful for my Dad during his last years

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), January 03, 2002.

I hate fat cops, they should have to be in excellent shape to get the job. Those cops on those scooters are just going to get fatter and fatter, eating donuts and never walking. It just gives the criminals a better chance of getting away. All they have to do is run over some curbs or around some bushes. The fat cops would have to get off the scooters, then they would be so fat and lazy there is no way they could keep up on foot.

-- (pigs@oink.oink), January 03, 2002.