After months of secrecy and rumors that the mysterious project codenamed 'Ginger' would 'change the way cities are built,' Kamen unveiled the Segway on ABC's Good Morning America. The two-wheeled, self-balancing scooter used gyroscopic sensors to stay upright, and tech visionaries including Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos had reportedly praised early demonstrations. It never transformed urban transportation as promised, but became a fixture of tour groups, security patrols, and warehouses worldwide.
Few machines have been famous before anyone had seen them. Early in 2001, a leaked book proposal by the journalist Steve Kemper described a secret invention by Dean Kamen, the New Hampshire engineer behind the portable insulin pump and a stair-climbing wheelchair called the iBOT. The device was known only by codenames, 'Ginger' and 'IT,' but the quotes attached to it were extraordinary. Steve Jobs was said to have predicted it would be as significant as the personal computer, and the venture capitalist John Doerr suggested it might be bigger than the internet. For months, websites and newspapers speculated about what it could be, with guesses ranging from a personal hovercraft to a new kind of engine.
What Kamen finally revealed on Good Morning America was a platform on two wheels with a handlebar, which the rider steered by leaning. Inside, a cluster of gyroscopes and tilt sensors measured the rider's position about 100 times a second, and electric motors made constant corrections to keep the machine upright, much as the human inner ear keeps a person balanced. Leaning forward made it go, leaning back made it stop, and its top speed was about 12.5 miles per hour. Kamen argued that such machines could replace cars for short urban trips and free city centers from traffic. He built a factory with the capacity to produce tens of thousands of units a year.
The revolution never came. The consumer model cost about $5,000, many cities barred the machines from sidewalks, and sales ran far below forecasts. Instead the Segway found steady work with police departments, mall security guards, warehouse staff, and sightseeing tours, and it became a recurring punchline, helped along when President George W. Bush tumbled off one in 2003. In 2010, the British businessman Jimi Heselden, who had bought the company the previous year, died after riding a Segway off a cliff near his Yorkshire estate. Segway was later acquired by the Chinese firm Ninebot, and production of the original model ended in 2020. Its self-balancing technology outlived it in the hoverboards and electric scooters that now crowd city streets.