Known as the Segway Human Transporter, these two-wheeled personal electrical scooters were once thought to be a world-changing innovation. Tech luminary Steve Jobs once thought the scooter would be as big of a deal as the PC.
Unfortunately, the self-balancing scooter never really gained the traction that was expected after its 2001 launch. The electric-powered scooter relied on a series of tilt and gyroscopic sensors to maintain its balance as riders zipped along at a top speed of up to 16 km per hour.
Now, Fast Company on Tuesday reported that the brand’s current owner is retiring the Segway personal transporter line as we know it. Manufacturing at its plant in Bedford, New Hampshire, will cease on July 15, the publication says. With the cease of manufacture, a total of 21 employees will be let go. A small skeleton crew is to remain to handle various duties like warranties and repairs.
Segway never really gained much traction, Fast Company says, due to safety concerns. The scooters were built with multiple backup systems in place to take over if another part failed.
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Unfortunately, while this meant that drivers were safe, the scooters became very expensive. Segway never sold the number of products that they were hyped up to. In fact, another factor for the company’s dwindling sales was that Segways were so well built that they barely ever broke and owners rarely needed to fix or replace them.
Their design didn’t evolve much over the years, either, which led to even fewer owners upgrading.
The scooters did become popular in law enforcement, security companies and with tourism groups where Segways could be rented to take sightseers on leisurely drives across countryside or cityscapes.
Segway’s creator, Dean Kamen, sold the company in 2009 and hasn’t been involved in its operation since. Tech Spots writes that Chinese mobility company Ninebot acquired the firm in 2015 and plans to continue to build products other than the scooter using the Segway name.
Edited by Luis Monzon
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