4 ms·

I'll make sure to remember these pictures next time I'll be crammed into my economy class seat for 9 hours flying over the Atlantic.

by kleiba 2y ago

kasey_junk 2y ago
Will you also remember the price difference, the choice of flights and how common it is now vs then?
- kleiba 2y ago
  No. I won't remember that I could fly first class for a lot more money, either, because that's equally not what I was getting at.
  - aaron695 2y ago
    [dead]
trhway 2y ago
My favorites though not Zeppelin. Dining rooms, sleeping berths while faster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_377_Stratocruiser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_377_Stratocruiser
- spaceman_2020 2y ago
  Why did we stop building crazy stuff like this? Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits Even our billionaires are boring now Where are the wild eyed people dreaming up impossible megastructures and geoengineering projects? I can’t imagine anyone even attempting to build the Panama canal today
  - neuralRiot 2y ago
    >Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits It has always been, but now the idea is to maximize it as fast as possible and “tomorrow is not my problem”, same as school grades discussed in another post, the goal is to pass the metrics, the final result doesn’t really matter.
    - leobg 2y ago
      You may be right. And it’s odd. Everyone is talking about AI and the future and all of that. But really, we live as if there is no tomorrow. Nobody would start a construction project anymore that would pay off a generation later. Compare that to medieval building projects. I imagine we lack a stable foundation to stand on. If you have no idea what the world will look like 50 years from now (and what people will value them), it’s useless to make any long term investments. Your customers are the people of today, along with their ideas about the future - but not the people of the future themselves. Same problem in education. We have no idea what kids will need 20 years from now. So we just let them do what they like. Not because we cared more than the teachers of the past. But because they had a plan and a mission and a reason why to pull kids through training that sometimes was tough for them, whereas we don’t.
  - trhway 2y ago
    Yep, optimization. I did at some point napkin on cargo Zeppelin 3-4 days vs 747 in half a day Shanghai to SFO. Zeppelin would burn almost the same fuel, and ultimately 747 would provide higher ROI due to more flight over the same time period.
  - derbOac 2y ago
    The Hindenburg, and apparently those linked planes ended after catastrophic accidents. Not saying they couldn't have been revived but safety has a way of constraining what you might do. Reading the main article reminded me of the Concorde. Similar luxury vibes and similar end.
    - WalterBright 2y ago

I'll make sure to remember these pictures next time I'll be crammed into my economy class seat for 9 hours flying over the Atlantic.

by kleiba 2y ago

I'll make sure to remember these pictures next time I'll be crammed into my economy class seat for 9 hours flying over the Atlantic.

kasey_junk 2y ago

Will you also remember the price difference, the choice of flights and how common it is now vs then?

kleiba 2y ago
No. I won't remember that I could fly first class for a lot more money, either, because that's equally not what I was getting at.
- aaron695 2y ago
  [dead]

trhway 2y ago

My favorites though not Zeppelin. Dining rooms, sleeping berths while faster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_377_Stratocruiser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_377_Stratocruiser

spaceman_2020 2y ago
Why did we stop building crazy stuff like this? Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits Even our billionaires are boring now Where are the wild eyed people dreaming up impossible megastructures and geoengineering projects? I can’t imagine anyone even attempting to build the Panama canal today
- neuralRiot 2y ago
  >Everything seems to now be an exercise in somehow optimizing profits It has always been, but now the idea is to maximize it as fast as possible and “tomorrow is not my problem”, same as school grades discussed in another post, the goal is to pass the metrics, the final result doesn’t really matter.
  - leobg 2y ago
    You may be right. And it’s odd. Everyone is talking about AI and the future and all of that. But really, we live as if there is no tomorrow. Nobody would start a construction project anymore that would pay off a generation later. Compare that to medieval building projects. I imagine we lack a stable foundation to stand on. If you have no idea what the world will look like 50 years from now (and what people will value them), it’s useless to make any long term investments. Your customers are the people of today, along with their ideas about the future - but not the people of the future themselves. Same problem in education. We have no idea what kids will need 20 years from now. So we just let them do what they like. Not because we cared more than the teachers of the past. But because they had a plan and a mission and a reason why to pull kids through training that sometimes was tough for them, whereas we don’t.
- trhway 2y ago
  Yep, optimization. I did at some point napkin on cargo Zeppelin 3-4 days vs 747 in half a day Shanghai to SFO. Zeppelin would burn almost the same fuel, and ultimately 747 would provide higher ROI due to more flight over the same time period.
- derbOac 2y ago
  The Hindenburg, and apparently those linked planes ended after catastrophic accidents. Not saying they couldn't have been revived but safety has a way of constraining what you might do. Reading the main article reminded me of the Concorde. Similar luxury vibes and similar end.
  - WalterBright 2y ago