The Sinclair C5, a battery assisted vehicle, was launched in the UK on January 10th, 1985. It had a top speed of 15mph and could be driven without a drivers licence.
By looking around on the web I found the original advertisement for the Sinclair C5.
Why wasn't the Sinclair C5 successful?
There were a number of reasons why the Sinclair C5 did not succeed.
The first being the bad press it received the launching disaster as they held it in the middle of winter and the body of the Sinclair C5 skidded on the snow.
Another reason being design problems. The battery on lasted a short time in the winter, the driver was exposed to the weather, lack of seat-to-pedal adjustment, lack of gears, short pedal cranks, and that it was unsuitable for any type of hill, all meant that the Sinclair C5 was impracticable.
Maybe it would have been more successful if it was launched in the summertime?
Maybe it would have been more successful if the ads for it had been more fun like the ones for Segway and Skyrunner/Jump Stilts?
Skyrunner/Jump Stilts etc
Skyrunner, or Jump Stilts, has many different names depending on the company making them, which really shows how popular they actually are.
They are basically spring loaded stilts which give you the ability to jump approximately 2 metres high and run up to 32km/h.
It has also been used for extreme jumping, running and acrobatics is known as 'Bocking' or 'PowerBocking'.
This became popular because it looks like fun. The You Tube clip we were given to look at definately made it look appealing and all the other ones I also looked at looked fun as well.
Segway
The Segway is a two wheeled self-balancing battery powered electric vehicle and can drive up to 20.1 km/h. It has computers and motors in the base of the device to keep it upright when powered on with balancing enabled. A user can command the Segway to go forward by shifting their weight forward on the platform, and backward by shifting their weight backward. To turn, the user manipulates a control on the handlebar left or right.
When trying to find information on the Segway 2i & X2 I came across alot of links to where I could go to buy one. I wanted to find press releases to get an idea on how popular they actually were as I remember when the first Segway PT was launched but then I don't remember seeing much about them until the Segway tycoon,Jimi Heselden, died while riding one. But it seems, in America they are hugely popular and by watching the You Tube clip given to us to watch, the off road version look like fun.
All three of these technologies I have discussed must be of ongoing thought to many as there are many different versions to be found on all of them and I am sure there will be many more, improved versions in the making and to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment