The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape • Hacker News Board

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#11

Post by nickff » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:17 PM UTC

This article is completely lacking in historical perspective. There was a time when commercial aviation was a luxury reserved for the rich; one need only look at the configurations of aircraft like the DC-2 and the Boeing 317 to understand that. Between 1935 and 2020, flight became a tool to help enrich the lives of masses of middle-class people.

The hyperloop has a relatively small chance of positively impacting many people's lives, and possibly making medium-distance transportation more energy efficient; it's not a sure thing, but it would be wonderful if it works.

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#12

Post by hosteur » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:17 PM UTC

I’ll just leave this here https://youtu.be/RNFesa01llk

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#13

Post by hungryhobo » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:18 PM UTC

maxharris wrote: post #3

I disagree. I think there is a profoundly bright future to be had with hyperloops, powered by a mix of solar and fusion energy. That being said, I do believe that there are a lot of challenges to resolve along the way. * how do we halt the release of methane from the arctic and prevent the death of the North Atlantic Current (NAC)? * how do we make online education even better and as close to free of cost as possible…

you mean profoundly bright future for fusion energy... i mean if we had that, we can probably have things 10x nicer than hyperloops

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#14

Post by viburnum » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:18 PM UTC

nickff wrote: post #11

This article is completely lacking in historical perspective. There was a time when commercial aviation was a luxury reserved for the rich; one need only look at the configurations of aircraft like the DC-2 and the Boeing 317 to understand that. Between 1935 and 2020, flight became a tool to help enrich the lives of masses of middle-class people. The hyperloop has a relatively small chance of positively impacting man…

This would be a good analogy if in 1935 commercial aviation had already existed for 50 years.

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#15

Post by mixedCase » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

I read the entire article just to find its underlying foundation rearing its ugly head near its end:

> Maybe we’ll even have a line in the U.S. that Wall Street execs and DC lobbyists will use to blast up and down the Eastern Seaboard for business lunches. But you and me? We’ll be stuck on dilapidated Amtrak lines[...] > our only consolation the fact that the hyperloop’s vacuum-sealed tubes don’t have windows, so its riders won’t be able to gawk or gloat as they fly by at 800 miles per hour.

AKA "This is for rich people! And rich people having things I can't have is bad!"

I'm middle class in a third world country and electric vehicles coming into the mainstream make me excited for the future of public and private transportation, but I guess I should feel bad instead because rich people get vacuum tubes.

When and where did this line of thought of "it's better for everyone to stay the same than everyone get better if some people get better by a bigger amount" started being socially acceptable within grown adults?

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#16

Post by bodhiandpysics1 » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #5

Many years ago, when Hyperloop's design was first announced, tlb pointed out that steel expands during summer, and that the expansion from SF to LA was roughly 400m (if I remember correctly) over a so-and-so temperature difference during summer. Where does the steel go? I'm not sure there's been a satisfactory answer to that question. Expansion joints are very hard when you need to maintain a vacuum.

This isn't actually a problem! We build gas pipelines all the time which suffer exactly the same problem. (and no, you don't want gas pipelines to leak!) You can use expansion joints, or grooved couplings that enable movement, and there are other solutions as well. I think the problem that people have is that they assume you need some really intense vacuum for hyperloop to work. .05 bar (the pressure at 60,000 ft) is fine, and so is some leakage into the pipeline, which you just have to pump out.

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#17

Post by CyberDildonics » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #5

Many years ago, when Hyperloop's design was first announced, tlb pointed out that steel expands during summer, and that the expansion from SF to LA was roughly 400m (if I remember correctly) over a so-and-so temperature difference during summer. Where does the steel go? I'm not sure there's been a satisfactory answer to that question. Expansion joints are very hard when you need to maintain a vacuum.

The tube could sit on rollers and/or the expansion could go into pushing arcs out slightly more. There are probably a lot of solutions.

It doesn't necessarily need to be a perfect vacuum. The less air in the tube, the less resistance there will be. I would guess there would be vacuum pumps constantly taking air out of it.

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#18

Post by meerita » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

https443 wrote: post #4

Is public money going toward this? If not, why do you care how a private individual uses their money?

The problem is some people believe bureaucrats will spend better the money than a private group. So they want their money and give those bureaucrats the power to spend the money and believe someday they will make a revolutionary product for free.

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#19

Post by ihaveajob » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

https443 wrote: post #4

Is public money going toward this? If not, why do you care how a private individual uses their money?

Personally, I care because it diverts attention and thrust from developing proven alternatives to air travel, such as HSR. When something that big hinges on a narrow swing in public opinion, and someone starts dangling a pie in the sky idea, the result can be abandonment of the main idea, at the service of an unlikely moonshot by a big ego.

Re: The Hyperloop’s Only Destination Is a Capitalist Hellscape

#20

Post by nickff » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 10:20 PM UTC

viburnum wrote: post #14

nickff wrote: post #11

This article is completely lacking in historical perspective. There was a time when commercial aviation was a luxury reserved for the rich; one need only look at the configurations of aircraft like the DC-2 and the Boeing 317 to understand that. Between 1935 and 2020, flight became a tool to help enrich the lives of masses of middle-class people. The hyperloop has a relatively small chance of positively impacting man…

This would be a good analogy if in 1935 commercial aviation had already existed for 50 years.

>" This would be a good analogy if in 1935 commercial aviation had already existed for 50 years."

Battery-powered electric vehicles have existed for over 100 years, and photovoltaic solar cells have existed for over 60 years, but both have really changed over the last 5, 10, and 20! Sometimes technologies can undergo major shifts due to external forces.