Quote:
Originally Posted by gbrandwood
I believe these are approximately half the cost of a new i2. Assuming they were available to purchase in our regions (and were legal), would you sacrifice the redundancy, looks and maybe some other features, for the reduced cost? I'm assuming that these devices do not have redundancy. But, to be honest, I'm not sure I have ever needed to utilise any of my PT's redundant features.
I would guess if they were both available from the same store in the UK or US, these vastly cheaper units would find their own market. Would they outsell the more expensive i2?
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How would you know if you used the redundant safety features of your segway? If it worked, then the failure of the first system would have seamlessly been supplanted by the back up feature, and you would continue to glide along, never the wiser...
If that back-up feature did not work, then you would know by the face plant...
I suspect that like all systems, there are capacities for momentary gaps or failures, that seeming self correct, or go back on line after a second or two, or even a reboot... Not all failures in complicated systems, and I would wager that the tiny minority of them, result in a mechanical repair of some sort...
Furthermore, how many high profile accidents or failures will it take to change the already tenuous legislative environment for the negative? As I see it, asking a non-familiar person to believe that a segway is safe is asking for a leap of faith. It is saying that I know you cannot see how it works, and you do not have any previous track record, nor any other device that can show you it works the same way, but you can believe us that it will not fall over...
Now, you introduce a machine that may or may not have a tendency to act as they think it should, instead as we say it will...
We all know that the one 'OOPs!' can erase 10 'attaboys', but this would be even worse... This would be one picture that would be broadcast constantly on you tube, go viral, with a million naysayers all shouting "I told you they could not be safe!"
This is very different than a video of someone doing something stupid, and getting his just results... Those videos do exist, but even skeptics can understand that if you do that which the manufacturer specifically says not to do, you may have a problem... Even if the problem is rare...
But, as my first point goes, how do we know that a machine without the safety standards we are used to, will not fail in normal operation, and therefore be available to be filmed failing, when not being used improperly?
The unique thing about safety systems, is that you cannot see them until they fail. The lack of having them will impact you in ways you may not have foreseen...
As to your point about price, you are correct. Many will make the same assumptions as you, and buy the cheaper. And if that happens, I hope they work, or we will all suffer the consequences...
Think of it, officials cannot differentiate between our lithium batteries and other ones. (and there is science and labeling to help) Why would they be able to tell the difference between a safe segway and a knockoff unsafe one?
The concept of knock-off copy is not a new one, and China is not the first place to do it... And sometimes it actually improves the field, by driving the top to innovate, and improve to stay ahead of the copies... But if the field is too small and tenuous to start, I have to wonder... I am old enough to remember the Japanese cars of several decades ago, which were clearly copies of other peoples car designs... But they perfected their craft, and eventually, their cars became better than the ones they copied... I wish this is the future that I see for the Chinese copies of the segway, but I cannot get my imagination to see that... I see a grab for some bucks, and then a fade away... I hope I am wrong...