How should I understand "beckon" in this sentence?

I learned the following sentence from The Economist.

Perfectly efficient electric cables, more powerful generators and motors, magnetic levitation and a host of other technological wonders beckoned.

I have looked it up in the dictionary:

beckon
intransitive verb
1 : to summon or signal typically with a wave or nod
2 : to appear inviting : ATTRACT

But I am still not able to understand the sentence above with either explanation of "beckon". How should I understand this word and the sentence?

You can simply plug the dictionary definition that fits into the sentence:

Perfectly efficient electric cables, more powerful generators and motors, magnetic levitation and a host of other technological wonders [appeared inviting].

Or to put it another way, we were seduced by the prospect of these technological wonders.

It's the second use. Those technological wonders attracted or appeared inviting to observers, or developers, or to some other group of people not mentioned in the sentence.

The implication is that the combined prospect of all these factors was highly attractive - ie. the sentence could be rephrased as

"The prospect of perfectly efficient electric cables, more powerful generators and motors, magnetic levitation and a host of other technological wonders was highly attractive."

The second usage is appropriate, e.g.:

The shop window decorations beckoned.