Segway CTO joins Apple as VP of product design
updated 09:30 am EDT, Mon July 7, 2008
Segway CTO joins Apple
Segway's chief technology officer has left the company to join Apple, accounts say. J. Douglas Field is said to be responsible for the whole of the engineering team behind Segway's two-wheeled "personal transporter" vehicles, which were originally invented by Dean Kamen. At Apple Field will become a vice president of product design, serving alongside the likes of key designer Jonathan Ive.
The two companies have significant history, as Apple CEO Steve Jobs was one of the first people outside Segway to see "Ginger," the project that would eventually become the first vehicles from the company. Field is meanwhile claimed to be a fan of Apple design, a factor which may have prompted his changing positions. His own experience includes product development for companies such as Ford, Johnson & Johnson and Kamen's DEKA Research & Development.
Lucky b******
07/07, 10:09am reply
Not bad work if you can find it.
msuper69
Mac Elite
Joined: Jan 2000
Pray!
07/07, 10:27am (1 reply) reply
My God! The Segway is the dorkiest invention on the planet and a waste. What need does it serve? How many immobilized people can stand? I hope he doesn't bring such genius to Apple. Doesn't Woz use one of these things. Maybe he should change his name to Slothz.
thebiggfrogg
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2007
iCar?
07/07, 10:33am reply
iCar coming next july.
Herod
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2007
interesting...
07/07, 10:36am reply
This is an interesting hire. It almost certainly indicates a specific product concept that Apple is serious about developing, historically, they don't make blind hires hoping for a "good mix". It may or may not have to do with the technology of the Segway, but something in Mr. Field's resume is very relevant to a direction Apple wants to go.
Guest
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Joined: Nov 1999
Segway dorky?
07/07, 11:03am reply
Sometimes I wonder why we have degraded into name calling (dorky!) without fully understanding. We have devolved into simplifying complex ideas into sound bytes.
Segway is a great product in search of a broader market.
I have worked in very large facilities where this would be useful (think of a supervisor with employees throughout the plant). With gas prices so high, I have been seeing more of these.
They are great for the tours in urban areas, and it provides patrolmen the ability to manage greater areas "on foot"
I have ridden one, and they are fabulous to ride, very easy to control. They are NOT meant for those that are immobile, but going 12 miles an hour is roughly four times the average walking speed.
How quickly we judge without fully thinking what we say.
dynsight
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2005
Funny...
07/07, 11:48am reply
In urban areas, Segways would be the absolutely best way to get around. I wish I could afford one (and therein lies the rub)!
BTW, there's some major irony here. Jubs is hiring the guy responsible for a piece of hardware that he called "inelegant" and said it "sucked."
paulc
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2000
We Americans aren't. . .
07/07, 12:04pm reply
fat enough.
How about this revolutionary concept: walking! I admit there might be a few occasions where this would be useful, but I think it is emblematic of our collective laziness. As a limited market, fine, but as a mass market item: buy some shoes!
thebiggfrogg
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2007
Though it would. . .
07/07, 12:07pm reply
make a hilarious chase scene in the next big budget action flick!
thebiggfrogg
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Joined: Jul 2007
Just what Apple needs...
07/07, 02:23pm (1 reply) reply
...a guy with an eye for creating products that few want, fewer can afford, and no one has any actual place to use.
ethical_paul
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2002
Well
07/07, 06:50pm reply
Keep in mind Jon Ive's claim to fame pre-Apple was toilets: so maybe a combo Segway/s******/iWipe?
dimmer
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2006