Segway CTO is riding away to Apple

(Credit: Segway)

Segway, the manufacturer of the scooter-like device that was supposed to change the world, is losing an early employee. Doug Field, the company's chief technology officer, is leaving the company to become a vice president of product design at Apple.

The announcement was made through a post on the Segway Chat forums by John Grohol, Segway's former "Web architect" who continues to help run Segway Chat.

"Doug has been the driving force in making the Segway what it is today and will be sorely missed at the company," Grohol wrote. "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."

Official Segway representatives did not return a request for comment.

Meanwhile, after initial disappointment, the Segway keeps chugging--er, gliding--along. The company's latest big customer is the Chinese military, as security ramps up for the summer Olympics in Beijing. Inventor Dean Kamen, meanwhile, continues on his path to create life-changing devices.

This post was updated at 10:41 a.m. PT to correct John Grohol's relationship with Segway.