Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Hype
It takes a celebrity for hype to get publiciity. Here is an example of a celebrity businessman throwing his half-baked idea to the world and the world gives him an audience. This kind of gee-whiz, futuristic thinking sometimes pans out, but most of the time doesn't. Think of Buckminster Fuller. It is not that his ideas were loony. It is just that an idea on its own does not an industry make. Had Elon Musk built a working demonstration of his theory, it would have moved beyond hype into the realm of reality. A PR counselor might have told him to be low-key until he had proof of concept, but Musk apparently likes the sound of his voice as Fuller did. Chances are that Musk's transportation plan has birthed stillborn. If so, Musk has only himself to blame for using his personal credibility to hype.
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