Keep working on this! I want to ride a space elevator before I retire.

Or you could design elevators that operate like a cog railroad and does not use any cables at all.

Imagine the view that could now be possible!

Probably the "cables" (ribbons) are needed to keep the counterweight attached to the elevator..
I was thinking linear motor tech,as well, but harder to energy recover as efficiently as with a counterweight. (with a counterweight the only energy used is to move the people, (and goods) not the lift itself, except for overcoming inertia and friction. )

I'm with 'Slowburn' - the thought of an elevator that high gives me goose pimples! I've read of 'lifts' for houses that run on the idea of vacuum. above and air pressure below the cabin, I wonder if they would scale up? At least if the power fails, slowly controlled leakage would gently lower the cabin to the ground floor.

What about the same concept as an electric tram/bus. Electric motors in the actual elevator, with dragging contacts on electrified rails that run the length of the shaft.
Such a system could allow for horizontal and vertical shafts to honeycomb a building without complex cabling.

Didn't anybody suggesting some form of linear motor to be used with lifts /elevators read MD's commet (the 4th one from the top)?
The reason cables are used is that they are the most efficient and reliable. Yes, linear motors could be used, but I think energy recuperation from descending lifts with this method would be far less efficient than using a simple counterweight in a standard cable design.

500 meters seems like an arbitrary limit. I finished a program for a cable lubrication system earlier this year for hoists lowering sensor packages down oil wells and they were dropping them over 20,000 feet. Even take a look at the cranes during skyscraper construction - they go from the top of the building all the way down which can be more than 500m In mines there are hoist that I am sure go more than 500m down in one shot. I just did a quick search for wire rope strength (http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com/lifting/winches/wireropechart.htm) and 1 in dia Cable weight 1.85 lbs per foot. Recommeded working weight at 5:1 safety factor is 20680 lbs. At 11178 feet the weight of the cable equals the recommended load. At 5280 feet the weight of the cable is 9758 lbs leaving a capacity of 10912 lbs. While the weight of the cable may be one of the factors limiting the amount a passenger elevator can move I am sure that there must be additional considerations not explained.

years ago at WSU profs were testing melted basalt spun onto a reel. they found it not only had great insulation properties, but had the tensile strength seven times that of steel. I don't see why it couldn't be used and be lighter yet. recently, here on gizmag, there was an article about the strength of graphene. that it might end up being the strongest ever.

re; Short Fuse
The counter weight limits the weight the motor/generator has to lift but it also limits the energy that the motor/generator has for generating electricity on the down run and there is a lot of unnecessary friction with the counter weight. Also using a tram system you can run dozens of cars in the same 2 shafts moving people at a more natural flow.