[ars]

Is it me or is he basically saying: no one wants to spend the money to buy my products?

He talks about global changes and stuff, but he prices his things too high. I really wanted, and could have used, a segway - but I took one look at the price and just laughed.

I don't know how much the slingshot costs, but I bet he wants tons of money for it.

He is great at making stuff. He's great at selling (as in convincing) people. He's terrible at selling (as in moving product).

He needs someone to act as a reality check, AKA market research person.

[jacquesm]

The segway was a 'miss' pricewise and there are lots of other things wrong with it, but it is hardly the only thing Dean Kamen invented, chances are you know someone that uses his main invention (the 0 contact dialysis pump) regularly.

The segway would have certainly sold more if the price had been lower, I thought that given the parts in it it should not have cost more than an electric bicycle but I think it is fine for him to charge for it whatever he wants.

The market proved to him that it was too expensive, and that puts it right up there with the Sinclair C5 (another one of those characters).

I'm sure that lessons were learned.

Phenomenal pre-launch buzz around the segway by the way.

[Retric]

"The day we made the first Segway, the very first one, we drew pictures of enclosed ones. Going back and tweaking things to make them 5% better or 3% cheaper? There are whole industries who know how to do that very well. Our position is been there, done that, did it, changed the world, move on."

He does not seem to understand that cost is the number one factor for all inventions. An immortality pill that costs 2trillion is not going to sell to anyone.

[krschultz]

The slingshot is about 1,000 british pounds. For all its technology, that is really high. I work with engineers without borders and my team has gone the opposite route. Some water purification for all is better than perfect water purification for few. Our water purifier is basically a giant Brita filter. A concrete form for a tank, about a meter of sand, a plastic top, some piping, and you can have decent water purification for under $200 per village. The slingshot is technically superior but economically unfeasible.