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Comment by jpwagner | Hacker News Reader

If you could flip a switch and the segway could go operate in the 10-70mph range, and flip it back to operate in the 0-10mph range, you could transition from street to sidewalk (vehicle to pedestrian.)

This would be worth the extra money and not be uncool.

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Even at 70mph you'd still run into the problem pg expouses - looking like an effortless dork.

As for this bit - "imagine something that worked like the Segway, but that you rode with one foot in front of the other, like a skateboard. That wouldn't seem nearly as uncool." - have you seen the Scarpar? It's only 35mph, but definitely, definitely cool.

http://www.scarpar.com/video.html

at 70mph, you'd look like a dork committing suicide.

are you serious? this may be what the segway needs. Extreme segway sports. If i saw someone going 70 mph on a segway, my first thought would certainly not be 'what a square'.

Thanks for that link - that looks incredibly cool!

It's cool and looks fun, but I can't imagine people doing city tours or Mall security on it - that is, it's not in the same market as the Segway.

This similar idea, though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm_2PnSkWck

... maybe. Looks a bit wobblier, but look at it in context - they are on a cycle path and they fit in perfectly well. Someone on a Segway would stand out quite a lot.

operate in the 10-70mph range

I had to laugh at the thought of a Segway doing 70mph. I'm all for taking risks, but have you ever done 50mph+ on just a moped?

But most likely illegal in most cities.

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