1. Segway
Over the years, technological breakthroughs have skyrocketed. The exponential growth of computing power has greatly contributed to various births of technological ingenuity, leaving the world in awe as Science Fiction comes to life. Despite these wonders, there will always be blunders, and none, in the past 15 years, has been given as much recognition as the Segway. The Segway was built as a mode of personal transportation, a two-wheeled self-balancing machine that could carry one person at a time. It was basically a personal walkator, the lazy man's scooter, the able-bodied's wheelchair, a bicycle without a chair and then pumped with steroids. It was a creation of many names, of massive hype, and of terrible remark. The Segway's inventor, Dean Kamen, saw Segway as the future of transportation. In his mind, he envisioned a world where no one walked, and instead they drove each other mad, not with cars, but with his incarnation, his bi-pedaled monstrosities. Various big names have added fuel to the Segway's roaring fire to stardom, with Netscape and Amazon backer John Doerr saying that it was going to be as big as the internet, as well as then Apple head-honcho, and self-proclaimed innovator Steve Jobs calling it "bigger than the PC". Surprise! Turns out even geniuses can go wrong sometimes. 2009 sales reports, peg an estimated 50,000 units sold by 2009, 30,000 of which reportedly sold in between 2001 and 2007. While sales may have changed in the four years since they took count, Segway's failure is undeniable as Kamen and co.'s initial expectations were close to billion dollars in revenue in the first year of operation and the company failed to take-over mobile transportation.
Current Alternatives: Walking