Along with doubtless hundreds of thousands of others, I received two emails yesterday. One from Segway and one from Amazon.com announcing the first publicly available models of the Segway HT. This must be the ultimate gadget surely. The much touted "Ginger" project of Dean Kamen, the Segway evolved from the technology developed for the IBOT, a sophisticated electronic wheelchair for the disabled, designed to climb stairs and traverse uneven terrain. Like Segway HT, the IBOT uses self-balancing technology. There's a truly amazing TV news report about the IBOT, quite inspiring. I'll dig out the reference for tomorrow's Blog entry - assuming it's still available on the Web.

The Segway Human Transporter is a truly 21st-century idea, a two-wheeled electric vehicle that's practical, efficient, slightly miraculous, and an undeniably fun way of getting around. It's as different from a bicycle or motorcycle as the original personal computers were from their giant, mainframe predecessors. That's what Amazon say about it and they're right. If I had an odd $5k lying around, AND if they were on sale in the UK (which they aren't) I'd buy one in a flash. One thing I found notable is that you're not allowed to actually take delivery of one, until you have attended the Segway training course. Now that's interesting. However, if you're in the USA and if you fancy putting down your $499 unrefundable deposit right away, you can enter the draw for one of thirty of the machines to be delivered in time for Christmas!. Click the picture above to visit Amazon.com and read down the page to see just what an amazing piece of technology this is.