Scooter E

[rider33]

'not quite sure what to make of this thing but the iPhone/touch key thing looks pretty cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaDpc...e_gdata_player

[Hoseman]

Love the style. Very cool looking scoot. I like that you can control it with your phone but I don't like that you have to have a certain kind of phone to do so. If I remember right, it has a top speed of less than 30mph. Way to slow.

[btcn]

Yea, cool, but 30 is not enough speed to even be safe, and with that kind of technology I could only imagine the price tag in North America!

[ferrix]

Originally Posted by Hoseman

Love the style. Very cool looking scoot. I like that you can control it with your phone

I cannot understand why in God's name would I want to use my phone and deal with compatibility issues, phone falling out, getting wet or getting stolen, bother with inserting and extracting it every time I get on and off the bike... instead of having the instruments THERE, as an integral part of the bike?

To me it looks like manufacturer is trying to sell us an 'innovation' that actually could be of any benefit only to them, not to us users.

[Hoseman]

Originally Posted by ferrix

I cannot understand why in God's name would I want to use my phone and deal with compatibility issues, phone falling out, getting wet or getting stolen, bother with inserting and extracting it every time I get on and off the bike... instead of having the instruments THERE, as an integral part of the bike?

To me it looks like manufacturer is trying to sell us an 'innovation' that actually could be of any benefit only to them, not to us users.

"Not just an attractive ride, the scooter has a handful of impressive add-ons, including a smart phone docking station that unlocks the vehicle, GPS software that scans for nearby Mini Scooter E’s, and a helmet with an integrated microphone and headphone set that allows riders to listen to music or use their phones while driving. The scooter’s GPS system even triggers the vehicle to flash its headlights when passing another Mini Scooter E on the road"

I copied that from an article about the bike. Granted, some of them are pretty stupid, but it could be pretty useful. Listening to music, taking phone calls, you could customize your instrument panel, use the gps and google maps. you are carrying your phone anyway, might as well have it be the key to your scoot. Seems like a pretty effective anti-theft device. Have you ever used a smartphone? They are pretty incredible. As it is now, when I ride around on my scoot, i usually have a phone in one pocket and an Ipod in the other.

[rider33]

[QUOTE=Hoseman] Listening to music, taking phone calls, you could customize your instrument panel, use the gps and google maps. you are carrying your phone anyway, might as well have it be the key to your scoot. [QUOTE]

Exactly, much easier & cheaper to down load an app than to change out a dash. Anyway, a Touch cost less than most top boxes I've owned & is way smarter than most moto electronics. Just as cars are starting to bridge that gap, bikes will to. And if BMW decides they want to make it go faster,
I think they'll be able to figure that out. Interesting & clearly they have put some major money into it, I doubt it's that far off.

[ferrix]

Originally Posted by Hoseman

"Not just an attractive ride, the scooter has a handful of impressive add-ons, including a smart phone docking station that unlocks the vehicle, GPS software that scans for nearby Mini Scooter E’s, and a helmet with an integrated microphone and headphone set that allows riders to listen to music or use their phones while driving. The scooter’s GPS system even triggers the vehicle to flash its headlights when passing another Mini Scooter E on the road"

I copied that from an article about the bike. Granted, some of them are pretty stupid, but it could be pretty useful. Listening to music, taking phone calls, you could customize your instrument panel, use the gps and google maps. you are carrying your phone anyway, might as well have it be the key to your scoot. Seems like a pretty effective anti-theft device. Have you ever used a smartphone? They are pretty incredible. As it is now, when I ride around on my scoot, i usually have a phone in one pocket and an Ipod in the other.

I'm sorry but I still think this is completely ridiculous. I've worked in IT and been early adopter of the net for instance - I'm no technophobe and yes, I use a smart phone (running Android; I got into that one pretty early as well) All the same, I refuse to jump on bandwagons just because 'everyone is doing it' and in this case... sorry, I don't see any benefit. It's a novelty for marketing sake that brings absolutely nothing new or useful into my life. The last thing I want my vehicle to do is to post updates on frigging Facebook or flash its lights whenever it feels like it or network with other vehicles - computer security is enough of an issue, now I'll have to worry about someone hacking my scooter, too? Thanks but no thanks. I don't need GPS either, and neither does anyone else using electric scooter like this since they'll be using them exclusively for short trips in their own neighbourhoods, thanks to limited speed and range. You should not use the phone when on the move anyway. As for music - if I want it, it works just as well when the phone sits in my pocket instead of the dashboard...

All I need on my dash is the speedo and a couple of indicators related to the functioning of the vehicle. And once they are there, I don't need to update them either! So there goes that argument.

BTW, as I said, I'm running Android on my phone. Do you think these scooters will be available with interfaces and software for any kind of smart phone, be it Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Symbian... in all possible hardware variations as well?
Personally I don't want to chose my phone on the basis of its compatibility with my scooter, or vice versa for that matter.

[Hoseman]

cool.


don't buy one.