The Obituary
The Segway PT arrived in 2001 wrapped in some of the loudest hype in tech history. Leaked under the code name “Ginger,” it was rumoured to be a world-changing invention; analysts mused that cities would be rebuilt around it. What Dean Kamen actually revealed was a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric scooter you steered by leaning. It worked, but at a few thousand dollars and too wide for sidewalks, it never found the mass market, settling instead under tour guides and mall security guards. The company sold roughly 140,000 in two decades. Cheaper electric scooters and hoverboards took its niche, and Segway ended PT production in July 2020.
Worth remembering
- Pre-launch hype, under the code name 'Ginger', claimed it would reshape cities.
- Owner Jimi Heselden died in 2010 after riding a Segway off a cliff on his estate.
Sources
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.