Ginger nuts? Or is it just a vicious rumour?

One thing likely to mark you out for a little extra attention from the school bully was being ginger. The lot of the ginger kid was not always a happy one.

And just as parents must wave their ginger children off to their first day at big school, possibly knowing the poor souls are in for a rough ride, so inventor Dean Kamen has sent his own Ginger creation out into the big, bad world.

Whether Ginger - today officially revealed as a battery-powered 'scooter' looking like a cross between an old lady's trundle and a pogo stick (the patent filings were accurate) - will prosper is now in the hands of the media and the general public.

Sir Clive Sinclair will vouch for the fact that alternative modes of transport are far from being a licence to print money, and while Ginger comes with some pretty strong endorsements why should it be any different?

Ginger, also know as IT or the Segway Human Transporter (SHT), is perfectly balanced, near impossible to fall off and capable of moving its user around busy city streets at a top speed of around 17mph for up to six hours on a single charge of the battery.

It is undoubtedly a clever invention but are people kidding themselves with claims it will replace the car, even though it is clean-running and cost efficient? It has even been said Ginger will revolutionise the way we live and cities will be designed around it.

However, others have laughed it off as a novelty - which it remains, at least for now. The first person to take one out onto the streets of Glasgow, Liverpool or Newcastle will be a braver man than most.

And as novelties go it will perhaps prove popular but as a serious competitor to the car it will surely fall some way short. Wet and windy weather will not be ideal conditions for Ginger. We can perhaps assume the cities that will be designed around Ginger will be in hotter and drier climes than the UK.

And while some people will give it a go for environmental reasons, we doubt it will prove a more attractive prospect for most motorists.

But forgive us. The first day of school is never the best time to make sweeping judgements but as with other Gingers the odds are already stacked against it.