this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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It's time to be honest about Musk's vacuum tube to nowhere

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[–] filister@lemmy.world 93 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Don't forget the "Hyperloop" in Las Vegas, which is just a tunnel where Teslas are driving people around. IMO that's the stupidest and the least efficient use of this tunnel.

The cars are not even self-driving, and mind you this is a closed system and easier to implement self-driving. So far with his self-driving copium, and robo taxis bullshit.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 36 points 2 years ago

That's more about Elon hating mass public transportation. Probably because it involves being close to poor people.

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Don't forget the "Hyperloop" in Las Vegas, which is just a tunnel where Teslas are driving people around.

Isn't that The Loop, not a Hyperloop?

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago

whatever it is, its a human barbecue waiting to happen with how tight and coffinlike the tunnel is from what i've seen of videos.

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[–] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

this is a closed system and easier to implement self-driving

Lol, they tried and it didn't work well, even in a closed system. There was a whistleblower among the drivers a while ago. They were officially in the cars just to keep an eye of things but in reality they had to take over constantly, and they all had contracts that tried to keep them from talking about it. Oh yeah and they got scripts they had to follow if passengers asked questions about Musk or the project. 😄

Edit: here's some articles:

https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/28/read-the-script-every-driver-for-elon-musks-las-vegas-loop-must-learn/

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tunnels-boring-company-tesla-drivers-las-vegas-techcrunch-2021-7?op=1

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[–] Gerula@lemmy.world 87 points 2 years ago (25 children)

Hyoerloop is not a scam just because The con man proposed it with the intent of stopping a high speed rail road project.

It's a scam also because:

  • the idea is not his. It's 100 years old and has been tackled by other before him.
  • it's impossible to be build from the technical point of view.
  • even if you do manage to miraculously built it it won't be economically feasible.
  • in the lasts years it's starting to be obvious that if it's backed by Musk it's a scam in some degree, shape or form. (see also Solar Cities, Tesla, The Loop and the Boring company, etc.)
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[–] takeda@lemmy.world 56 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The moment he proposed it, but was not interested in implementing it and let others use that idea, was a clear sign that he himself didn't believe in it.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

That's an interesting concept. After the shit he's pulled with twitter, and in general, I now wonder if he was genuinely dumb enough to believe the hyperloop would be economically viable, and deferred because he had 5 young projects in flight... but he's also too egomaniacal to defer a project he believed in, so maybe it was a scam from day one, because he is a con artist.

[–] witx@lemmy.world 48 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

During the peak of his fame I always thought this was a money laundering scheme from Musk. Only recently I've learned about the (not so much) theory that it was all an effort to screw with high speed train.

[–] drdabbles@lemmy.world 46 points 2 years ago

Going to run a turbofan in a vacuum chamber for propulsion and use air bearings to float on the surface. Like any of it ever made sense from day one. Fever dreams of an idiot.

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 34 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

I fully believe the accusations that Musk only proposed the Hyperloop to derail the California High Speed Rail project because an actual high speed rail service poses a serious threat to his car sales. The entire point was to overpromise and deliver absolutely nothing while sucking funds away from projects that actually stand a chance of replacing cars.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

i don't think it would have done anything to his car sales. you still need a car everywhere in california outside maybe half the bay area

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Good point, but in the long term, a successful large scale transit project can and will sway opinions and cause other transit projects to crop up nearby. In the mind of a car exec it's probably best to nip it in the bud in case more people get a taste of what car-free ground transportation can do and start getting ideas about transit expansions in their cities, and it's not like he's shy about his vehemently anti-transit stance in general either.

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[–] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 33 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yes. Adam something pointed this out two years ago: https://youtu.be/CQJgFh_e01g

[–] pizzazz@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I remember when thunderf00t dunked on this idiocy like, 10 years ago or something.

[–] n3m37h@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 2 years ago

Musk is a scam artist, founder my fucking ass

[–] yamanii@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago

The hyperloop was my wake up call that he wasn't a good person, it felt like every reporter became dumb overnight to buy what he was saying.

[–] derpgon@programming.dev 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Plain old subway does the job better, cheaper, and faster.

[–] Toribor@corndog.social 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

My imaginary train is even faster.

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago

Literally a snail is faster by virtue of actually existing.

[–] MargotRobbie@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If you are ever in LA, you should take a drive around SpaceX campus and see the "Hyperloop prototype" they built outside(don't get out of the car, Hawthorne is a run down industrial zone and not the safest place)

There is nothing that shatters the illusion of Musk's genius faster than seeing that sad, short gas pipeline looking thing on an run down street next to their overflowing employee garage.

[–] Oaksey@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

Street view link?

[–] thorbot@lemmy.world 19 points 2 years ago

In other news, water was always fucking wet. World shocked.

[–] AzureInfinity@leminal.space 15 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The underlying idea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain has been tried many times, but its simply too expensive and fragile for real-world use. A single earthquake can cripple it.

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

Important to say, tried many times AFTER being conceived over 100 years ago.

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[–] unreasonabro@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)

i mean news flash and shit, but you can't make a good product at this point under capitalism. there isn't a single product on the market, in any category, that is not a scam. Enshittification won capitalism and the game is over.

[–] PRUSSIA_x86@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

IDK man my toaster oven works pretty well

[–] Wogi@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Are you TIRED of having to buy a new toaster oven every ten years? Try Toastee, we'll send a new toaster to you every month so you never have to wonder if you're going to have a working toaster oven! Only 169.99 per month.

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[–] derpgon@programming.dev 5 points 2 years ago

I would go into such extremes. Just on top of my head Brother printers are nice, cheap, and do the job well.

[–] SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I thought the initial scaled down tests showed it was a dumb idea from the start but the company ran for 5 years or more saying “we’re working on this idea that we’ve already proved is shit and won’t work.”

Now they’re telling us it doesn’t work

[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Thank you! This has not been said nearly enough.

[–] thorbot@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It’s been said a lot. Since the first day it was proposed.

[–] pizzazz@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

And fell on deaf years until now. Way too many local admins splurged millions for "developing" this lunacy.

[–] BrownianMotion@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

The Simpsons did it first!

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

Thunderf00t

[–] blazera@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Folks be thinking air resistance doesnt exist

[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 68 points 2 years ago (17 children)

There wasn't going to be any air resistance. They were just going to build a vacuum chamber 1000 times larger than the biggest one ever engineered, then contain it in a thin metal tube snaking hundreds of miles across the heat of the California desert. So simple. /s

[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 44 points 2 years ago

Good thing California is geological stable, otherwise it would never have worked.... /s

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