As for him taking cutting edge technologies that already existed and just furthering their evolution.... well, yeah. He is not reinventing the wheel, but his versions of the wheel kick major ass and in fairness SpaceX and Tesla have done some amazing things that have not been done before. Standing on the shoulders of his predecessors? Of course he is.if Elon Musk were Howard Hughes and Hyperloop was the Spruce Goose, this would be the equivalent of a rich recluse saying he was going to make a nuclear-powered flying boat out of leather and whalebone that would carry divisions of troops to Europe via orbital transection.
This is what I think is the biggest misunderstanding. He's not building anything. He's made that abundantly clear. He has zero intention of building the Hyperloop or any incarnation thereof. He's prompting a conversation, greasing the wheels of thought for a potential alternative to HSR. Good, let's see what does or does not come of it.
Right. But if I say "I want to build a mach 2 tunnel under Bakersfield" I'm a crazed moron. If Elon Musk does it, though, he must know something we don't, after all, he's a visionary. SpaceX and Tesla are any other startup sprinkled with money. The roadster was a Lotus Elise with an electric motor - I've built Land Rovers with electric motors, it ain't no thing. The Model S in 2013 is pretty much exactly where the GM EV1 was in 2003. As far as SpaceX, rockets aren't easy to make, but it's not like Peenemunde wasn't 70 years ago. There's some prior art there... and when you've spent $1.2 billion dollars, you're within spitting distance of the original Mercury Program. Elon Musk isn't an inventor, he's an entrepreneur. He didn't come up with Paypal, he bought it. He didn't invent the electric car, he invested in it. He didn't invent the rocket, he privatized it. And Hyperloop is orders of magnitude wonkier than anything even the craziest of crazies have thought up. It makes the Space Elevator look like a come-along.This is what I think is the biggest misunderstanding. He's not building anything. He's made that abundantly clear. He has zero intention of building the Hyperloop or any incarnation thereof. He's prompting a conversation, greasing the wheels of thought for a potential alternative to HSR. Good, let's see what does or does not come of it.
The fact that he is an entrepreneur gives me hope. Why? Because I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty good at leading teams and product development. Who knows, maybe someday I'll build a space elevator. By the way, if you had an idea for a "mach 2 tunnel under Bakersfield", I'd at least read it. You're a hell of a writer.Elon Musk isn't an inventor, he's an entrepreneur.
Perhaps why I have such an affection for the guy. There are so many other sure fire ways for him to take his piles of money and turn them in to larger piles of money. Ways that would be quicker, far less risky, have a much greater yield and even be more altruistic. If he's a crazed moron, then please let there be more of them. I get your point, which is that he gets a free pass on crazy, but that doesn't bother me one bit. -That has been earned through past successes.
...and I'm down with that. But as an entrepreneur, the path to success is to go buy lunch for some of your pet scientists and engineers and say "hey guys, I'm filthy fucking rich and I feel like building a Mach 2 tunnel under Bakersfield. What do you think?" This gives them an opportunity to say "Hey, Elon, you're dope and all and Teslas are some of the sexiest electric cars ever made, but there's a reason nobody rides around in bank tubes, despite their invention in 1836. Maybe we could, I dunno, cure cancer or start an Ekranoplan company or something instead. We're more likely to succeed and that way you don't look quite so much like a toenail collector." I suspect this happened and he was annoyed that those with half a clue told him he had none, so he went around them and said "I'm not going to invest in this (because my peeps told me it was a batshit insane idea) but somebody should (so that if it works I still get credit). It'd totally work, I ran the numbers (based on the fact that I have no expertise in this subject whatsoever). KTHXBYE." Robert Heinlein envisioned a world encircled by slidewalks. He was a hell of a writer, too, but that didn't lead to their adaptation outside of airports and subway terminals.Perhaps why I have such an affection for the guy.
By the way, if you had an idea for a "mach 2 tunnel under Bakersfield", I'd at least read it. You're a hell of a writer.
Still, it's worth having the idea out there and having people talking about it, even if to say "this is crazy... but this tangential idea isn't so crazy..." But yeah, if it were a fool proof plan, it would be called the TeslaLoop or Loop-X."I'm not going to invest in this (because my peeps told me it was a batshit insane idea) but somebody should (so that if it works I still get credit). It'd totally work, I ran the numbers (based on the fact that I have no expertise in this subject whatsoever). KTHXBYE."
-I actually don't think this is far-fetched at all, I'm inclined to agree with you. If it was worth betting on, he'd have taken that bet.