tell this to fusion guys :)

>no viable prototypes

i find this for example as looking very viable back at the time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MwxVAZuFOs

and actually if you add more props (possible with electric today not so much with gas engines back then) and much-much better control electronics you'll get the modern multi-copters :

volocopter prototype https://youtu.be/L75ESD9PBOw?t=97 and pre-production https://youtu.be/VAEy0NltoFQ?t=78

>Maybe the approach was doomed from the start, but that didn't stop Moller from promising that you would be commuting to work by air in 10 years for decade after decade.

only the last one, m400 was doomed as i mentioned above (and it wasn't actually that clear from the start, m400 was actually pretty logical and reasonable move forward - only after first tests one could see it clear). Put yourself at his place at any point in the history of his flying car development and those 10 years would look like a reasonable estimate. I personally actually say today that in 5 years we'll have the Volocopter likes flying around.

> tell this to fusion guys :)

Drop the "50+ years" and tell it to every other SV startup these days... ;).