Comment by nine_k
7 hours ago
It took 15 if not 20 years to commercialize even such obvious, low-tech thing as radio telegraph, which can literally be built form common house supplies. It happened about 60 years after Maxwell predicted the electromagnetic waves theoretically.
Red LEDs were invented / discovered in 1920s, became commercially successful as indicators in 1960s. Optical fibers were invented in 1920s or so, became a commercial success in 1980s.
Certain things just take time. Do not dismiss a good physical effect, they are much more rare than so-called good ideas.
It doesn't take long to commercialize feasible new tech in this day and age. If someone invented an electromagnetic hovercar tomorrow, it will be available for sale next week and regulations will follow after.
Waymo has cars that drive themselves and are dramatically safer than people in most conditions and yet they're only in select cities.
Do you just think Google hates money, or does this only work for hover cars
I don't know the costs and logistics of such an operation. Maybe you do?
The only technologies that are commercialised quickly today are the ones that can be commercialised quickly. The ones that can't won't be for decades yet.
In short, if a tech takes 40 years to be commercialised it would have been invented some time in the 80s.
What advantage would hovering have?
No Street Infrastructure needeed to drive anywhere (kinda).
It feels a little disjointed to compare old tech. Computing tech iteration cycles and adoption rates seem more interesting than things at the dawn of communications technology.
Communication technologies have been evolving for billions of years