The price of college textbooks in America can give you a heart attack. Students aren’t buying new books as much as they used to, which in a normal market would mean the publishers would have to lower prices- you know, supply and demand. However, with textbooks, very first book printed cost the company a lot of money to produce, and every copy thereafter is just the price of paper and printing. Sell 10,000 books at $50 each, and your initial costs will certainly be covered; the rest is profit -until students start buying the books used. However, all a publisher has to do is tweak it slightly, call it a new edition, and the cycle of profit begins anew. This comic is from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. -via Daily of the Day
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S.O.F.T.!?
Also, the direction of motion would need to be picked with some care. In most of the shown applications, the convex leading edge is moving in such a way as to create an on-going pinch hazard with the static side of the escalator. If something (foot, clothing, shopping bag, etc) were set there and brushed the side of the escalator, it would be pushed back until it wedged between the side of the escalator and the step. Maintenance and possible pain with lawsuit ensue.
Lastly, in some applications the ability to reverse the escalator is desired. For instance, at stadiums, train stations and other locations where there is a tidal flow of people (rush hour, before the game and after it, etc), where it wouldn't be practical.
Still a very cool idea. Very creative and great to see someone thinking about these things!