ABGO - Small, easy, transportation for you and your stuff

[Moskus]

(I first posted this on the homeseer-forums, but there's also alot of smart people here that might be interested)


I want to tell you about a product on Kickstarter that I would really, really like myself. But in order for me to get one, other have to like the idea too. And on this forum there's also alot of smart people that like bright ideas, so I thought I'd let you know.

A couple of years ago, we were on a holiday south in Norway. A day it rained (very uncommon in Norway :p) we went shopping. When we left and sat in the car I discovered that I had forgotten something over at the other end of the mall. I had to walk the entire way, back and forth. While I was walking, these kids were running past me. And suddenly they just popped out these wheels on their shoes and disappeared!

I wanted that. And i still do.


In my line of work I sometimes have to drag heavy equipment to and from heliports and across building sites (typical with hard concrete floors). It's often impractical to get a cart or something else for transportation. I want something small with wheels, that's easy to bring along that I can put the equipment suitcase on and just roll of.

I still want this.


Apparently other people too want this, and created the ABGO on Kickstarter.



At first glance it only looks like a small skateboard, what's the point in that? But then I started thinking:

This is what I've been looking for. A personal transportation system for outdoor and indoor use that you could bring along without hazzle. It's apparently rated for 500 lbs (ca. 220 kg) which means you should be able to use it to move some heavy stuff aswell.

A trip to Ikeay would be so much easier! Just load the heavy boxes on the ABGO.
Having to run on an airport to catch a plane? Faster with a Mini Speedster.

Just use your imagination!


So if you have skateboarding kids or grandkids, or just want to move some heavy stuff, please support the ABGO on Kickstarter. It's not expensive at all, and considering the money we spend on home automation it is next to nothing...

[jeroen_]

Having to run on an airport to catch a plane? Faster with a Mini Speedster.

Very fast to hit other people, landing you on the floor along with the people you crash in to.
Very fast also to get a large amount of interest from the security personnel who are already so extremely friendly at airports....

I think that is the last place you should be using a thing like that.

Note also that in a large amount of places, airports/malls etc, any form of wheeled transportation (except wheelchairs...) is forbidden, that includes those really nice flip-out wheel-shoes, skates and skateboards; I am quite sure that this will be classified as such too.


Note that I thought you where talking about moving actual STUFF like heavy boxes, but it seems that this is primarily meant for people who cannot run and do not have to take corners....

There is a lot of cool stuff on kickstarter, this is one of those things that is not that IMHO.

[Moskus]

I should say that the whole point of this is that the "boards" are small. The Speedster is even credit card size when it's folded. That is the point, you can easily have them with them

Note also that in a large amount of places, airports/malls etc, any form of wheeled transportation (except wheelchairs...) is forbidden, that includes those really nice flip-out wheel-shoes, skates and skateboards; I am quite sure that this will be classified as such too.

Sure, but how will they catch me when I'm so much faster than them?

Note that I thought you where talking about moving actual STUFF like heavy boxes, but it seems that this is primarily meant for people who cannot run and do not have to take corners....

What it is meant for and what I would use it for could easily be two different things, and that's not a problem. But it IS a marketing problem. Seriously, I don't honestly see myself zooming past security on an airport, but I am often carrying heavy cases that I whish had wheels. The ABGO could be those wheels. I could occationally use them indoors at modest speed when I'm tired of walking.

So I look at it this way:
$50-100 to avoid heavy and unessecary lifting? Brilliant!

(For me personally: With arthritis it's easier to slide things than to carry them)

There is a lot of cool stuff on kickstarter, this is one of those things that is not that IMHO.

This is one of the coolest things IMHO. It's practical and you get a physical project. There is a lot of weird projects on Kickstarter, likepeople selling brownies and books about leaves. And dozens of wallets and bottle openers.

But even if ABGO is cool, it doesn't beat my Pebble.
... and I'm still patiently waiting for my LIFX bulb.


The ABGO is small, that's the point! Pete (@homeseer) grabbed this screenshot from the video:

ABGO.jpg (144.64 KiB) Viewed 8627 times

[jeroen_]

I should say that the whole point of this is that the "boards" are small. The Speedster is even credit card size when it's folded. That is the point, you can easily have them with them

And the size is also the problem... see below...

Note also that in a large amount of places, airports/malls etc, any form of wheeled transportation (except wheelchairs...) is forbidden, that includes those really nice flip-out wheel-shoes, skates and skateboards; I am quite sure that this will be classified as such too.

Sure, but how will they catch me when I'm so much faster than them?

Faster than a bullet or a tazer?

Note that I thought you where talking about moving actual STUFF like heavy boxes, but it seems that this is primarily meant for people who cannot run and do not have to take corners....

What it is meant for and what I would use it for could easily be two different things, and that's not a problem. But it IS a marketing problem. Seriously, I don't honestly see myself zooming past security on an airport, but I am often carrying heavy cases that I whish had wheels. The ABGO could be those wheels.

I see a need for something like that, but typically if it is larger than a credit card or an iphone and too heavy to carry it will be quite bulky, and in that case those little wheels will just break under it, or press itself into the ground (having moved around a 250kg piano which has small metal wheels, showed the power of that on parquet... oops, long live several thick layers of carton).

The other problem, next to the squishiness, be that of the floor or the wheels, is the fact that large bulky items are too bulky for such a small device, they will topple over.

In the end you will resort to a device which has a much wider footprint, is not that adorably small, and has proper wheels and also... that other negative point: steering ability. Something with corners, which is going to be a real pain with such a small thing and something heavy on it.

There is a lot of cool stuff on kickstarter, this is one of those things that is not that IMHO.

This is one of the coolest things IMHO. It's practical and you get a physical project. There is a lot of weird projects on Kickstarter, likepeople selling brownies and books about leaves. And dozens of wallets and bottle openers.

But even if ABGO is cool, it doesn't beat my Pebble.
... and I'm still patiently waiting for my LIFX bubl

Pebbles are pretty cool, but require one to carry an iphone/android around, which you need to charge bi-daily or so, especially when using GPS and then a watch you have to charge every 7 days, ouch; as such, Polar's RS800CX does a much better job, can go on a run daily for several months and not have to charge the watch, and the GPS only once a week and that with heartrate, temp, and all that data much more accurate than the previous combo.

And I guess lots of people are happily singing the Philips Hue song for quite a while already

Fazit: Everything has a thing it is good/cool for, not everything is appropriate for everything...

[Moskus]

In the end you will resort to a device which has a much wider footprint, is not that adorably small, and has proper wheels and also...

I just had yet another "I wish I had an ABGO"-moment. I was moving a cabinet from a room, across the hall and into another room. With a ABGO it would be done in 20 seconds. But now, as my wife is pregnant, I had to do some clever and heavy lifting instead.

I'm not saying that ABGO will solve all problems with moving objects around, but it is an OPTION, which is better than having no options.

Pebbles are pretty cool, but require one to carry an iphone/android around, which you need to charge bi-daily or so, especially when using GPS and then a watch you have to charge every 7 days, ouch; as such, Polar's RS800CX does a much better job, can go on a run daily for several months and not have to charge the watch, and the GPS only once a week and that with heartrate, temp, and all that data much more accurate than the previous combo.

Polars RS800CX perhaps does a better job for one thing, but even that is debatable. And Pebble beats it on the rest.
Except battery life, no argument here. But as you are (or "as I am") still carrying my phone everywhere and charging it every night, charging a watch every 7th day is not a problem.

Pebble is not meant to be a competitor for he RS800 (but it can be if you want), but rather an extension of your phone. That's the point.
RS800 cannot alert me about emails, texts, phone calls, and cannot change appearances or run apps. That's what I want, so I went with the Pebble.

Fazit: Everything has a thing it is good/cool for, not everything is appropriate for everything...

Sometime it is hard to agree, so we are glad we have options.