Musk's Hyperloop?

[Chad]

So, what does everyone think?

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/08/hy ... elon-musk/

It's not earth shattering. There have been similar ideas, but I would rather see this built than the semi-high speed rail they have planned.

[Spartan_Warrior]

I think this is nearly identical to an idea I have for a dystopian sci-fi novel. I also think, if this is the best Elon Musk can do, maybe I should have been a transportation engineer instead of a writer.

Of course, as you noted, neither of us were being particularly original in developing the concept. From one of the article comments:

As usual for Wired articles - everything is "new". This idea was first proposed George Medhurst in 1812, greatly expanded by Robert Goddard in the 1920's to something very close to the hyperloop idea- and has been discussed, reinvented and rediscovered many times since. Please Wired - talk about the new technologies but at least mention where the new ideas come from.

Note - a quick check on articles about the hyperloop in other articles and blogs revealed that almost all of them credit the idea to Goddard.

From wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain

Definitely a cool idea, but somehow I doubt I'll see it in my life time unless someone in the private industry like Musk actually takes it on. No political will for such a large infrastructure investment in an era when politicians can't even budget to maintain the roads we already have.

[Chad]

The two semi-innovative ideas are that the tubes aren't vacuum tubes and the support is from air not magnetism/super-conductivity. I'm sure someone else has put forth the ideas before, but they aren't commonly associated with the tube. Usually, it's pure vacuum and maglev.

At some point the government will wise up. I'm not sure it's now, but I can hope.

[chenda]

Speaking of trains there's long been an idea to link Siberia and Alaska by a train tunnel (since the days of the tsars) It would link most of the world by train.

It would only need to be twice as wide as the channel tunnel, and there's a convenient island half way across. There is potentially is huge demand from Asian manufacturers to export to North American, and Siberia's vaste natural resources.

[secretwealth]

I think this makes for a great case to short TSLA.

[Chad]

Good luck with that. Tesla appears to be one of those cases where the old rule, "the market can stay irrational longer than you can remain solvent." I love his companies long-term, but Tesla appears to have gotten a little ahead of himself. Doesn't mean I'm playing there.

[Tyler9000]

The over-hype and under-payoff of this announcement reminds me of when Dean Kamen also claimed he was about to reinvent transportation before he unveiled the Segway.

Very smart men are eventually revealed as everyday fools by their own illusion of grandeur.

[George the original one]

Part of successful marketing is turning unprofitable ideas into an opportunity. Musk couldn't figure out a way to make it pay, so giving the idea away is a smart way to keep his name in the news.

[secretwealth]

Fully agree, Chad. That's why I haven't actually shorted them. I like the idea of playing some deep out-of-the-money put options far in the future, but I just can't bring myself to doing it.

Tyler: Very well put.

[dot_com_vet]

Elon Musk's great skill is making the difficult easy and cost effective. He doesn't really do anything new, just does it in a new way. (Electrics cars, space exploration, and ACH transfers aren't anything new.)

I think this is a fantastic idea!

[Chad]

The over-hype and under-payoff of this announcement reminds me of when Dean Kamen also claimed he was about to reinvent transportation before he unveiled the Segway.

Very smart men are eventually revealed as everyday fools by their own illusion of grandeur.

I completely disagree. It would be super-superhuman if Musk could run SpaceX, Tesla, and Hyperloop all at the same time. Just starting one of those is a ridiculous project let alone having success in two of the three.

[secretwealth]

Here, I found a picture of the subway of the future: http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/uplo ... A12468.jpg

[Ego]

Figure out a way to shoot people out of it like that Chinese train design....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snFmLkOmkjE

and make the cars so they accept something like the Lit Motors gyro-stabilized cycle and you could eliminate I-5 altogether.

[secretwealth]

I think Musk just got a little too high watching an episode of Futurama.

[Freedom_2018]

And all this time I've been thinking that life was all about slowing down and taking the time to smell the roses!

Time to get working on my Tachyon Drive design. Slower than Light speed is for wimps