A Segway blog reveals that their chief technology officer, Doug Field, is leaving Segway to become a VP of product design at Apple. The move was not apparently confirmed yet by an official press release. It appears that Doug Field finally wants to build something useful and has quit the contraption-maker.

In fact, Apple boss Steve Jobs himself thinks the Segway sucks. "I think it sucks," Jobs previously said. While acknowledging some technological prowess, the Apple CEO said, "Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic."

It's quite odd that Apple hires a chief technology officer as VP of product design, and even odder that it hires a chief technology officer as VP of product design who produced so far a poorly designed contraption. The only link between Apple and Segway is that they share a fan base, probably.

Doug Field indeed has some design background, apparently with DEKA Research and Ford. The first Segway personal transporter was launched in 2001. Its design is inspired by the iBOT, is an innovative mobile powered wheelchair developed by Dean Kamen in a partnership between DEKA and Johnson and Johnson's Independence Technology division. The iBot is more complex and more expensive, aimed and only people with severe mobility problems.