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PayPal is as far as I know leader in internet monetary transactions. (at least for small volumes at a time) you talk about cost reduction but thats EXACTLY what Elon is doing at SpaceX, the way NOBODY HAS DONE BEFORE, in 50 years of manned space flight! and btw, I am not someone "in the US". |
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Note, by the way, that nowhere on the list of what Madrid did right is any of the usual US superstar tropes. It's all about procurement issues, conservative construction standards, avoidance of consultants, and contractor incentives that keep costs down. Quote:
Infrastructure does not work like the Internet. The increasing returns effect is a lot smaller, which means that the first mover does not get to dominate the market. The amount of capital required is astounding, which is why none of this ever gets done by the private sector, except for the Chuo Shinkansen, which is built by a company that has windfall profits from the Tokaido Shinkansen. And Chuo comes after decades of experiments with the technology and has had a working test track for years. The workers are usually unionized, and a good business culture is crucial. A political culture that makes it easier to build things cheaply is also crucial - and no, China doesn't build things cheaply at all; try Spain, Italy, and South Korea. The technology is old, so innovation happens gradually, after extensive testing, and often the innovations are not about technology but about better organization and political cooperation (for example, through-service between different private companies). Meanwhile, people with real-world experience in transportation infrastructure have built high-speed lines at a cost per unit length that would give LA-SF for about $13 billion. But they are not Great Entrepreneurs who sound like they could be Randian heroes, so you never hear about that in the media. |
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the good news is that according to the LA Business Journals list of wealthiest Angelenos, Musks wealth increased from 2 billion in 2011 to 5.7 billion in 2012... at this pace, he could fund whatever the hell he wants in a couple years
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so funny that you kept only the part about him being entepreneur of PAYPAL and decided to completely ignore, conveniently, the part about SPACEX and TESLA MOTORS. :rolleyes: THIS IS NOT the internet. Quote:
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Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, if Musk has an opinion on toothpaste, I'm listening. |
in the 1940s and '50s, there was a whole culture devoted to visions like this. everyday people bought copies of popular mechanics and considered weird futures where they lived on balloons or built negative skyscrapers deep into the earth's core.
the fact that musk's vision is being met with such negativity here is interesting. are we a more reasonable people, free of our mid-century hubris? or are we a culture in decline? |
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Sounds interesting and I am actually a fan of Elon Musk. However, his claim is that he can do this at a significant cost savings over the current HSR California plan. Right of ways or tunneling, either way is super expensive. I agree that why bother go through all the effort and then create a semi-fast HSR. But his claim that the actual costs would be significantly less are hard to believe.
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Considering that "the most he would say is that the Hyperloop is a 'cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table.'"
...that doesn't give you a whole hell of a lot to even speculate about. Pointing out the obvious, spaceships =/= infrastructure. Spaceships require engineers + money. Infrastructure requires engineers + money + politics Politics are by far the most difficult part to deal with, especially in this country. edit - forgot to mention: infrastructure also requires a lot of land. In places like California, that involves forcefully moving thousands of people out of the way so that you can build your chunk of concrete. There is also the big fuzzy issue of profitability - and in that case, proven technologies are always going to win. |
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^^ Yeah, this. The last time private interests built extensive new infrastructure (100-150 years ago) they got around the political problem with rampant and shameless bribery. That's a lot harder than it used to be. The land problem was pretty easy, too - cities were smaller and more compact, and most of the infrastructure preceded new development in empty areas. Environmental impact statements were unheard of.
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I'm not saying Musk is going to pull this hyperloop thing off because that would be utterly stupid since we have absolutely no details. But I am saying that writing him off is equally stupid since we have no details and Musk has created multiple companies that have successfully tackled some of the most "impossible" and technically challenging ideas of our day. Just some food for thought: up until Musk came along, everyone assumed that spaceflight was something that could only be achieved by governments (or massive pseudo-governmental corporations like Boeing). It only took him about 10 years to eviscerate that notion, maybe he will have blown away your skepticism about this hyperloop idea as well in another 10 years. |
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308K Superconductor Yield is terrible though. |
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this is a very interesting and complete link on the Hyperlook, from what we know.
http://jacquesmattheij.com/elon-musk-and-the-hyperloop |
He might ace the science, but stuff like engineering and politics often get in the way. Something might be possible but just very expensive and disruptive.
That said, of course I'd love to travel this way. |
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