Saturday, January 31, 2009

How About Product Placement of a Microcar?


Well...a Segway isn't really a microcar, but it is about the closest thing to one that is getting "product-placement" action in the movies today.

The new movie, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop", starring Kevin James, has run up the numbers at theaters this month. The Seattle Times gives the Segway co-star billing with, "(Kevin James) is a skilled physical comedian, and he handles the Segway like it's a comedy-team partner, swooping around corners like a uniformed bird of prey."

This bird of prey is the Segway Personal Transporter -- that two-wheeled platform that looks so cool, but costs so much, and isn't legal to drive in so many places.

While the Segway (imagined and designed by Dean Kamen) seems futuristic, we found what looks like an early ancestor of the mobility platform in the archives at the Petersen Automotive Museum. the Arbib Monoscoot is a 1965 design by Richard Arbib. Pretty neat!



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