In message , Frank Scrooby
writes

Robinson made the elevator seem like a big, and terrifiying mega-project
that would be eternally reserved for the 'next generation'. It would be
massively (impossibly) expensive and extremely dangerous for the planet
below. He made it seem that it would have the most terrible consequences if
there was ever one small accident with it. Well, maybe there would be if we
were building that sort of elevator. But talking about that sort of elevator
is like getting hysterical about buildings falls over because wooden
structures being unable to support a structure taller than X floors when
everyone uses steel construction.

Interesting viewpoint. Clarke's elevator starts with a little
demonstration using hyperfilament (and it's worth remembering that the
possibilities for abuse of hyperfilament are blood-curdling. Do you want
the sort of retard who is currently happy spray-painting walls to start
stretching it across roads to cut cars and their drivers into slices?)
but it soon grows into a mega-project. Charles Sheffield's tower has to
be built in one piece. Could a small project start paying dividends
quickly?
--
Rabbit arithmetic - 1 plus 1 equals 10
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