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Old 01-29-2013, 12:25 AM   #25
KSagal
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pelham, NH, USA.
Posts: 10,356
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner SegwayFest Attendee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbrandwood View Post
...
As I read the words pink elephant I visualised that - same for the red and white zebra. But that does not leave me thinking they exist. Do they?

Pictures, words, videos, actions... can all be powerful and persuasive, but that does not mean all pictures, words, videos and actions are persuasive - at least not for everyone...
You missed my point.

You did think of a pink elephant. You did think of a red and white zebra. Neither exist for real, yet you had those images in your head.

My point however, is that you did not even consider a grey elephant, did you? (Be honest)

You did not even consider a black and white zebra, did you?

That is my point. And, even if you did think of a proper elephant or zebra, these are very common images we can all come up with.

The general public however, has very little exposure to actual segways in the wild, we talk about that all the time. They have very little exposure to segways doing the right thing. (The grey elephant)

Because of all this, the only image that is quick to come to mind, are the video images that are offered up time and time again, like the ones offered in the discussed video.

That was my point.

If you only offer negative images, and do not offer nearly as many positive images, the minimally educated (on this topic) public will pull the images they have seen. Even if we depend on people who know very little about segway to determine in a vacuum that almost all the images they have seen about segways as not representative as to how segways act, it is a dicey proposition.

I know what I am speaking about. I taught skydiving for a dozen years. The segway is not the only thing on the planet that has people who have never experienced it making constant decisions about it. Who do you think could make a better assessment about anything, a person who has done it, or a person who has not?

I do not know if you have ever jumped from a plane, but I am sure you have heard many people who never have tell you all about it, how dangerous, and silly or negative it is. They ignore the fact that statistically, the argument could be made that it is more dangerous to drive to the airport than it is to jump from the plane.

Segways are not different. If we present only negative images, we will get negative impressions...

Maybe I should explain myself differently...

If you go to a skydiving site, a skydiving enthusiasts site, you will get testimonials about how much fun it is. You will get information about how it is more safe than people may think, and it needs to be carefully considered, but can be done thousands of times well and healthfully. You will not get collections of people having accidents.

Same here. For the most part, we have posts about how much fun segways are. We have posts about how well segways have helped people both with mobility, but also with fun and pleasure. All that is good. That is why I think that a collection of fails is out of effective context.

eJM said it directly. Before he bought his segway he saw lots of negative images, and had to decide to buy and try the segway ANYWAY. How many people are going to see all that and decide to do it anyway? I say far less than more.

It would be like a skydiving site selling the concept of skydiving by telling you that many people die, but you might not, so come and join us. That just does not make sense to me.

If I were that poster who bought his segway for himself, and his bride, and she knew nothing about it, wouldn't it be nice to have a site to bring her to that has positive images of segways? If he brought his bride to this site, and her first experience with images of this segway she knows nothing about was that video, would it be better or worse for her segway buying hubby?

I suspect that it would put him in the doghouse more than not.

There are lots of other places to go to see people trash and lie about segways. I prefer not here.

But don't get me wrong. I NEVER said it should not be here. All I said is that I do not appreciate it. This goes into the range of tolerating it is the same as endorsing it, in my mind. It is the same as when you said it should have subtitles, because it was misleading. For me, it is the same as having a lie on this forum go unchallenged. Many turn the other cheek, or ignore the lie. I choose to refute it. That is all.

I feel most of us generally agree that it is not representative of most segway experiences. Our difference is in how we deal with that.
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Karl Ian Sagal

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