When the expensive and limited phones predictably failed to catch on, the US military entered into a contract with Iridium for (relatively) insecure phone transmissions anywhere in the world. Ironically, it was the military that rescued Iridium from total failure. The Iridium relied heavily on technology, and the technology – outside of military uses – was entirely new. While it did work in the Gobi desert, few people needed to use it in the middle of nowhere. It couldn’t be used in buildings or cars, was clunky and heavy to carry, and it cost an arm and a leg to purchase and use. While the $5 billion Iridium phone was a technological feat, it offered scant no to value to the average person. Stuck in the Amazon and need to make a call? You’re in luck if you have an Iridium phone.īut staying in a Paris hotel and need to call a colleague for a business meeting to tell them you’ll be a few minutes late? The large, clunky $3,000 phone didn’t do that. Launched in 1998, the Iridium was a phone like no other: it worked, outside, anywhere in the world. Remember the Iridium? No? There’s a reason for that. They took the form of E-scooters, which avoided the fate of Segway to become a great success. Interestingly, inexpensive battery-operated scooters eventually offered the value Segways initially promised – an easy, inexpensive, fast, pollution-free transportation method – at a small fraction of the price.
It was interesting technology – a self-balancing two-wheeled scooter bundled with an all-day battery – but without any clear value to ordinary people. The Segway was ‘cool technology’ but largely useless and therefore an unmitigated commercial flop.
The device did function as advertised, but the functionality did not have an obvious buyer group beyond niche applications: police and security guards in pedestrian malls, tourists who’d otherwise walk. It was too big for sidewalks, too small and too slow for streets, too large to easily transport in cars or on public transport, and too expensive. Released to enormous fanfare in 2000, and priced at $5,000, the Segway never caught on. Few product failures are as well-known as the Segway personal transporter, the two-wheeled electric scooter to replace short-haul car trips, or walking.
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