Saw a Segway “in the wild” today in Rockridge (Oakland) on the way to breakfast with Amy. Dude balancing at a stoplight waiting for it to change, then leaned forward slightly and went zipping across the street and up College Ave. like floating, a personal hovercraft. Smooth, quiet, and utterly elegant. Just a few months ago it seemed everyone was wondering what the heck this Ginger thing was going to be that was supposed to “revolutionize” cities and the way people got around in them. Now here we are, the Segway not yet common but no more obtrusive than a bicycle and only noticeable for its new-ness. Seeing it like that, not as an oddity but as a plain old fact of life made it seem so sensible. I kind of want one.
Music: Suba :: Felicidade
after hearing your description, i realized it’s not ginger that will revolutionize, but that which ginger is an archetype of. ie, something that can change our contexts and definitions of neighborhood, community, proximity. and that is much more plausible. ie, there will probably be more devices coming that fulfill the two objctives that ginger tries to: extend our physical range yet remain transparent in use. the end result of adaption of this technology in whatever forms it manifests will have the evolutionary impact that early advocates have frorcast i think.
(am i just stating the obvious?)
Check this: http://www.ennead.de/blog/archives/000044.php
There is likely coming something new which will make it a lot more worthwhile :)
Oliver
baald, no you’re not stating the obvious – you’re looking beyond Ginger and toward other similarly tranformative transpo technologies, si?
Oliver, that URL doesn’t seem to work from here, but the Stirling engine tech really could have a dramatic impact … battery weight is the 800lb gorilla that won’t go away!
We are never truly sure of our beliefs.