Jed relates to us: >Martin Fleischmann has told me the same sort of thing. >"People don't want progress, and they shan't have it. > They don't want to be bothered."
Yes, you ( or perhaps Akira? ) posted an interview with Fleishmann that was quite candid and to the point. Maybe you have the link handy? I can't find it... The examples you gave are more applicable to reasonably well developed technology than to CF. It's more applicable to such things as the internet, space travel, and oddly enough, hot fusion. Everyone can point up at the sun and say "Look, a hot fusion reactor!" so it's not like there is any question it exists. Just like anyone in the 1800's could point to a telegraph or railroad before the transatlantic cable or the transcontiental rail. These are projects of scale; and in the case of the examples I gave of this century, were initially developed by the government ( and some of your examples as well ). The situation you describe is as it existed a decade ago, when P&F first appeared on the scene. The situation now is quite different. I would have thought the governments position on this was made pretty clear from the last review conducted. I would only add to this that I would not bother to approach the VC with a proposal for cold fusion, for the simple reason that you cannot receive patent protection. The "what can you do by next quarter" thing is a burden but not an entirely unreasonable one, and some folks are more forward thinking than others. OTOH, nobody looking to invest money wants a guaranteed 100% loss, which is the case here so long as you cannot protect the results from the first person who comes along after your success. That's a show stopper. That's what I meant when I wrote "real success is going to mean giving it away". No patent = no money. I would add that I really like and support Horaces plan; it's not the plan I take issue with. It's just that our elected representatives have a clear agenda with respect to energy, and that would be oil and coal. Perhaps if we get better representation, things will change. I know I mentioned John McCain has championed this issue in the past, but as the designated whipping boy of the party, it seems unlikely he'll be of much help. K.
