lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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I missed that update. So he's a free speech absolutist but voting in polls will cost money. Brilliant.
Musk offers to buy Twitter
- Thread starter gollum
- Start date
I missed that update. So he's a free speech absolutist but voting in polls will cost money. Brilliant.
rdrr
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Yes it sounds very familiar to another recent gripe by the GOP... I can't quite put my finger on it.
Pumbaa
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rdrr
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The Software and Server teams are the core of twitter, and essentially he would be defining and running the platform. All of the other parts of running Twitter are headaches, like HR, compliance, finance, and security are what defines the company's culture. I wonder if this is how he runs Tesla and SpaceX?
Nycturne
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There were signs, but if you weren’t following him on social media where he was unfiltered, you would absolutely miss it. It’s just kinda amazing how people can have their eccentricities sanitized in news outlets to be honest. And that benefits people like Musk, Weinstein, and others who are much uglier people once you get a glimpse beyond the sanitized reporting.
I mostly saw the signs because I am in LGBT circles on Twitter and a couple other places. But even then, his open flirting with the alt-right is pretty recent, but can be traced back to the early pandemic, I believe.
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I’ve come to accept that I am the only member on here who is not a bot. I imagine it might be alarming if you are finding out just now that you are a bot.
Pumbaa
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Nice try! Sounds like something a bot would say. Not to mention missing my verification badge… Clearly a bot!
Related listening: Anna the Bot
rdrr
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Andropov
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Same here. First sign I can remember was ~2018 with that whole thing about the Thai rescue diver Elon called a "pedo". I brushed it off back then as something just weird to say, maybe because I was pretty excited about SpaceX at the time. Then 2020 happened and he started mocking people with pronouns in their bios and his discourse got increasingly more openly hateful and I think that was when my opinion about him started to plunge. He forcing workers to go back to the factory amid the initial COVID-19 lockdown certainly didn't help.
After that, this has been ~2 years of him doing that thing people who get tangled up with the alt-right do: listening only to his own echo-chamber, started showing a mentality of 'us' vs 'them'... I've seen it before. It's sad.
Eric
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/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/URSDO6GBMJLYFEEO2TMNIXN36Q.jpg)
Tesla to freeze hiring, lay off employees next quarter - Electrek
Another wave of layoffs are coming at electric-car maker Tesla Inc in the next quarter, news website Electrek reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
www.reuters.com
Tesla to freeze hiring, lay off employees next quarter - Electrek
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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Tesla to freeze hiring, lay off employees next quarter - Electrek
Another wave of layoffs are coming at electric-car maker Tesla Inc in the next quarter, news website Electrek reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.Tesla to freeze hiring, lay off employees next quarter - Electrek
Well he was in the right place over the weekend to look for some capital infusions, we may just have assumed it was all about Twitter, but... maybe not!
Washington Post piece, paywall removed: https://wapo.st/3Whz6EQ
"From Jared Kushner to Salt Bae: Here’s who Elon Musk was seen with at the World Cup"
For me the first inkling was when he was complaining about the launch alliance. This was when NASA was just starting SpaceX trials and he wanted DoD contracts. Now let me start off: taking in isolation his griping could easily be dismissed as DoD procurement is Byzantine, political, inefficient, and well … sometimes more than inefficient. ::cough:: So for someone trying to break in from the outside that isn’t easy.
However, this was at a time when SpaceX rockets had just stopped failing/blowing up regularly. The reason the launch alliance exists and DoD launches are so pricey is that the military through hard experience learned that shaving costs on rocket launches was penny-wise-pound-foolish: the payloads are worth an order of magnitude more than the launch and the risk of losing one is not just that investment but the time that a national security asset isn’t flying.
Again this was a small thing, easily explainable and dismissible. But it still rubbed me the wrong way - I dunno the stridency of the language almost evoked a sense of entitlement or arrogance. And when further stories came out about Tesla cutting corners, getting into trouble with OSHA because of Elon’s whims, allegations of racism and bigotry, and then of course everything else you guys have already mentioned, well those are all way more important and indicative.
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I'm still astonished Musk was able to break into national security launches. That was quite a feat.
Long ago I would have bet money that would never have happened. Relatedly, on a past Amtrak train trip along the California coast, which went through Vandenberg AFB (now SFB), I was surprised to see a large SpaceX operations building and a Falcon 9 on pad at Launch Complex 4, which is where many of the earliest US national security satellites were launched from.
The impression I got is that they were even let in before their safety record justified it. But I’m on the outside, far enough that I may be being unfair. I doubt it though. Beyond the politics, Air Force programs like to show they’re “doing something” and cost cutting penny-wise ventures can be attractive for that. (NB: so far obviously it has worked out) In terms of politics, often it comes down to hiring the right former air force general for the company board or a VP position. Being very wealthy with wealthy backers, I’m sure Musk was able to make the right connections and enticements.
Andropov
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Yeah, in retrospect there were several red flags. I used to dismiss the small things like language choices as simple eccentricities. I was wrong.
Tesla stock is stuck in its worst sell-off since the company went public in 2010
As Elon Musk remains embroiled in Twitter antics, investors are dumping Tesla stock, which has shed about 62% since its high in November 2021.markets.businessinsider.com
Tesla stock is stuck in its worst sell-off since the company went public in 2010
- Shares of Tesla are down 62% since their peak in November 2021, marking the company's largest drawdown since it went public in 2010.
- That sell-off is worse than the 60.6% plunge Tesla saw in February to March 2020, per data compiled by Yahoo.
- Elon Musk has drawn ire for his Twitter antics, which many Tesla investors see as a distraction.
I have long held Tesla is one of the most overvalued stocks on the market. Tesla makes as many cars in a year as some of the major automakers make in like a month. They build their cars in tents, they have a long history of missed/late payments to their suppliers and other creditors. They have atrocious customer service, customer support, and vehicle support. Their cars build quality is subpar for the amount of money they cost. A lot of their engineering is very poorly designed. As technologically advanced as they are in some respects, they also lack a lot of options you’d expect- Last I checked they still don’t offer a heads up display, 360 camera, cross traffic alert, CarPlay/Android Auto, ventilated seats, augmented reality cameras, power trunk, etc. It was only relatively recently heated steering wheels and rear seats found there way into their cars.
Elon has a terrible history of overpromising and underdelivering… while simultaneously doing some creative accounting. He said in 2018 we’d have true full self driving autopilot and robo-taxis. Still waiting for that LA to NYC road-trip with no driver inputs. The 2020 Tesla Roadster is nowhere to be found. The $35,000 Model 3 has never really existed. The CyberTruck was supposed to be delivered in 2021… now it’s been pushed back (again) until the end of 2023… we’ll see… it’s base price certainly is not going to be $49,000. The Tesla semi allegedly started low volume production a couple weeks ago despite being marketed in 2017… I’m not confident they will be making 50k/yr in 2024. And we have no idea how much it really costs- probably a lot more than the suggested $200,000 5 years ago.
Someone could literally write a book here. Don’t get me wrong, Musk’s vision of EV’s people want to buy has revolutionized the car industry. And of all the EV’s on the market, despite their numerous shortcomings, they’re probably the most practical to own at the moment. But as chargers are added, this will be sure to change.
It’s just funny for me because only a few years ago, any criticism of Musk would result in his army of online fanboys going nuts. Any negative review in the press was a “big oil” conspiracy. I’m wondering where all these people are now…
It’s not shocking people are bailing ship on Tesla… but I suspect it largely has to do with all the wrong reasons- musk’s personally and less to do with factors like the dwindling economy/inflation, solid competitors coming on the market, and that Musk built his company on lies and deception.
And don’t get me started about how they literally sell options on their vehicles for many thousands of dollars that don’t even exist.
To be fair, all the automakers are hurting bad right now. GM down 40% YTD, Ford 45%, VW 46%, Toyota 26%, BMW 15%, etc. But as of this moment Tesla is down 65% YTD, which is just atrocious. Especially when they’re best poised to handle the downturn from high gas prices and supply chain issues.
SpaceX has contracts with NASA and DOD because they significantly undercut the legacy launch providers, most notably United Launch Alliance (ULA) which is a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Being defense contractors and the primary players for some time, I’m sure they took advantage of their position.
It’s not really an apples to apples comparison since there are tons of variables, but the Falcon 9 costs as little as $50-$70m since it’s reusable (but can also be expended for more lift), while the main ULA competitor, the Atlas V, is $110-150m, which is getting retired because it’s uses Russian engines and the US Govt decided a while ago to enact ban on them. ULA also has the Delta IV Medium which is $165+ (Up to $350m+ on heavier lift versions). Northrop Grumman came out with the Antares about a decade which is $80-90m, also not reusable. There’s also the Ariane ($140-180m+) from the European Space Agency, which has launched stuff for NASA (ie James Webb Telescope) but the DOD is not going to use foreign rockets.
If you went to the DOD and could launch satellites into space for 1/2 the price with equal or better reliability, I’m sure they’d be happy to hand you contracts.
Of course, there’s a lot of new players coming into the market. But for the moment SpaceX is basically untouchable.
What is absolutely crazy though is SpaceX/Musk willfully ignored the FAA’s denial of a launch request of their experimental Starship rocket a couple years ago. Why was it denied?Because the FAA was concerned about public safety. Think about how insane and dangerous it is to launch a rocket without the government being on the same page. And it just seems like it was swept under the rug. This guy (Musk) has zero respect for the law.
FAA denied SpaceX a safety waiver. Its Starship SN8 rocket launched anyway
As SN9 gets the green light to fly, the Federal Aviation Administration reveals that its predecessor never did.
www.cnet.com
At the time they were being considered they didn't have equal or better reliability - SpaceX rockets were still having accidents up to a couple years before - in contrast DoD launches hadn't failed in decades. Saving 10s of millions in launch costs is silly when the risk is billions in payload + the time lost on a national security asset. Again obviously it worked out, but at the time Elon was complaining, they had no track record of reliability. However, as Elon Musk complained about, DoD contracts are notoriously byzantine - that part is a valid complaint and in order to compete, even with a superior product, it requires a large amount of politicking and connections. Hence, the second part of my earlier post.
Of course, there’s a lot of new players coming into the market. But for the moment SpaceX is basically untouchable.
What is absolutely crazy though is SpaceX/Musk willfully ignored the FAA’s denial of a launch request of their experimental Starship rocket a couple years ago. Why was it denied?Because the FAA was concerned about public safety. Think about how insane and dangerous it is to launch a rocket without the government being on the same page. And it just seems like it was swept under the rug. This guy (Musk) has zero respect for the law.
FAA denied SpaceX a safety waiver. Its Starship SN8 rocket launched anyway
As SN9 gets the green light to fly, the Federal Aviation Administration reveals that its predecessor never did.
Kinda my point. Elon’s companies are notorious for cutting corners, amplifying risks, and ignoring regulations. Not okay when the stakes are high.
diamond.g
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Recently offered heated rear seats? You are right on the steering wheel heater though. They also have been offering a power trunk for a while. You are also correct on the HUD and 360 camera and AR view.
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