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Quite a few of them up here in New Hampshire where Dean Kamen invented and builds them. The Manchester PD tried out a couple of 'em for a few months - found they could sneak up on folks pretty easily. The Post Office in Concord, NH used 'em for a test period as well. I could see a real value for people such as letter carriers or meter readers. Pretty pricy for the public as they run about $5,000. for the civilian version on e-bay.
They aren't selling very well though and certainly not to the manufacturer's expectations. I don't know what the future holds for them. Lots of anticipated large orders from utility companies, police departments and amusement parks (Disney has a few but only for their employees at the moment) failed to materialize.
Very cool devices. I watched someone trying one out for the first time in my company's parking lot last week. It didn't appear as simple and easy as the Segway folks have led us to believe. I'm sure once a person gets some time on their machine it becomes second nature but there is definately a learning curve.
I personally hope Segway make it and I hope that their prices come down.
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"I'd like to meet the person who invented sex and see what they're working on now."
-Groucho Marx
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