Reinventing the Wheel: A Story of Genius, Innovation, and Grand Ambition

After getting a Ninebot S awhile ago, I found myself very interested in the genesis of Segway. I also lived through the hype of IT, and certainly confess to being underwhelmed when I looked at the hype versus the end product. This book certainly gave me insights into Dean Kamen, the background of Ginger, and everything that had to drop into place for what we now know as the Segway PT.But this book works on another level - that of a management book. Throughout Reinventing the Wheel, we see quite a few management missteps, from Kamen's extremely controlling manner to the realization that personnel is policy and how so many disconnects greatly hampered DEKA/Ginger from positioning itself to create and market what is, at the end of the day, a truly innovative and potentially disruptive product. Several times through the book I internally screamed "NO" when I saw a company that made so many missteps that were grounded in a lack of understanding of business strategy. I hate to put it this way, but this book details a business that serves as an example of what NOT to do.Part of that example is understandable - DEKA made its name by licensing tech, not by manufacturing it. What isn't understandable are the blind spots that Kamen showed...in other words, he didn't know what he didn't know, or more properly he thought he knew what he actually didn't. Sadly, a refusal to listen to experienced people only exacerbated the problem. At the end of the day, I think because of all of this Segway ended up only being a very small fraction of what it could have been.This book does a very good job in providing the context and background for all of the major decisions throughout design, getting venture capital, and the many plates that need to be kept spinning to bring a device like the PT to market. It doesn't shy away from less-than-flattering portrayals of the principals. Moreover, it's not a short read but certainly an accessible one, with a lot of ideas to chew on at the end.A good book!

It is 2021 and I work for Segway in Bedford NH. In 2015, it was purchased by a Chinese company Ninebot after a lawsuit. The third owner of Segway was suing China for infringement on patents. Ninebot made them an offer and purchased the company...The building in Bedford is enormous and we are down to 5 workers in the Bedford location after a 2020 announcement that the Segway PT would no longer be manufactured at that location.. We have sold the building.I have been tasked with organizing the history of the Segway to send to China for a museum they are creating.After stumbling upon notes from meetings, items that were strange (a large frog), and many other random and weird things, I can say that this book did a great job with filling in the blanks. It was written with such great accuracy and detail that I have been able to identify the reason behind many of the questionable items I have found.

Fascinating read for budding entrepreneurs and their supporters, friends, and, family. Here is another story of hot new tech that had the world salivating, had a fairly decent market but ultimately has not, yet, succeeded in the market. There may be an appendix to this story with the rise of mini Segway self balancing scooters - ironically marketed more skillfully by the company Segway kept suing for patent infringement, Ninebot division of Xiaomi!

Steve Kemper recounts the tale of the Segway, codenamed Project Ginger, and its development. It gives you a glimpse into inventor Dean Kamen's life and work, and provides an interesting story of trying to develop a "game-changing innovation." As we all know, the Segway never turned out to be the game-changer that people envisioned, but during its development it apparently lured in savvy investors. While this book could act as a business case study of a failed venture, it is mostly just an entertaining read of a bright engineer obsessed with an idea.Steve Kemper is a gifted writer, and I look forward to his upcoming book about Frederick Russell Burnham, "the great American scout."

A story of hubris — the ego of Dean Kamen, the bankers, and the tech giants who, caught up in competiting with each other, forget to ask what is the value proposition. Book is well written, but a story about failure is less exciting a decade later. The details, although good reporting, don’t stand the test of time as worth the reader’s time.

This is a well written book which describes the detailed process of developing a technical idea into a finished product. It is also an excellent character study of a brilliant egomaniac of an inventor who can't give up control of his invention even when it would be distinctly in his best interest.The book has too much technical detail for the average reader but is an excellent primer for the engineer who aspires to build his own "brilliant" invention into a successful business. It is also an interesting read for all those involved in the FIRST robotics program.

While the story is told through the lens of the Segway, it is an amazing book on product development in general, the differences between research and mass production, and the difference between a small business and a venture backed startup. Comprehensive and engaging. Everyone interested in product development and innovation should read this book. I enjoyed it watch the Kamen TED introduction of the Segway and rent a Segway a week later. Some people may have a poor view of the Segway itself as a product, but that should not change the learnings you can gain form their development process.

Gift….. on inventions

文章は、ダラダラと何をいいたいのかわからないし、開発内容をわからない表現の文章で表現しているのでただただ長くなっていだけで読み難い、誤字は多い、制御基板の基板は基盤ではないのです。基板です。セグウェイの開発秘話とのことで興味をもって読んだがなんにも心にのこらないものとなってしまった。開発が終わっているのだからもっと図を多用すべきだったのではないか、読み終わってこんなつかれた本はいままでにない、