Agreed, and adding: Hyperloop wasn't original to Musk (other than name). RAND explored the concept in the 1970s, and there are further earlier concepts:

Look up Robert M. Salter at RAND:

"The Very High Speed Transit System" (August, 1972)

"Trans-Planetary Subway Systems -- A Burgeoning Capability" (February, 1978)

<http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4874.html> PDF: <http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/papers/2008/P4874....>

<http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6092.html> PDF: <http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/papers/2009/P6092....>

Similar / more: <http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/6107059>

All talk and no action.

Going to Mars isn't a new concept, either. There are probably a thousand scifi stories about such.

But Musk is the first to take action.