Weren’t we supposed to stop walking and driving and startusing Segways instead? Despite all the hype about this newinvention, it remains just a toy?and an expensive one, atthat. They’ve been purchased by a few post offices and bysome businesses with large warehouses, but that’s about it.One problem is that most municipalities have made it illegalto drive a Segway on either the street or the sidewalk.
Segway inventor Dean Kamen, who became famous for inventingan electric wheelchair that climbs stairs, dreamed of aworld in which commuters used Segways to “drive” to work atthe civilized speed of 12 mph, but despite a lot of earlypublicity, few people have found a place for the Segway intheir lives. The main problem is that few towns allow it onthe streets or sidewalks (unlike a motorcycle, which can beridden in the streets). Also, it has no capacity forcarrying packages, other than a small bicycle-sized basket,so it’s not practical to use for shopping. Even walking tostores works better than taking a Segway, since you can takea folding shopping cart with you?and walking is morehealthful! Priced at around $5,000, a Segway costs as muchas a small motorcycle or the down payment on an inexpensivecar, and if you’ve ever worried about leaving your expensivebicycle chained to a traffic sign when you go into a store,imagine how much you’d worry about leaving your Segway there.
Those of us who are overweight (and this describes more ofthe population than ever before) need to walk for healthyexercise. If that doesn’t work, there is always theultimatediet…
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