He already got caught admitting it was all bullshit in various ways. The idea was to sabotage the high speed rail system in California and keep people interested in personal vehicles. Lots of articles out there about it.
It’s been mind boggling to me, how so many of us, (myself included,) got duped by the concept of magnetic levitation ‘train’ in a vacuum pumped tube. Just so many issues that would have had to be overcome for it to work. Cost aside, tube leaks being one of the biggest issues.
In hindsight, it’s obvious. Why would he push two competing technologies at the same time?
I guess the moral of the story is, is that if a company is selling competing tech, dig deeper into why.
This also extends an older rule I have: Never listen to a CEO, especially when it is about “creating shareholder value”, job security or emerging technology.
It was a fine idea in theory every time the same idea has been thrown out over the past 100 or whatever years. That theory might become reality if our materials and construction science ever get advanced enough.
