Way to go, Spliff. SegwayChat's first poster! WooooooHooooooo(in the best possible way
).
My take on the Segway, as is, is that it is intended to be much more than a medical device. I can readily see its usefulness to all manner of service employees (postal, security, meter readers and meter maids, police, facility workers, airport workers....basically any job that requires lots of walking and covering lots of ground).
Beyond that the market is a bit murkier, for me. The price point hasn't yet been established, as far as I can figure. I hear $3000, I hear $8000, and I hear from Dupa that Bridge has mentioned they are aiming to get the price down to $1300.
Where it ends up, in the short and medium term, will dictate the extent it is embraced by the public. At $8000, I can't see what I would consider a broad acceptence. At $3000, the market broadens considerably. In the cities, especially ones where people actually live downtown, and near it, I could see them being adopted by urban professionals, at the $3000 price point. Also, at that price, I could see them being popular among the monied, especially those with property measured in acres.
At $1300, all bets are off, and I believe that the Segway personal model, as is, would be a huge hit, and start to give some credence to some (I say SOME) of the financial flights of fancy contained in the book proposal.
At any of the above price points, I do believe they would be popular among the retired in communities (my folks live in a place in AZ where the majority of people own golf carts, although there is no golf course. I would think the Segway will give the golf course as a community vehicle a serious run for its money). They would be popular with a wide variety of people who have trouble ambulating. Amputees, aged, people with motor skill issues, etc.