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Regular US readers will remember the article on Dean Kamens 'Ginger' invention. And you'll no doubt have heard that the final version has been released for industrial use. As predicted, it is a scooter. Electrically powered, with a range of up to 17 miles (28 km) and a top speed of 12.5 mph (20 km/h). To work it, you just stand on it and lean forward. Of course at £3000 each, it'll be a while before it revolutionises town planning, but Dean Kamen is pretty clever. He is selling it to people like Amazon (big warehouses) and the US postal service, and when he has enough orders to go into mass production, he can reduce the price of consumer models.
However, if you have a spare £50,000, the first-ever consumer models of the Segway Human Transporter are being auctioned online at Amazon.com beginning Tuesday, February 19. Three customized Segways are now available for your bidding pleasure.
All auction proceeds will benefit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a nonprofit organization founded by Dean Kamen, Segway's chairman and CEO. FIRST's mission is to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools, and their communities. These "FIRST Edition" Segways are numbered, limited editions, and each will be custom made using titanium alloy components. Each Segway HT will have the individual winner's engraved name and Dean Kamen's laser-etched signature.
Dean Kamen will personally present the Segways to the winners at the FIRST Championship event, which takes place April 25-27 at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida.
The bidding ends March 28, 2002.