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Old 08-29-2006, 02:54 PM   #1
Florida Ever-Glides
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Talking We've Been DRAFTED- By Segway Inc.

I just read on a recent Segway Inc. press release that Segway marketing is going to be focused on two areas. They want to get as many people on the Segway as possible; either through their Dealers or from Guided Tours.

I think this is great, but I sure hope that they mean ALL tours, and not just the Dealer/Tours. The majority of tours are operated by independents who put their heart and soul into their business day in and day out. They have no poential 'conflict of interest' because they don't sell Segways. I believe that the Dealer/Tours have a primary responsibility to SELL Segways and the tour is just a way to pay the bills along the way. It's not a secret, it's business. Most stand alone tour operators have only one focus, to make their tour experience a memorable one, without any quotas...

If I sold Segways as a Dealer many of my customers would assume that my enthusiasm is just a 'front' to sell Segways, and not genuine. I obviously love the technology and have probably sold hundreds indirectly over the years.

I hope the folks at Corp. will show the foresight to invite the independent tour operators (who are among the best in this business) to join hands with Corp. to 'excite the world' about the technology and how the PT can change their lives. Most, if not all of the independant tour operators would be happy to join Segway Inc. in their marketing effort and help make the Segway a success. Alienating the indepentant tour operators is a waste of valueable resources...
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Old 08-30-2006, 02:32 PM   #2
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I would not hold my breath but you are so so correct. We give them more exposure to the public than almost any other resource.
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Old 08-30-2006, 07:17 PM   #3
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Monday, Aug. 14, 2006
The Segway Riddle

Dean Kamen's inventive vehicle failed to change the world. Now he's back for a second act
By UNMESH KHER/BEDFORD, N.H.

Changing the world isn't easy. It's a lesson Dean Kamen, the guy who invented the Segway "personal transporter," has learned the hard way. When he unveiled his self-balancing, battery-powered technological marvel (it seems a sin to call it a scooter) in 2001, Kamen predicted that cities would in the future banish cars from their congested hearts, and wildly popular Segways would fill downtown pavements.

Or maybe not. That scenario isn't even remotely likely today. And Kamen, who chairs Segway's board, has been forced to adjust his vision. "We didn't realize that although technology moves very quickly, people's mindset changes very slowly," he says. "People are very cautious, especially when it comes to the big issues."

Transportation, it appears, is one of those biggies. Though ceo James Norrod will say only that Segway has sold tens of thousands of personal transporters (PTs), and that sales are growing 50% annually, it's obvious — just look around — that Kamen's machine hasn't found much traction in the consumer market. Segway has, however, cultivated a few commercial niches to keep Kamen's company and his dreams whole. It has introduced off-road, police and golf models of its transporter, and thanks largely to its lobbying, 44 states now allow the PTs on pavements. Segway just entered the Chinese market, and its global sales are growing rapidly, especially in Europe. Foreign sales could account for half of all revenues next year, up from roughly 15% a couple of years ago.

Segway this week will roll out a slickly upgraded $4,995 PT, which it hopes will revitalize consumer interest. The new model is, predictably, a feat of engineering. It comes with a souped-up wireless key, which doubles as an alarm and display module. But the real breakthrough is the ride. If the first Segway felt intuitive-lean forward to go forward, lean back to stop and reverse, twist your wrist to turn-the latest models (the i2 and off-road x2) respond like they're controlled by mere thought. The secret is in its new control shaft, which has done away with the steering grip and now sways in sync with the rider to turn the device. The effect is akin to skiing, on cement.

Still, it isn't clear that such wizardry will-or can-do anything to change the firm's fortunes. The early adopters have already snapped up their Segways. Now the company has to convince everybody else that they need this thing. To help give people a feel for the machine, Segway has established a network of 102 independent dealerships operating in 116 locations across the country, many of which try to gin up business by running Segway-powered sightseeing tours. David Floyd, a dealer in Estes Park, Col., says about one tourist in 30 returns to buy a PT from his store. But his main business, he says, comes from the commercial market.

Segway's executives are aware that novel technologies rarely establish themselves first in consumer markets. "It's a chicken or egg problem," says Klee Kleber, vice president of marketing. "People won't buy it until their peers do, and their peers won't buy one until they buy it." Marketers call this treacherous patch of a new product's path to the mass market "the chasm." Companies typically cross it by getting a foothold in a commercial market until consumers grow accustomed to the technology. The pager, for instance, was used mainly by doctors before everybody else caught on. PCs, VCRs, GPS: each crossed the chasm as the price dropped and their utility became obvious.

Segway has identified the commercial security and police markets as its chasm-crossers. Today more than 150 law enforcement agencies globally are using Segways to boost the range, visibility and visual field of their beat cops. The Chicago Police Department, for instance, has 38 Segways, which cops use to patrol the airports and large public events. It will soon buy 20 more. "It's a low-key force multiplier," says Jonathan Lusher, senior V.P. at the mall security firm IPC International, which owns scores of Segways. "It allows us to have our officers in more places in less time."

By all accounts, Segway's commercial sales are picking up fast. But is this business sustainable? Curtis Carlson, ceo of SRI International, an innovation consultancy and research institute, has his doubts. Segways, he notes, are competing with established products, like electric golf carts, and stealing only a share of their market. Price is a problem, too. "Value is benefits per dollar," says Carlson. "For a lot of the world, a small lightweight bike is a good alternative to a $5,000 Segway."

Geoffrey Moore, a managing director at TCG Advisors in San Mateo, Calif., whose book, Crossing the Chasm, has shaped Segway's strategy, raises other concerns. There's simply too much "pain" associated with its use, he says, to make the gains derived from owning it seem worthwhile. Average consumers, he explains, will worry about such things as the etiquette of Segway use. (Where can it be driven? Or safely parked? Can it be brought into the office? Left in the lobby?) Though any one such concern is minor, he says, together they have a multiplicative effect. "It's like Gulliver and the Lilliputians," says Moore. "No one string was a big problem, but together they kept Gulliver down."

Even the security market, says Moore, won't save Segway. Novel technologies must offer a solution to a "broken mission-critical process" to get adopted wholesale. The PT, he observes, offers nothing of the sort. His conclusion? "Segway," he believes, "is a product destined to live in the chasm for ever." Moore suggests Segway consider putting its technology into other devices, and seeing if any of those are better suited to the mass market. And indeed, Segway is beginning to do something like that. It has developed heavy duty carriers called Robotic Mobility Platforms that it is pitching to the military. It will also be putting its Smart Motion technology in robotic toys it is developing with the toymaker Wow Wee Ltd.

Toys and niche markets? This is not what Kamen-who still owns DEKA Research & Development Corp., the invention factory where Segway was born-expected from his baby. And he has tempered his Segway spin, though he still asserts that most major cities will ban cars from their downtown districts in 10 to 15 years. "As people become more sensitive to the global environment," he says, "and as energy becomes more expensive, people will decide that Segway is a very attractive alternative for certain specific niches." He concedes that they may well roll along beside a variety of equally clean and effective transportation alternatives.

But Kamen, like many great inventors, is an inveterate optimist. "We don't need 50% market penetration," he points out. "The niche market for us is anybody with a set of feet. There are 6 billion of them out there. If 1%-or take 0.1%-of them get Segways, that's still 6 million people."


There it is . INC sees the problem.

You tour guys are the only ones that put the PT into the publics hands.

10 to 15 years !!

Alan

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Old 08-30-2006, 07:25 PM   #4
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2 years ago, someone from Segway Inc. sent me an email, saying they wanted to work with me, help out, see what I needed.
I wrote back but no response since.
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Old 08-30-2006, 10:02 PM   #5
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Over two years I got a letter from Dean Kamen (it is framed & hanging in the office) acknowledging the value of guided tours and mentioning for me to contact a new regional manager who worked out of Sarasota, FL. I spoke with him a few times but he never took the time to come over and see the tour operation or go on a tour as a guest. This is long before the immediate area had dealers. He didn't last very long with Segway Inc.

Recently Jason Barton at Segway Inc. had the chance to go on our tour, and I think he really enjoyed the experience and saw first hand the positive impact tours have on the general public.

Behind the scenes I think that Segway Inc. does appreciate what the independent tour operators do to expose the Segway in a positive light, but not having a dealer relationship, today they only maintain an 'arms length' relationship at best. I hope the day comes when we can all align together to bring the 'mass appeal' of the Segway to a fruition...

I think we need each other to make this work. Dealers alone, even the ones who try to operate a tour, do not complete the equation...
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