Problems vs. products (via the Segway)

Fun page about a DIY Segway here. I will remember the Segway as one of the most overhyped gadgets in an age of hype. The technology behind the Segway’s self-balancing trick was not innovative, but rather a straightforward application of control to the inverted pendulum problem. The Segway illustrates one of the differences between engineering and business. Engineers solve problems. Businesspeople create products and services to meet a demand. Be careful when mixing the two. A successful product is most commonly not a solution to a problem, but a novel application of existing solutions. In the case of the Segway, the novelty was there, but the demand proved to be mostly illusory.