Segway CTO To Become Apple VP of Product Design

[MacRumors]

According to Segway forums, Segway Chief Technology Officer and designer Doug Field has up until now lead their entire engineering team is apparently leaving the company to become Vice President of Product Design at Apple.

Doug has been the driving force in making the Segway what it is today and will be sorely missed at the company. However, with every change comes good and bad. So while it's bad the rich history and experience of Doug is leaving, it's good in that perhaps the team will get a fresh perspective into possible engineering solutions for future versions of the Segway (or Segway-like applications).

And hey, what can be better than a gig at Apple? These days, in the design and engineering world, not much!!

We wish Doug all the luck in moving on!!

[ via O'Reilly Radar ]

Article Link

 

[longofest]

Wonder if Woz had anything to do with this. I know he likes his Segway.

[ via O'Reilly Radar ]

Or is it CPL Radar O'Reilly

 

[rdowns]

Linky

The news that Doug Field, Segway’s chief technology officer, has left the company for Apple, is one of those high-level personnel changes one feels obliged to comment on.

“So that’s what MobileMe is all about,” wrote one wag on The Mac Observers’ Apple Finance Board.

“I can see it now,” wrote another. “The iSegway - and you’ll only be able to use it on roads Apple approves of, paying a toll via your iTunes account to access them.” (link)

But the most intriguing comment on Apple and Segway to date comes from Steve Jobs himself, as told in Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen’s Quest to Invent a New World by Steve Kemper. In the book, Kemper describes a tempestuous 2001 meeting, arranged by Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr, in which inventor Dean Kamen gives Amazon’s (AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Apple’s (AAPL) Steve Jobs a preview of the people mover he was to introduce later that year.

Although Jobs was quoted in Time magazine as saying that the Segway would be “as big a deal as the PC,” his reaction at this meeting is almost unprintable.

“I think it sucks!” said Jobs.

His vehemence made [Segway's] Tim [Adams] pause. “Why?” he asked, a bit stiffly.

“It just does.”

“In what sense?” said Tim, getting his feet back under him. “Give me a clue.”

“Its shape is not innovative, it’s not elegant, it doesn’t feel anthropomorphic,” said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras.

 

[Bad Paper]

This is embarrassing.

 

[MrT8064]

will he be replacing Jonothan Ives?

that would be Terrible!

 

[longofest]

will he be replacing Jonothan Ives?

that would be Terrible!

I think not...

 

[jwhMac28]

Ive is Apple VP of Industrial Design... Hopefully Industrial and Product Design VPs are two very different positions. Hopefully...

 

[aLoC]

Maybe he finally realized Steve was right.

The Segway is impractical in my opinion. Too dangerous to use on the road and too bulky/threatening to pedestrians for the sidewalk.

 

[Kingsly]

Yessss! A self balancing iPhone will finally be the thing that makes me upgrade from my 1st Gen one. The dock is soooo last year.

 

[PlaceofDis]

interesting. good to see some new people being brought in. perhaps this will help get more products out the door faster since the design can be worked on by more people etc.

 

[amusiccale]

Still think Steve was right on the aesthetics of the Segway...

 

[twoodcc]

Wonder if Woz had anything to do with this. I know he likes his Segway.

i was thinking the exact same thing...

 

[mBurns]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Segway CTO becoming Apple VP of Design. Although I do believe the Segway is impractical for most, it is definitely a "think different" type of product which makes up Apple at its center.

 

[TheSlush]

Ive is Apple VP of Industrial Design... Hopefully Industrial and Product Design VPs are two very different positions. Hopefully...

Yeah. "Product Design" sounds like a very broad category that could even get into software/programming issues -- which aren't specifically Ive's territory. I'm quite sure there's no way Steve would compromise Ive's authority/jurisdiction over hardware design.

 

[Kwill]

Cool! A Segway with iPod click wheels.

 

[SimonTheSoundMa]

Segway, the biggest flop of this Millennium.

A shame they are illegal in the UK.

 

[Wes1731]

i'm a little worried that this guy might screw up apple's elegant computers

 

[VideoShooter]

Guys - chill out... Another brain in the HQ that knows how to make game-changing products. Chill out. This is good.


He's not going to match the segway design to the iMac or anything. Calm down.

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

Yessss! A self balancing iPhone will finally be the thing that makes me upgrade from my 1st Gen one.

Yeah, but the data plan on the self-balancing iPhone is atrocious.

Segway, the biggest flop of this Millennium.

And profitable flops are the best kind, aren't they?

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

Wonder if Woz had anything to do with this. I know he likes his Segway.

Hrm, Apple is building a second campus a short distance from 1 Loop. I wonder how they met this guy... maybe the subterranean robotic OSX-powered tube didn't materialize and they made a custom Apple fleet @Segway that he directed the development on.

 

[zombitronic]

The security guards at a mall around here ride Segways. I used to think it was a bad idea, but then again, why use up all that precious leg muscle when you can use battery power, instead, right? Save those legs for when you really need them, like when you have to step on or off the Segway. I suppose it might give you an advantage when chasing a shoplifter...until they get to the stairs.

 

[LizKat]

Ah, finally. A MacBook Air with handlebars. So hard to fly it without them.

 

[weev]

A ride-on computer, I can't wait!

 

[BornAgainMac]

I wish from the rumors of the Segway was that it was a flying car. What a huge disappointment. Having said that, I wouldn't mind having one if they were $299 or a Segway car for $3999.

 

[liquidh2o]

free segways for all share holders! I wish