"I've seen the future and IT is great."

Some are quick to shout "Hype!", but IT inventor Dean Kamen is no latterday Heath Robinson or Rube Goldberg.

President-elect George Bush is said to be among the bigwigs to have climbed the hill to Mr Kamen's hexagonal mansion.

The 49-year-old American was responsible for the $100m IBOT stair-climbing wheelchair, which was picked up by corporate giant Johnson & Johnson.

IT - or Ginger as his latest gadget is also known - boasts some equally august backers. Top Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, who helped launch Netscape, is on board.

Jeff Bezos, boss at dot.com bookseller Amazon, and Apple Mac guru Steve Jobs, have both given IT the thumbs-up - though are not letting on much more than that.

What we know about IT

IT could cost less than $2,000 IT fits in a duffel bag IT takes 10 minutes to assemble

No lesser authority than the Harvard Business School Press has reportedly stumped up $250,000 for a book about IT, despite not being told exactly what IT is.

So why the secrecy? Mr Kamen - a recent winner of the prestigious National Medal of Technology - says he's staying tight-lipped for fear some jealous corporation will steal or "block" his brainchild.

Mr Kamen is vowing not to lift the lid on his invention until 2002, but has given the world some tantalising clues as to what the dickens IT is.

• IT is said to be "so revolutionary, you'll have no problem selling it". Investors Credit Suisse First Boston reckon it could make Mr Kamen richer than Bill Gates.

  "Of course IT is safe."

  Could IT be low-tech? It doesn't have to be rocket science to make you rich. The humble, yet ubiquitous, Tetrapak milk carton made Hans and Gad Rausing into multi-billionaires.

• Mr Kamen thinks IT is a great idea, but he fears others will take a more alarmist view. "The question is, are people going to be allowed to use it? [The product is] likely to run afoul of existing regulations," he has said.

  Could IT be dangerous? Not much of a clue. After all, the United States is regularly lampooned for embracing laws which frown on public smoking, but encourage people to tote guns.

  "Am I barking up the wrong tree?"

• "It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating."

  Could IT be a robot dog? Real life mutts are all of the above. Even Japan's mighty Sony corporation - inventors of the CD - are pumping money into developing robot animals. Those already in the shops proved a Christmas money-spinner.

• IT "will profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide".

  "Sorry, IT only comes with anchovies."

  Could IT be food online? One internet wag has already suggested IT is a way of delivering food direct to surfers. Though fanciful, such an invention would certainly change our lives and please those netheads who hate interacting with anyone in real time, even pizza delivery riders.

• IT is said to have had Amazon's Jeff Bezos "honking" with laughter. So it must be fun, right?

  "Is IT just a game?"

  Could IT be a games console? With pulses still raised by the recent launch of the Playstation 2 and the unveiling of Bill Gates X-Box, many net speculators are praying for another world-beating games machine.

• IT is predicted to change the way our cities are built and force the existing built environment to be "retro-fitted" to accomodate the product.

  Could IT be a 21st century C5? The smart money is on IT being a new mode of transport, a theory strengthened by Mr Kamen's work on the IBOT and his penchant for commuting by helicopter.

  "Does IT come with a crash helmet?"

  Suggestions range from James Bond-style personal jetpacks to Star Trek transporters. IT may even be a Blade Runneresque hover car. All are a far cry from Sir Clive Sinclair's hapless C5 electric cart of the 1980s.