Road Cycling - How many cogs?

Ok, with campy having ten speed now shimano joining that boat, whats a realistic limit for how many cogs on a cassette? Taking into account the actual width of each cog how much wider will we get? Are we going to ever have 2x20? Is it just a matter of time? Surely 10 seems like a good max, I dont see much need for more, of course this was probably said when there were 7&8 cog cassettes. Just curious. Also, on another note, how long has STI and Ergo been around? Just curious.

Why do we keep creating more speeds? Not because riders want it, but Shimano and Campy create it. its lighter than existing cassettes, hence people buy it. im guessing the limit will go till about 11 or 12. its probably not necessary, but why not have it. campy has been around for like 100 years or so and shimano i dont know.

well, 15 yrs ago we had 6-7cogs on a 125-128mm wide hub.. Now we have 10cogs on 130mm hubs.. It is possible to get to up to 15cogs if we narrow the gap and the chain by 80% and increase the hub width 5mm more.. MTB hubs are 135mm wide, this shouldn't be a problem.

I don't understand why life is so complicated. I ride a fixed gear bike. One gear. Thank you.

my suspicion is that the technology war will stop at 10 speed cassettes for a while. it gives about all the range and uintermediate steps that you could really want between 11-23. there might be some argument that a 12-speed cassette would give a nice spread from 11-27, but i'm not sure the pros would be all that interested.

bear in mind, too, that 10 is a nice, understandable number. it sounds good. 10 speed is a better number for marketing than 12 or 14 or 8 or 9.

The qestion is, how many people will rush out to get them?
I still ride a 7 speed and have never said on a ride "I wish I had a couple more gears."

Ya know it might scare off new riders.People that dont ride or thinking about it asks,how many speeds does it have?You say 18 or 27 and they sh$t or shake there head.So now with 20 or 30,dont know,overkill?