Who Killed The Segway?

Decoder Ring

Slate Podcasts

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the year 2000, Dan Kois was a junior book agent working on selling a secretive book proposal called IT, a codename for what would eventually be revealed as the Segway personal scooter. This is the story of the invention and development of a potentially revolutionary device, how Dan may or may not have doomed it, how the hype got out of control, and how that speculation helped birth the modern internet. If you love the show and want to support us, consider joining Slate Plus. With Slate Plus you can binge the whole season of Decoder Ring right now, plus ad free podcasts, bonus episodes, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I got the book proposal and just said wow, check this out.
0:11.1	It had this incredible new invention that was going to change the world, but the one thing
0:16.0	that book proposal didn't tell you was what it was.
0:19.6	I see me recall the first thing that really took off was the whole idea of a hoverboard.
0:23.9	It's a hovercraft.
0:25.3	It's a spaceship.
0:26.6	It's a jetpack.
0:27.6	People are coming up with jet packs and, you know, inertial thrusters and imagination
0:33.0	is just going crazy.
0:34.4	This was the biggest story anywhere in the world.
0:37.6	For that time, it was insane.
0:39.7	News cameras outside of our buildings and news trucks and reporters trying to interview
0:44.2	you.
0:45.2	So when it does come out, you remember on the Good Morning America.
0:49.2	All right, are we ready?
0:50.2	Are you ready?
0:51.2	I'm ready.
0:52.2	OK.
0:53.2	I think it's time.
0:54.2	All right.
0:56.2	I think it was behind a curtain and then it came out.
0:59.2	It was like the kind of hunky way they did it.
	...

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