Friday, May 25, 2007

I'm thinking of buying a Segway

Wait! Hear me out before you start rolling your eyes and laughing.

A Segway, as you probably know, is that nifty personal scooter thing that was released with major fanfare six years ago. It still carries a retail price of several thousand dollars, but with financing (or, as the Segway marketing department groan-inducingly phrases it, FUNancing), you can get one for less than $200/month! Believe it or not, this may be more affordable than my current transportation costs:

Right now I spend approximately $3/day, average, on public transportation. Right off the bat, that's $90 a month that could be mostly eliminated. I also spend maybe $100-200/month on gas, depending on how much I drive. Assuming that averages out to 150, and assuming I could cut my car usage in half with a Segway, that's another 75 in monthly savings. Even taking into account the electricity cost to powering a Segway, it's still about 15 times cheaper than gas so the net energy savings would still be substantial.

So not taking anything else into account, I would save about 165 a month by using the Segway, which would actually balance out the cost of ownership.

(And not to give anything to Algore, but I'd also be doing my part to reign in my Pollution Footprint, or whatever the hippies and flower people call it.)
  • Pros: Net cost savings. Fun to ride. Very convenient for city living where everything is within a few miles.
  • Cons: Very high dork factor, possibly even too high for Yours Truly. Everyone would stare. Not practical in harsh elements (snow, rain, etc). Potential of theft.
  • Response: Then again, nothing is too dorky for Yours Truly. I'd get used to people staring and maybe even use it to pick up chicks. I can leave it at home when bad weather is expected and probably still save money.
Thoughts? Anyone ever ridden one?

Let the insults, ad hominem attacks and questions about my sanity and extreme technolust begin!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Is that the thing Weird Al rides in the "White and Nerdy" video?

Anonymous said...

We have one actually. My husband originally got it for his job at the stadiums since there is tons of walking and a golf cart can't go everywhere inside but the segway could. Now he's retired (on disability after spinal surgery gone bad) so it's just for fun now. We don't live in a city so we rarely use it but it sounds like you would, so I say go for it. Here's a pic of my husband riding it with a trailer we got for the kids to ride in.

http://frogbarn.com/blog/?p=97

I'm a bit scared of it, it is easy to ride but my husband has wiped out on it.

Anonymous said...

Hehehehehe.... I love it! Get it! Adam Sandler had one in Click and it looked so cool, remember? :-)

ps--i'm listening to "Navras" Juno Reactor/Don Davis on my ipod right now! love your music!

Di said...

Does this mean you'll start driving to work? Or Segway-ing to work? Because if you're looking to eliminate your public transportation costs then you'll have to replace your bus trips with Segway trips. I can't really imagine taking the thing all the way to Dupont... but then again, look at Gob Bluth :-)

Matt said...

• Mark: I was not familiar with the Weird Al video in question, so I watched it. I was amused yet horrified to find out that I share about 80% of my traits and interests with the nerd in that video. Yes, he's riding a Segway.

Btw, here's the video in question! White and Nerdy

• Heather: I am very jealous of your Segway. That's awesome. But don't be scared of it! It is more afraid of you than you are of it.

• Liz: I never saw Click, but I'm not surprised. It has appeared in several movies -- it's just that awesome.

• Di: Yep, the plan would be to eliminate 90% of my public transportation needs. "All the way to Dupont" is about 3 miles -- the Segway was made for trips like this. At 12 mph I would get there in 15-20 minutes. That's also how long it takes me to ride the bus there, but keep in mind I am often WAITING 20 minutes just for the bus to arrive. So this would save me a load of time.....

Anonymous said...

We have Segs. We are dorks. Also drive Priuses... Could we BE any more white and nerdy??

Regarding your comment about picking up chicks while gliding: yes. Very possible.

Go for it! You will have fun. And that, in the end, is very important.

- Susan