Invention May Be a Motor Scooter

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Is there any ``it'' to IT? <br><br>IT is a mysterious new product worth a $250,000 book deal from Harvard Business School Press, and boosted by such high-tech leaders as Amazon.com

Friday, January 12th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Is there any ``it'' to IT?

IT is a mysterious new product worth a $250,000 book deal from Harvard Business School Press, and boosted by such high-tech leaders as Amazon.com Inc. chief executive Jeff Bezos and his counterpart at Apple Computer Corp., Steve Ross.

The inventor is Dean Kamen, whose previous innovations include the first portable insulin pump and a wheelchair that can climb stairs. The publisher doesn't know the product's identity, scheduled to be revealed in 2002. But the book proposal cites an endorsement from Silicon Valley entrepreneur John Doerr, who said the invention will have a greater impact than the World Wide Web.

But is all this fuss over nothing more than a high-tech motor scooter?

In December, Kamen filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization for a patent of a ``personal mobility vehicle.'' The application refers to a ``class of transportation vehicles for carrying an individual over ground ... that is unstable with respect to tipping when ... not powered.''

Comments from Kamen in the book proposal suggest ``IT'' may be this vehicle. Kamen is quoted as saying his device will be an alternative to products that ``are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities.''

In a demonstration for Bezos, Jobs and Doerr, Kamen reportedly assembled one such device in about 10 minutes, using a screwdriver and hex wrenches.

Kamen's office, based in Manchester, N.H., declined comment Friday. In a statement released Thursday, the 49-year-old inventor said, ``While our projects are in the development phase and have client confidentiality requirements, it is impossible for us to comment further.''

The Harvard press declined to say when the book is coming out, but the invention's identity is scheduled to be revealed in 2002. The book will be written by Steve Kemper, a journalist whose articles have appeared in National Geographic, Smithsonian and elsewhere.

Reports of the deal first appeared Tuesday in Inside.com.