So here I have a "theory 10" -
THE PEOPLE go "meh" when faced with something like Hyperloop, but are excited to tell their 500 friends what they had for lunch at the push of a button. Hence the investors go "who cares?" and hence the "entrepreneurs" go "hmm, I better think about more efficient lunch sharing".
People need to be told something like "folks we're going to throw $60B of your tax money (an amount that would rid the hungry part of the planet for 2 years) at a transport system that you won't even be proud of, won't be that much faster or safer than air travel" to get a non-meh reaction to hyperloop. Even then, fast travel between SF and LA is, perhaps, a solved problem according to common folks - just fly already. Heck, you don't even have an interesting view during the trip according to the proposed designs.
On the other hand, post after post on HN talks about cool materials, 3D printing, maker culture, break through science, etc. So funded innovation is happening, it would seem. Just not in the main news very much perhaps.
And here is a "theory 11" - the common folk may actually <shock!> be satisfied with the status quo? Innovators often talk about a persistent dissatisfaction with the status quo as motivation for their work. On the "eastern" side of the planet, this dissatisfaction itself would seem to be the one that needs addressing .. i.e. being happy and contented is not the problem, but the lack of them is.
I meant "rid the planet of hunger for 2 years"! What a typo!
"From 1850-1871, the railroads received more than 175 million acres (71 million ha) of public land - an area more than one tenth of the whole United States and larger in area than Texas."
Your example doesn't contradict the author's point, it supports it.
But anyway. I am going to say something VERY controversial. Think of it as Devil's Advocate, squared, on steroids. Here goes.
The article could be seen as a rebuke to the fundamental principles of capitalism. You could say capitalism doesn't scale - not to Hyperloop size anyway. Projects at this magnitude simply require that bigger powers get involved. E.g., the government. Sorry for using the G-word in such a refined milieu.
Quote from the article: "Unfortunately, the market does not reward cash flow because the market does not reward value and innovation. The market rewards exits." If that doesn't ring a bell, I don't know what does.
Another quote: "The next reason that we don’t have Hyperloop, but we do have Instagram, is that Fortune 100 companies have notoriously bad in-house R&D. Therefore, acquisitions are driving most of the innovation. " Again, this could be seen as further proof that profit-driven endeavors only innovate small-scale and short-term. Larger leaps are driven by different incentives (I could go on a ramble about the joy of making, but that would be preaching to the choir round these parts of town). And when it comes to truly fundamental research - well, that field is simply allergic to what they call "the industry" (a slightly derisive term, when used in this context); spend some time among theoretical physicists and you'll see what I mean.
When I was young, I've read an essay by a Russian scientist, who was arguing that the centrally planned economy allows for high-magnitude projects, precisely because large financial forces can be easily engaged at this scale. I can't say I entirely agreed with the article back then (a kid growing up in the Eastern Bloc, not really liking the system), and I would not support it indiscriminately now either.
But then there's the Hyperloop. Or any other large scale project like this. Does capitalism scale at this level? Seems like it doesn't - at least not the capitalism of the smartphone app ecosystem. Are there any built-in limits to capitalism? Looks like there are - the limits are the power and wealth of a single individual, whereas some things are too big for any given person (and yes, I am aware that multiple investors could get involved to fund this project, which merely makes the problem slightly less bad, but still leaves it laying in the gutter).
Bear in mind, as someone who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, I definitely do not advocate for the Five Year Plan economy. But I think these concerns are legitimate. And I don't have any answers. Maybe someone here does. Or someone "out there".
Anyway, that's all I had to say.