Somebody ACTUALLY patented a Stirling Series...

[user removed]

PM sent with contact information.

regards
Mech

[pete c]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

If you want to invest money in a Sterling powered hybrid look to investing with Dean Kamen. He has been working at it since before 2008 and he already has taken the segway from concept to product so he knows business.

I realize this guy is a brilliant inventor, but, the segway is a ridiculous display of technological wankery. It is an incredibly dumb way to transport humans. And were they not snapped up by gubmint agencies spending other people's money, it would be a financial flop as well.

[basslover911]

Originally Posted by pete c

I realize this guy is a brilliant inventor, but, the segway is a ridiculous display of technological wankery. It is an incredibly dumb way to transport humans. And were they not snapped up by gubmint agencies spending other people's money, it would be a financial flop as well.

Haha thats how i have always seen this. HOWEVER, it wasn't a great flop which says something for product and business itself - great design, great marketing = success (but yes not really necessary to travel that way).

[pete c]

this was not an example of good private sector design/marketing.

it was an example of the kind of squandering of taxpayer money that has us in the fix we're in.

if it was a success in the private sector, it would be a different story.

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by pete c

this was not an example of good private sector design/marketing.

You have to be kidding me! As far as marketing the Segway is considered only second to the 1984 Apple Mac super bowl commercial. No product ever has generated so much hype before its unveiling.

For what it does its design is elegant and its user interface couldn't be simpler.

It may not be a commercial success at over 50,000 units sold, but its design and marketing are top notch. If you want a failure look at the Aptera. It will never be produced in numbers to even threaten the Delorean.

[basslover911]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

It may not be a commercial success at over 50,000 units sold, but its design and marketing are top notch. If you want a failure look at the Aptera. It will never be produced in numbers to even threaten the Delorean.

Just when everybody thought that, finally, the car of the future was here- it wasn't.

Anybody have any conspiracy theories as to why all of these GREAT vehicles keep being uncapable of coming to life?

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by basslover911

Anybody have any conspiracy theories as to why all of these GREAT vehicles keep being uncapable of coming to life?

conspiracy my a$$

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...thank your government and EPA.

The government and EPA had nothing to do with Aptera's failure. They lobbied hard to get emissions and federal safety standards waved and succeeded. It was horrible business planning that did them in. Any time a business plans to set up production in a state with one of the highest costs of living is a plan for failure pure and simple. That and trying to portray your product as being safe to the consumer and touting the fact that you had safety standards waved to investors (people aren't that stupid).

Aptera rebuts safety concerns about its three-wheeled 2e

[Frank Lee]

I think Aptera was more interested in snarfing up investor, x-prize, and govt money than actually building product.

[Peter7307]

Originally Posted by basslover911

Anybody have any conspiracy theories as to why all of these GREAT vehicles keep being uncapable of coming to life?

Not sure about the Aptera but the DeLorean was NOT a great car.

It handle like a sack of flour (not a good starting point for what was intended to be a sports car after all) , had build quality to match and some truly appalling design executions.

The "Gullwing "doors might have been a "sales point" but having them leak like waterfall ever time it rained was not.
Let's face it - Mercedes Benz sorted this out on their "Gullwing" in the 1950's! AND they didn't take some twenty seconds to open and close either.

Think the worst of British Leyland and go a few steps backward from there.

Even the millions the British Government poured into it didn't save what was bound to be a fiasco from the start.

Sorry but the car WAS a DOG and no amount of gazing through rose coloured glasses will alter that.

Peter.

[pete c]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

You have to be kidding me! As far as marketing the Segway is considered only second to the 1984 Apple Mac super bowl commercial. No product ever has generated so much hype before its unveiling.

For what it does its design is elegant and its user interface couldn't be simpler.

It may not be a commercial success at over 50,000 units sold, but its design and marketing are top notch. If you want a failure look at the Aptera. It will never be produced in numbers to even threaten the Delorean.

The segway is a technological marvel. I won't dispute that. The problem is, it is a really stupid way of moving a person around. Very expensive and slow. And the pilot has to stand. A bicycle does everything better at a tiny fraction of the cost.

As for it's marketing, it pretty much consisted of "hey, this really smart inventor dude has come up with an amazing contraption that will revolutionize transportation".

It wasn't.

It didn't.

They were bought up mainly by government agencies that wanted to jump on the bandwagon. People with room temperature IQs would not spend their own money on what is basically a technological marvel that does something very expensively and poorly.

I will not call it an example of good marketing, because, unlike the mac, it did not have success in the private market. It was a success at proving how idiotic politicians are with other's money.