Catch a ride on your suitcase with Modobag
It’s either the most brilliant idea or the most involved prank to ever hit the internet: motorized luggage that travelers can mount like tricycles to zip around the airport.
So, Tim Ryan: Is this for real?
“It’s very much for real,” says Ryan, head of marketing for Modobag, the brand name of the motorized carry-on that has become ubiquitous on social media since its debut a little more than a week ago on the crowdfunding site IndieGoGo.
As of Thursday, the fundraising campaign had raised 364 percent of its $50,000 goal with about three weeks left to go. Meanwhile, videos of the Modobag in action (www.indiegogo.com/projects/modobag-world-s-first-motorized-rideable-luggage-travel-technology#/) are piquing the interest of fun-loving travelers, while the bag continues to attract media interest across the country.
But, seriously? “We definitely want to bring it to market,” says Ryan, who, while conceding Modobag’s fun side, points out its functionality, too.
According to Ryan, the bag offers 85 percent of the stowage space of a regular carry-on bag, operates via a high-tech lithium power source that can power a traveler’s electronic devices, meets Transportation Security Administration carry-on guidelines and even has a GPS navigation system that’ll let you know where it is.
And, oh yeah, you can ride it like a dime-store pony.
Ryan says the target audience for Modobag includes frequent travelers as well as conventioneers and business people who have to traverse cavernous convention halls and meeting spaces. It also might be useful, he says, to students and professors navigating large campuses.
Orders already are being taken for delivery early next year, Ryan says. Pricing now is at $995, which will jump to about $1,495 when Modobag hits the general market.
Ryan says he has heard skepticism about Modobag, first about whether it’s real and, then, about what might happen when multiple Modobag riders start running into things, and each other, at busy airports.
The device can travel up to 8 mph, Ryan says, but “certainly, there is an element of personal responsibility that comes along with this.”
Read more from John Przybys at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com and follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.
