We've seen all kinds of things "riding on a Segway" over the years, including many Santas, a few Darth Vaders, Three Wise Hipsters (link to come next month), Road Runner (here and here), a Lemon, a Kiwi dog (but not yet an actual kiwi...yet), and perhaps most famously of all the YouTube sensation of a chimpanzee leaning to ride a Segway PT in just a few minutes (along with that infectiously annoying song that kids love to sing to drive their parents mad).

And now, just in time for the North American tradition of Thanksgiving, here's a cartoon turkey on a Segway PT.

There are three technologies featured in the cartoon, potentially world-changing inventions released about a decade apart.

The turkey in the middle is riding a stylised first generation Segway p133, representing a early-2000's technology. The Segway PT went on sale to the public in March 2003.

On the left, the Apple MessagePad turkey represents early-1990's technology. The first MessagePad was released in 1993.

The LaserDisc turkey on the right represents goes back a bit further, as that the format was released in 1978 and became more widely available during the 1980s as the price of players and discs decreased.

Is this cartoon just a bit of fun, or is it poking fun at 'technology turkeys' that were deemed failures?

According to Wikipedia, the "...LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Its diameter typically spans 30 cm (12 in). Unlike most optical-disc standards, LaserDisc is not fully digital, and instead requires the use of analog video signals. Although the format was capable of offering higher-quality video and audio than its consumer rivals, VHS and Betamax videotape, LaserDisc never managed to gain widespread use in North America. It eventually did gain some traction in that region and became somewhat popular in the 1990s. It was not a popular format in Europe and Australia. By contrast, the format was much more popular in Japan and in the more affluent regions of Southeast Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, and was the prevalent rental video medium in Hong Kong during the 1990s.^<2> Its superior video and audio quality made it a popular choice among videophiles and film enthusiasts during its lifespan.^<3> The technologies and concepts behind LaserDisc were the foundation for later optical disc formats, including Compact Disc (CD), DVD, and Blu-ray (BD)."

So, not really a turkey because it was useful in certain niches, surprisingly popular in some territories outside the US and Canada, and was a key foundation stepping stone to future disc formats. An example of a niche use was in laserdisc-based arcade video games featuring cartoon-like video at a time when other games were based on comparatively low-res bit-mapped or vector graphics with a limited colour pallet.

According to Wikipedia, "The MessagePad is a discontinued series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple Computer for the Newton platform in 1993. ll featured handwriting recognition software and were developed and marketed by Apple. The devices run Newton OS."

The Apple MessagePad was lampooned at launch, mostly due to poor handwriting recognition (even cartoons like Dilbert got in on the act). Despite finding niches in medicine, stocktaking, etc, and the release of the vastly improved and very capable MessagePad 2000 and eMate educational devices in 1997, the platform never achieved broad appeal. Yet, as with Laserdisc the Messagepad/Newton OS would become the foundation of incredibly successful future Apple products such as iPhone and iPad, and their iOS operating system. Even if you think it was a turkey on day one, it gave sure gave us a lot of very popular turkey sandwiches the next.

The Segway PT was hailed by many prior to launch, then harassed by those who misunderstood the product soon after (yep, even The Simpsons got in on the act with The IT Bike episode, here's the excerpt you want to see). The technology itself was completely solid and reliable, and is still powering PTs to this day mostly unchanged. Certainly no turkey, because it has proven to be so incredibly useful in many niche roles (mobility/disabled users, tourism, security...and pure fun!). But more importantly, because the Segway PT proved viability of personal electric vehicles it lead the way to the boom in popularity of present-day micro-mobility products.