SJ Merc: "Sales of the Segway, priced at $8,500 each for now, have been anemic." [Scripting News]

The price-point on this has to drop for mass market adoption, down to the $2k range at least. Even for the SUV version with the beefier tires, battery, and power, it should not be more than $4k, or else they are going to price themselves out of the market.

I am looking forward to the stirling powered version of this, and I wonder if it will be able to go even faster.

What I find interesting in this article is that one of the investors only has a fiduciary interest in the balancing technology that has been developed, not in any other part of Kamen's businesses. I would live to see this tech deployed in cars, as it would serve to massively increase skidpad ratings, as well as smoothing out bumpy and or uneven roads. I know that similar tech has been around for years now, pioneered by Citroen, I think, and deployed in the Catera from Cadillac, but to see it in other vehicles would be very cool.

11:38:34 AM    

A Gadget King Lives by His Own Devices. Scott A. Jones has always liked the idea of being wired; his English Tudor-style home, outside Indianapolis, is dedicated to that idea. By John Leland. [New York Times: Technology]

Contrast this with my last post: This gentleman has a house that he is using as a testbed for a lot of the tech that I have gone on about. Touchscreen controls for the home systems, fingerprint biometrics for the doors. He's willing to live with the bugs in the system:

Locks with fingerprint sensors didn't recognize his children because their hands were dirty. "I've been locked out of the bedroom for a day," he said. "I've had no idea how to turn off lights in a room. Fireplaces won't go off. Gates open and close with a mind of their own. My maid had a horrible time getting into my bedroom."

In fact, he's got a CIO for his home to keep everything running smoothly. He also runs a set of companies that develops and markets the tech that he's living with. While the products are cool, they also come with a steep price, the 200 disc DVD manager is $7,500. I think I can live with getting up and walking across the room for that price.

Regardless, it is cool to see someone who is willing to make things better by really living with the tech as an effort to get it to improve.

1:12:11 AM