July 7th, 2008
Segway CTO to become Apple VP of product design
A post by Über Administrator and Wise Segway Elder John Grohol on the SegwayChat message boards reveals that Doug Field is leaving Segway for Apple.
Doug Field, the chief technology officer at Segway who heads their entire engineering team (and has since Day 1), is leaving Segway to become a VP of product design at Apple.
Doug has been the driving force in making the Segway what it is today and will be sorely missed at the company. However, with every change comes good and bad. So while it’s bad the rich history and experience of Doug is leaving, it’s good in that perhaps the team will get a fresh perspective into possible engineering solutions for future versions of the Segway (or Segway-like applications).
I don’t know about you, but aren’t technology and design two entirely different disciplines altogether? I mean, CTOs are usually dyed-in-the-wool engineering types while product designers are, well, designers. Maybe someone can enlighten me on this one.
Engadget points out another irony of the move: When asked for his reaction to the original Segway design Steve Jobs said “I think it sucks.” Funny how things change, isn’t it?
The move isn’t confirmed and no press release has been issued so this story is being posted in the rumor category for the time being.
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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