For those who cannot recognize what's in the picture, that's a Segway. This device provides personal mobility without having to strain leg muscles. Indeed, once you own a Segway, walking becomes an obsolete hassle. This vehicle only requires a slight shift in weight in order to move, and can reach speeds up to 12.5 mph. Truly, technology has reached a point in which mechanical transportation has surpassed biological mobility in almost every form.
This reminds me of the Wall-E scenario in which all humanity loses the capability to perform basic movements due to their dependence on machines. The Segway seems to be a step towards that direction; even its sleek design seems to exude a futuristic aura. What else does the Segway provide, if it isn't just an alternative to walking for lazy people? Surely it does not exist to serve the disabled, as the wheelchair is the answer to that. It is by no means a form of speedy transportation, as its top speed cannot compare to that of motor vehicles. At the same time, the pair of wheels on the Segway seem large enough to cover the feet of the user, perhaps acting as replacement legs. The handlebar connected on the top seem to suggest that its a superior alternative to biking. Everything about the Segway just screams for a future full of lazy people, unable to mobilize without the use of technology.
Furthermore, each Segway sells for roughly $5000 each. Apparently, the Segway vision is one where not only is everyone too lazy to walk, but have massive amounts of disposable income as well. Or perhaps, it envisions a future world where the wealthy dominates society through technology. The following picture might have a more accurate description of what Segways are.
Rather than provide people with personal mobility, the Segway is more of a statement of upward mobility. As shown in the picture, the Segway provides a convenient lift above the floor, creating the image that those on Segways are “walking” taller than everyone else. The picture of a Segway might only display a personal mobile unit, but the image it holds is something else entirely.
4 comments:
The Segway is a fascinating subject, and you have done a nice job tracing the trajectory of this consumer object that purports one sort of mobility yet seems to reflect quite another. I have always wondered about these things at airports, where they seem to be possibly the *worst* way for police to get around. How many times have I seen a police office on a Segway awkwardly pivoting around and through amorphous groups of stumbling passengers?
In your first paragraph, "onces" is misspelled, and "a obsolete" should read "an." Also, when you say in your second paragraph that the design seems to "exhume a futuristic aura," I get your point, but I think you mean "exude." Exhume is to dig a dead body out of a grave; exude is to give off, or emanate. Finally, I don't see how the "faggot" part of the picture works, unless you are using that term simply as a pejorative, in which case the humor seems to draw on non-sequitur homophobia. I think you could communicate your jab at the Segway without the slur, and rather let the "I'm too rich to walk" stand on its own—it is a more severe critique of upward mobility that way. Otherwise, it just looks like a sidewalk full of narrow-minded people, which isn't as funny. Do you see what I mean?
I personally don't know much about segways so your post was not only interesting but informative at the same time. I like your suggestion that having a segway does suggest upward mobility because it something that caters to the upper class. I also find it intriguing that slowly our own biological movements are being replaced by mechanical objects like segways.
Even the name “Segway” suggests the prestige of the product, therefore the upward mobility of the consumers who purchase Segways. “Seg-“is a Latin root meaning to cut or to separate. While way is synonymous with the word path. Therefore, Segway suggests that the owners are unlike non-Segways owners—establishing a class difference. On Segways website, http://www.segway.com/, the product is advertised as an alternative to driving: a product for “green living.” Segways are more notably used as an alternative to walking—conflicting with goal of its advertising. The idea of going green has become popularized by the introduction of products that claim to save or help the earth, when in actuality those products are still contributing to pollution. Actual means of green transportation are viewed as a lower status in some areas, transportation such as walking, biking and public transportation.
Although the products suggest upward mobility, that mobility is limited. The Segway may provide security with better vision for patrolling and a possible edge of faster transportation, than that by foot, but as Chris mentioned, security is only efficient if the population of people in a given area is minimal. Congested walkways prohibit the Segway users from ‘gliding past’ others. This product claims to be an alternative means to commute to work, however most people who ‘commute’ to work do so by car because they travel far distances from their home—otherwise they would simply be ‘going to work.’ The Segways does not compete with the speed of a car—only going 12.5 miles per hour—or the range of a car—12-24 miles. A video on Segway’s page titled “Take Control of Your Commute,” one users asserts that a Segway has “changed [his] life” by giving him the freedom to explore his hometown, yet he relies on mixed transportation—the subway and the Segway—to accomplish this.
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