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Hyperloop One to Shut Down After Failing to Reinvent Transit
(www.bloomberg.com)
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this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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Who would have known that an idea that was shot down a century ago could fail?
I came up with the idea for the hyperloop when I was 12. At no point did I delude myself into thinking it was anything but a goofy sci-fi technology that would remain completely unviable for a very long time.
smartphones, space travel, organ transplants, & instant global communication have entered the chat.
Smartphones were not invented in one go. They were the result of decades of advancement in computer technology. Each step along the way was useful for something.
Space travel was funded by the space race, something into which the 2 world industrial powers put a substantial chuck of their economy into. It was also done for a military benefit and again, was done in multiple steps. Hyperloop, despite being a harder thing to create, was funded by a few private capitals.
Organ transplants aren't infrastructure. They aren't even remotely comparable to hyperloop.
"Instant" global communication has been possible for a very long time. The first transatlantic cable was laid down in 1858. The only thing different today is the number and speed of cables.
My point (which everyone seems to be missing) is that all of these things were once considered to be impossible, until they weren't.
This literally means nothing, it doesn't mean you can just ignore any potential problems with a concept and just try to build it anyway
And even if Hyperloop is possible, it still doesn't make sense to do, because high speed rail already exists and makes a lot more sense, the US should start building that instead
But we already have high speed rail and maglev.