To reduce the high cost of rocket launching for commercial use, Arthur C. Clarke once suggested building a platform in geosynchronous orbit, connected to earth with a cable which, using some kind of lift, would carry people up to 0 g. From there, an orbiting ship would pick them up, saving fuel and money. I sent him a dumb little poem about it and he wrote back and said: "That's nice." I should've asked him how the freakin' elevator would work.