Is it a bird Is it a plane .......

By Christina Okoli

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IT’S being pegged as bigger than the internet and more life changing than the PC, but what exactly is this mysterious new invention that has the technology industry buzzing with curiosity

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Code named Ginger and more creatively nicknamed ‘IT’, the hush-hush new device being created by the world-famous multimillionaire inventor Dean Kamen, is being described as the most world-changing technology this century is likely to see. But, so far, the only thing that’s certain about 'IT' is that it’s a revolutionary mode of individual transportation, physically similar to a scooter.

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Kamen, 49, who is famed for inventing the portable insulin pump and the wheelchair that climbs stairs, refused to respond to media phone calls about his planned invention, after he filed an official patent on 'IT' with the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

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The privileged few who have already seen the prototype for 'IT' have described the device as a high-tech motorised scooter. In its patent application, the device is described as 'a class of transportation vehicle for carrying an individual over ground…. that is unstable with respect to tipping when…..not powered.'

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The patent application, part of which is available to read on the Internet at www.Delphion.com, shows drawings of various designs illustrating 'IT' as a cross between a scooter and a skateboard. However, as simple as the device may appear on paper, industry heavyweights, including Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple computers; Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com; as well as venture capitalist John Doerr, have all plunged millions of dollars worth of investment�into the invention.

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Harvard Business School Press has also announced it is to pay $25,000 for a book detailing the creation of the device, which many believe will generate huge sales. 'IT' is expected to literally hit the streets in 2002, and will cost around $2,000 a piece.

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