It's surprising that the Watery nature of steam isn't mentioned in the article at all, as it is a terrible material on which to build any reliable consumer technology:

    * Corrosive
    * Heavy
    * Does not lubricate
    * Huge heat capacity, i.e. you get cooked if even a little bit of it gets on you)

About the only advantage it has is being cheap, available, and nontoxic which is cool for factories built on rivers