As I recall, the "hyperloop" was originally supposed to be some sort of maglev type thing where special pods hovered through at high speed, unburdened by friction. Right? Have we all just memory-holed that?

Somehow it became "single-car tunnels" & everyone just shrugged.

"The Hyperloop, in the initial form proposed by Musk, differs from vactrains by relying on residual air pressure inside the tube to provide lift by aerofoils & propulsion by fans."

Then he bait-&-switched it with car tunnels & *cities are buying it*.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperloop

Hyperloop - Wikipedia

When he first talked about "The Boring Company" I thought it was a prank. The whole thing still feels like a prank. I genuinely feel like I'm missing something.
Elon Musk on Twitter

“Better video coming soon, but it would look a bit like this:”

Twitter
@drvolts what about us brain-dead slobs?
@drvolts qué opinas del asalto a la democracia en Brasil, David? No son Bolsonaro, Trump y el resto de la extrema derecha la amenaza más grave contra la democracia actualmente?
@drvolts a state with money's like a mule with a spinning wheel, and musk successfully prevented California from spending theirs on high speed maglev rail connecting SF, Sacramento, and LA. https://youtu.be/ZDOI0cq6GZM
Simpsons - Monorail Song

YouTube

@drvolts Wow, looks really cheap and easy to implement. What could go wrong.

Who owns the tunnels?

@drvolts

Going through my photo album Maps & Infographics I found this map of the proposed hyperloop adjacent to one on money laundering, coincidentally.

@drvolts From Hyperloop, to a fancy elevator, to just a tunnel. The con is long.