[icanhackit]

> Pessimism seems to be the default for the HN hivemind.

At the time of typing this the pessimism has been entirely reasonable and I'd say in the minority, with Xorlev outlining the fundamental issues with Hyperloop (capacity, costs, solving the wrong end of the problem) and KirinDave pointing out how while yes, there are more vacuous ways of spending money, when you're mucking around with other people's dough there's an expectation on return on investment, otherwise it's a charity.

I'd like to see the Hyperloop built just as I'd like all kinds of cool, complex and not necessarily practical technologies develop. But it's not unfair to point out the economic and physical realities that will get in the way of those things.