For the Record…
Earlier this week, CNN.com published a story about philanthropic inventor Dean Kamen and the psychological decisions that entrepreneurs often struggle with as part of the innovation process. In doing so, there were unnecessary implications suggested between making difficult, project-ending decisions and our company. The insinuation that Segway was fading fast caused other outlets to pick up the story, including the folks at AutoBlog Green. We took the opportunity to comment on the post to clarify any misconceptions. Here was our response:
Segway is not on its last legs.
As regular readers and supporters of the mission at AutoBlog Green, we were disturbed at the implication made in this post about Segway.
If you reread the article to which you link, Mr. Kamen makes no statement connecting the topic about being a frustrated entrepreneur and inventor to Segway. At any point in time, Mr. Kamen and his team at DEKA Research & Development are working on numerous challenging projects. Because CNN editorialized the story title to introduce Mr. Kamen as Segway inventor and included an image of him riding a Segway PT, this is probably how the erroneous connection occurred.
In fact, even in 2008 we experienced recognizable growth while many companies – especially traditional auto companies – fared much worse. Looking ahead, we aim to build upon the success we’ve had in markets such as police and security where officers use the product to patrol. Today we’re in close to 1,000 different agencies around the world. In a downturn economy, businesses are seeking to do more with fewer people and the Segway PT helps them achieve that. Then there are the commuters and errand-runners that are using our product instead of taking car trips and wind up being 11 times more energy efficient in the process.
To the other commenters, we respect your opinions about other modes of transportation. The Segway PT is simply one other option in a spectrum of choices that even we, as Segway employees, enjoy from our two feet to commercial aircraft.
In the future, please know that you can always reach out to us for comment at media@segway.com.
Save This Page
One Response to “For the Record…”
Thanks for clarifying. The headlines I’ve seen associated with this news story have been incredibly misleading. The headlines don’t match the content in the story what so ever. Everyone knows Dean is always around to help Segway in any way he can. He’s the #1 fan!
Leave a Reply