Here we find out the reason for carbon fiber was to increase buoyancy.  He thought traditional titanium spheres didn't have enough buoyancy & all the foam they carried was to compensate.  Manly Scott seemed to think carbon fiber provided too much buoyancy.

Whatever the reason, lions believe he went with carbon fiber because it was cheaper to manufacture than a titanium sphere & it was easier to handle on a smaller boat.  He emphasized using the submersible raft instead of a crane.  It was all about saving money.

Kiwipedia had some nuggets on Oceangate. Their 1st 2 subs were Antipodes & Cyclops 1. They both used a steel hull & were bought used from elsewhere. The 1st one they built themselves was Titan/Cyclops 2. It wasn't an incremental design based on anything else they did. It was not a collaboration with any universities. The collaboration was for a carbon fiber concept of Cyclops 1 but it was abandoned. No university physics lab signed off on a carbon fiber hull.

Lions remember the ordeal of manufacturing James Cameraman's steel sphere, all photos of which are now paywalled.

It was made of 2 welded halves & heat treated.  The capital investment was huge compared to laying up a few thousand layers of carbon fiber & calling her done.

 

Deepsea challenger was the lion kingdom's favorite sub, because it could move fast on all axes.  Limiting factor has more windows & room but has trouble moving forwards & backwards.  Sadly, Deepsea challenger was destroyed in a fire.

 

A conundrum for lions was this survey showing generation X deviating from both younger & older age groups.  Logically, it should be $1.5 million, but they have always been the deviant generation.  

Some random ideas were 40-49 being the peak time for divorces & experiencing a sudden division of assets they once took for granted.  That would lower standards. 

Another idea is generation X not viewing keeping up with inflation & healthcare as their life's purpose the way other generations do. 

Most of all, being the counter culture generation, they may not be as focused on buying crap to impress others the way other generations are.

Lions are skeptical since animals with $1.5 million are the top 4% of all animals.  That means only the top 4% are ever going to retire.  The economy isn't working if that's the case.