Max
06-25-2003, 03:13 PM
How Segway danced into the spotlight
STORY OF THE HUMAN TRANSPORTER CAPTURES THE GENIUS AND HARD WORK NEEDED TO BRING AN INVENTION TO LIFE
By Steve Powers
Special to the Mercury News
In February 2001, reports of a secret project leaked out to the media. Given the code name ``Ginger,'' it set off a firestorm of speculation about what the supposedly world-changing invention would be.
Ginger became the subject of a giant, worldwide guessing game in the following months. Pundits proposed all kinds of possibilities, including an invention for time travel, teleportation and magnetic levitation. Some even started rumors about Ginger being a device for defeating Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Finally, on Dec. 3, 2001, the secret was unveiled on ``Good Morning America'' by its inventor Dean Kamen. It was the Segway ``human transporter,'' an electric-powered scooter. It had a minimalist design: two wheels, a platform and a T-bar.
The story behind the Segway's creation is told in ``Code Name Ginger.'' The book captures the genius and hard work involved in bringing inventions to life.
The Segway's origins go back to 1992, as Dean Kamen, a wealthy inventor, watched a disabled man struggle to get his wheelchair over a curb. It was an upsetting experience for Kamen, who began to think about a solution. This launched him on a series of stop-and-go attempts that morphed into an early version of Ginger.
Author Steve Kemper came into the picture in the summer of 1999, when Kamen invited him to observe the Ginger development team as they worked in Manchester, N.H.
``I stayed in Dean's house, discussed the project with him over late-night dinners, flew with him in his jet as he stitched together plans for a new international industry. I watched him outmaneuver and outsmart everyone, and sometimes sabotage himself or his team. I was there when he inspired his engineers and when he infuriated them,'' Kemper writes.
The book also details the wheeling and dealing of Kamen's financial backers, including John Doerr, Silicon Valley's star venture capitalist who invested in and actively promoted the project.
Kemper, a freelance journalist from Connecticut, met Dean Kamen in 1991 when doing an article for Smithsonian magazine. He had unparalleled access to Kamen and his team, spending two days a week with them.
In return, Kemper had to promise to keep the project under wraps until it was unveiled publicly. He couldn't seek a book contract until Ginger danced into the spotlight. (It was named after Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire's famous dancing partner.)
The result is a very candid, sometimes surprising book. The collaboration did not end happily, as Kemper was eventually exiled from the project in a dispute over its confidentiality.
But while he was there, he had the inside track. And he documents it well in an intense, highly readable book.
Kemper opens the book with an anecdote from Kamen's childhood that illustrates his strong-willed personality. When an elementary school teacher told his class that every number divided by itself equaled one, Kamen accepted that -- until it came to zero divided by zero. He challenged his teacher on this one. She grew irritated and called his mother, who told him to apologize to his teacher. Kamen refused.
Later, his seventh grade teacher thought he must be cheating in math because he got the right answers, without showing any calculations. Kamen said he could see the steps in his head, and didn't need to show his calculations.
In an engaging chapter that highlights Kamen's creativity and intellect, Kemper describes a young Kamen's efforts at coming up with innovative solutions. For instance, at age 16, he upgraded the Museum of Natural History's lighting system using an intricate system of transistors and semiconductors.
With these telling anecdotes, Kemper shows the kind of non-conformist thinking that led Kamen to develop the mysterious Ginger some 40 years later.
Kemper details the interactions of Kamen and his development team, but he also transforms the story into a first-person account. His participation in the project as a historian of sorts is integral to the story, and one of the book's strengths.
There's a lot of science in this book, and Kemper does an excellent job of translating it into layman's terms.
And finally, Ginger was unveiled on ``Good Morning America.''
After all the buildup, there was a bit of a letdown as viewers saw it for the first time. Co-host Diane Sawyer was incredulous. ``That's it?'' she asked.
Kamen explained that it was the world's first self-balancing human transporter and that many of its functions mimicked the human body's functions when it came to balance and the muscles and sinews of the body.
For the inside skinny on how inventions are brought to life and all the ``sweat equity'' that's involved, Kemper's book is a candid look at the process, warts and all.
CODE NAME GINGER
The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest To Invent a New World
By Steve Kemper
Harvard Business School Press, 307 pp., $27.95
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/business/technology/6144839.htm
STORY OF THE HUMAN TRANSPORTER CAPTURES THE GENIUS AND HARD WORK NEEDED TO BRING AN INVENTION TO LIFE
By Steve Powers
Special to the Mercury News
In February 2001, reports of a secret project leaked out to the media. Given the code name ``Ginger,'' it set off a firestorm of speculation about what the supposedly world-changing invention would be.
Ginger became the subject of a giant, worldwide guessing game in the following months. Pundits proposed all kinds of possibilities, including an invention for time travel, teleportation and magnetic levitation. Some even started rumors about Ginger being a device for defeating Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Finally, on Dec. 3, 2001, the secret was unveiled on ``Good Morning America'' by its inventor Dean Kamen. It was the Segway ``human transporter,'' an electric-powered scooter. It had a minimalist design: two wheels, a platform and a T-bar.
The story behind the Segway's creation is told in ``Code Name Ginger.'' The book captures the genius and hard work involved in bringing inventions to life.
The Segway's origins go back to 1992, as Dean Kamen, a wealthy inventor, watched a disabled man struggle to get his wheelchair over a curb. It was an upsetting experience for Kamen, who began to think about a solution. This launched him on a series of stop-and-go attempts that morphed into an early version of Ginger.
Author Steve Kemper came into the picture in the summer of 1999, when Kamen invited him to observe the Ginger development team as they worked in Manchester, N.H.
``I stayed in Dean's house, discussed the project with him over late-night dinners, flew with him in his jet as he stitched together plans for a new international industry. I watched him outmaneuver and outsmart everyone, and sometimes sabotage himself or his team. I was there when he inspired his engineers and when he infuriated them,'' Kemper writes.
The book also details the wheeling and dealing of Kamen's financial backers, including John Doerr, Silicon Valley's star venture capitalist who invested in and actively promoted the project.
Kemper, a freelance journalist from Connecticut, met Dean Kamen in 1991 when doing an article for Smithsonian magazine. He had unparalleled access to Kamen and his team, spending two days a week with them.
In return, Kemper had to promise to keep the project under wraps until it was unveiled publicly. He couldn't seek a book contract until Ginger danced into the spotlight. (It was named after Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire's famous dancing partner.)
The result is a very candid, sometimes surprising book. The collaboration did not end happily, as Kemper was eventually exiled from the project in a dispute over its confidentiality.
But while he was there, he had the inside track. And he documents it well in an intense, highly readable book.
Kemper opens the book with an anecdote from Kamen's childhood that illustrates his strong-willed personality. When an elementary school teacher told his class that every number divided by itself equaled one, Kamen accepted that -- until it came to zero divided by zero. He challenged his teacher on this one. She grew irritated and called his mother, who told him to apologize to his teacher. Kamen refused.
Later, his seventh grade teacher thought he must be cheating in math because he got the right answers, without showing any calculations. Kamen said he could see the steps in his head, and didn't need to show his calculations.
In an engaging chapter that highlights Kamen's creativity and intellect, Kemper describes a young Kamen's efforts at coming up with innovative solutions. For instance, at age 16, he upgraded the Museum of Natural History's lighting system using an intricate system of transistors and semiconductors.
With these telling anecdotes, Kemper shows the kind of non-conformist thinking that led Kamen to develop the mysterious Ginger some 40 years later.
Kemper details the interactions of Kamen and his development team, but he also transforms the story into a first-person account. His participation in the project as a historian of sorts is integral to the story, and one of the book's strengths.
There's a lot of science in this book, and Kemper does an excellent job of translating it into layman's terms.
And finally, Ginger was unveiled on ``Good Morning America.''
After all the buildup, there was a bit of a letdown as viewers saw it for the first time. Co-host Diane Sawyer was incredulous. ``That's it?'' she asked.
Kamen explained that it was the world's first self-balancing human transporter and that many of its functions mimicked the human body's functions when it came to balance and the muscles and sinews of the body.
For the inside skinny on how inventions are brought to life and all the ``sweat equity'' that's involved, Kemper's book is a candid look at the process, warts and all.
CODE NAME GINGER
The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest To Invent a New World
By Steve Kemper
Harvard Business School Press, 307 pp., $27.95
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/business/technology/6144839.htm