What ever happened to the Segway?

Inventor Dean Kamen predicted that it would ‘be to the car what the car was to the horse & buggy’.

Although, the best way to judge if your idea is any good is to gather feedback from the right people.

Unfortunately, Kamen didn’t do this, maybe he was concerned someone would steal his idea.

Instead keeping it secret, only sharing it with possible investors like Steve Jobs & Jeff Bezos.

Both of whom were bullish about it, but both had no real knowledge in transportation.

Job’s called it the most amazing piece of technology since the personal computer.

Bezos said. ‘You have a product so revolutionary you’ll have no problem selling it’.

Investors pumped in $80 million, predicting it would be the fastest company ever to reach $1 billion & become more important than the internet.

Sales were projected at 10,000 a week. But after 6 years they had sold only 30,000 & after a decade it was still losing money.

Interestingly, industry experts never viewed the Segway as a replacement for the car or (at $8,000 a pop) being affordable for most consumers.

They saw it as a niche product for golf courses, postal services & police departments.

Today, many of us are inventing new products & services for the new normal.

For us, it’s printer technology, internet phones & laptop bundles on monthly subscription agreements with everything included.

Yes, we all need to move fast.

But please take time out & seek industry expertise to make sure your invention doesn’t end up on a golf course with a Segway.

It begs the question: Can creators ever be objective in judging their own ideas?