Comment by bryanlarsen

SpaceX is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Reusable rockets were "known" to be financially infeasible because the Space Shuttle was so expensive. NASA & oldspace didn't seriously pursue reusable vehicles because the mostly reusable Space Shuttle cost so much more than conventional disposable vehicles.

Similar to how Sears didn't put their catalog online in the 90's because putting it online on Prodigy failed so badly in the 80's.