Pesonally I’m dubious of the utility of a vehicle that moves at the same order of speed as a vehicle-less human but costs six grand. But hey, what the heck… if people want to buy one, thats what capitalism is for.
But leave it to the Japanese to see if they can train a chimp to adequately pilot one. And damned if they didn’t pull it off:
I’m not sure which way to take this:
1) The Segway is such a simple and intuitive device that chimps can work it out
2) Chimps are smart enough to handle more advanced technologies than we give them credit for.
In any event, the inclusion of an opposable thumb certainly aids the chimp in using human tech. Fortunately, the opposable thumb is not that common of an item in the animal kingdom. A fact which humans should probably be relieved about.
Of course, the Chinese went one better and put SWAT cops on their Segways (which, for all I know, are cheap knockoffs loaded with melamine):
2 Responses to “Segway: so easy a chimp can do it”
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mmm, there was a fine Pohl’s and Kornbluth’s SF novel back then, “Slave ships”…..
ooop, only Pohl’s, really…