hyperloop
- Thread starter jeffvader
- Start date
-
Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Haast
Lord Nagafen Raider
- 3,281
- 1,636
Actually, on the topic of cramped spaces, has anyone ever seen the original capsules used in early US spaceflight? I was touring a NASA facility and saw a miniature model of one hanging in an exhibit. Then I read the exhibit plaque and realized it wasn't a miniature model, it was the real f'ing capsule. Tiny doesn't begin to describe it. The entire thing is ~11' tall x 6' wide. And those are the outside dimensions. There is a shitload of instrumentation, shielding, life support, etc in there. Meaning there was just enough room to shoehorn an adult in there.. sort of. I think the quote on the plaque from one of the astronauts read "You don't really get into the Mercury capsule, you put it on." Classic.
EDIT: Here's a visual aid.
EDIT: Here's a visual aid.
Szlia
Member
- 6,629
- 1,374
You point at something interesting that defeats your own argument (on top of the fact a subway car is a big public space). Why do you think there are windows in subway cars? Even in subways that do not have a single line that goes over ground? It's to create a sense of space and movement, a visual trick that diminishes the claustrophobic feeling one would have without the windows.
Szlia, you're focused on the claustrophobic aspects of this. You keep coming back with reasons why a claustrophobic person wouldn't want to get on this particular form of travel. I understand the thought process and I can empathize but that's where it stops. People afraid of water get on the boat or they don't. People afraid of heights get on the plane or they don't. People afraid of enclosed spaces get on the elevator or they don't.
Yes, there will be people who can't ride the hyperloop because it's too long of a time in an enclosed space. Those people will be a handful out of one hundred. Progress didn't stop before and it's not going to stop now.
Szlia
Member
- 6,629
- 1,374
Let me nuance my point now that its core seems somewhat clearer than at the beginning. I don't think it is a boolean proposition (as in: claustrophobic people don't use it, others use it), every user will weight the discomfort of the service against the benefits of the service (others made that point earlier, but took a rather extreme stance, saying basically that commute time trumps all). I think the discomfort is very high for a big chunk of potential users (and high for many others) and I feel a slower, less energy efficient, but user-friendlier solution should be the target (make it a 45min or 1 hour trip and it's still a commute while the 3h high speed train ride is still a journey).
All that Szlia conversation makes me think about the Louis CK bit on the inventors of commercial flight, "Hey don't invent it, they make you wait for 40 minutes, doesn't seems worth it".
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
- 47,300
- 80,505
I think Szilia just jumped the gun and picked a bad horse to ride before thinking about it but he'll be damned if he gets off it.
Bottom line is if people can pay $20 for a 30minute 600 mile journey with reasonable safety assurances they will.
And that doesn't even get into the potential future of the technology if the above is the first iteration.
Famm
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 11,041
- 794
If it was really that fast and efficient then yeah, I can see it. But it does sound half nightmarish in a way. I agree, it would be comforting to know that if you did end up stopped unexpectedly there would be hatches on the car and the tube to get out of it instead of being stuck in it for who knows how long. Other than that I'm sure any of us could handle it for a half hour if it offered the kind of convenient travel times they are talking about. But it is still a little creepy.
Haast
Lord Nagafen Raider
- 3,281
- 1,636
ZyyzYzzy
RIP USA
- 25,295
- 48,789
Maybe in Sweden your subway cars are big public spaces, but here during commuting hours they are cramped, hot hell holes.
Szlia
Member
- 6,629
- 1,374
I'll confess I did not realize it currently takes 5+ hours to travel by train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, so the service provided is outstanding. I'll maintain though that the design of the vehicle is very poor and that the volume of passengers makes me scratch my head
EDIT: they target 840 passengers an hour, which is basically nothing as far as commuting numbers are concerned. Between two swiss cities (10 times smaller than Los Angeles and San Francisco) 40 min apart, trains are able to move about 2k people per hour and let me tell you you have to be lucky to be able to sit down during the morning trips).
Chukzombi
Millie's Staff Member
- 72,965
- 214,246
Even if they build the thing cheaply and it does everything as advertised its still going to be just a novelty. Imagine you live in la and get a job in frisco. You cant use the hyperloop to get to work reliably every day. Imagine the waiting list to use the damned thing. Besides once you get to your destination you still gotta take a bus near your place of business.
fanaskin
Well known agitator
- 55,931
- 138,213
Alex
Still a Music Elitist
- 14,665
- 7,482
Melvin
Blackwing Lair Raider
- 1,399
- 1,168
I'm not sure that comparing this to commuter trains is fair. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they may be aimed at serving different purposes even though the hyperloop does look like an evolution of train technology. What I think is a more appropriate comparison is: How many people are able to fly from LA to SF per hour?
