When Dean Kamen unveiled the Segway on ABC's "Good Morning America," he described the machine as "the world's first self-balancing human transporter." When you look at the machine in motion, you get an idea of what he's talking about.
Unlike a car, the Segway only has two wheels -- it looks something like an ordinary hand truck -- yet it manages to stay upright by itself.
To move forward or backward on the Segway, the rider just leans slightly forward or backward. To turn left or right, the rider turns the right handlebar forward or backward.
What is "Ginger," the mysterious "IT" that's causing such a stir in the U.S. Patent Office, every major news outlet, and the offices of CEOs of high-tech companies?
We don't know--but here's what some people are saying. Credit Suisse First Boston apparently expects inventor Dean Kamen's device (alternately called IT or Ginger) to be more successful in its first year than any technology start-up in history. They predict Kamen will be worth more in five years than Bill Gates. And tech guru Steve Jobs remarked that, "if enough people see the machine, you won't have to convince them to architect cities around it. It'll just happen."
Inside.com, a media-news Web site, reports that Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos characteristically burst out laughing when he saw it, and later said to Kamen that IT is "a product so revolutionary, you'll have no problem selling it."
However, inventor Kamen isn't interested in spreading the hype on IT quite yet. While journalist-author Steve Kemper says the invention (slated for a 2002 release) will "sweep over the world and change lives, cities, and ways of thinking," Kamen's own recent statement noted that "spirited speculation about the unknown has led to expectations [for IT] that are beyond whimsical." But he does say that IT will provide an alternative to devices that "are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous, and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities."
Meaning what, exactly? Is IT a car? A train? A motorized scooter, as the text in the patent seems to suggest? Or is Ginger simply "New Coke 2001"?
Dean Kamen is the president of the DEKA research and development corporation, and is known in the scientific community as the visionary inventor of the first portable insulin pump, a phone book-sized dialysis machine, and the Ibot Transporter: a wheelchair that can climb stairs. He's also behind FIRST, a national science-development program for school-age children.