Facebook Follies of Friends and Families

[Jacob]

That's WAD.  It's an entertainment app called "Elon on Twitter"

There does seem to be a few parallels, yes.

[Josquius]

Half* of the valuation of tesla is based on fanboys who love musk.   

* ok number is pulled from my ass , but from a shareholders view I think that musk is still am asset. Crazy as it seems.

I concur that a good amount of Tesla's share value is driven by Musk-fanboyism, so getting rid of him will negatively impact share values. On the flip-side, I don't know how many Musk-fanboys are potential Tesla buyers compared to the folks Musk is alienating with his current antics.

Coincidentally, a Tesla lost power in Vancouver yesterday, locking all exits, and then spontaneously burst into flames.

I dunno. Musk certainly seems a horrid piece of work and I don't approve of him at all....
But a tesla is probably the car I'd want if I was the sort to spend big money on cars.
They are supposed to be very good.

[HVC]

Ignoring the rare spontaneous combustion, build quality is lacking. Wasn't as much of a big deal when they were the only fish in the pond, but it's becoming more of an issue as competition ramps up.

[Berkut]

I think a good chuck of Tesla's value being tied to Musk is not at all about fanboyism, but the realization that Tesla would never have happened with him, and neither would SpaceX for that matter.

Maybe now that he has them going, they would be better off with more traditional leadership. But that isn't obvious to me anyway.

[Berkut]

Musk is an asshole for sure (even moreso lately, and its hard to see the trend not continuing), but maybe we need a few more assholes like him - we just have to figure out how to direct them better. 

The entire twitter thing is just a distraction. Get him back to building rockets and making ridiculous demands of his engineers, rather then the left.

Reminds me that Isaac Newton, in his time, was considered to be pretty much a complete asshole.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosspomeroy/2013/11/04/why-was-isaac-newton-such-a-jerk/?sh=1adc49d6e201

[grumbler]

Reminds me that Isaac Newton, in his time, was considered to be pretty much a complete asshole.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosspomeroy/2013/11/04/why-was-isaac-newton-such-a-jerk/?sh=1adc49d6e201

Newton almost certainly has some degree of Asperger's Syndrome.  One of the keys was that he did not even publish works unless forced to do so by someone else "catching up." He just did the research for his own pleasure.  He had little to no interest in bettering man's understanding of the universe.

[Tamas]

For certain Tesla is the "invest in Elon" stock for many. It would implode without him, and I suspect car sales would as well.

The cars themselves always give me a cheap-made vibe when looking at them, although I readily accept the claim they are (for now) the furthest ahead in EV tech.

One interesting point I heard in a video about modern car safety is that with the inflation of car weight over the last decade or so, weight does matter since the lighter car in a collision gets F-ed and safety measure are little help against basic physics. The electric/hybrid versions of "regular" cars are especially on the heavy end, due to batteries and the way EU emission quotas work (can't recall the details, sorry). Except Teslas don't have their petrol/diesel variants of the same chassis so they are significantly lighter than "converted" chassis counterparts. I imagine that must be an advantage in efficiency, but less of an advantage when a hybrid SUV rams into you at moderate to high speeds.

[Josquius]

Ignoring the rare spontaneous combustion, build quality is lacking. Wasn't as much of a big deal when they were the only fish in the pond, but it's becoming more of an issue as competition ramps up.

From all I've heard they're pretty good and the build quality rumours dont amount to much.
Where I have heard complaints is they seem to be shifting onto a bit of a sass model which.... No.

[Zanza]

@Tamas: PHEV have typically fairly small engines/transmissions compared to the regular version of the same car, so their total weight difference is not that big compared to regular cars. In general, cars with combustion engine weigh less than comparable electric vehicles, be it Tesla or other manufacturers. The battery package is just very heavy.

The crash dynamics of a EV are nevertheless better for the passengers then in a ICE car as the engine block is harder to compensate with crumple zones and hard steel then the battery in the sandwich floor. On the other hand, lithium batteries are hard to handle for emergency services in crashes.

Everything has up- and downsides...

[The Minsky Moment]

From all I've heard they're pretty good and the build quality rumours dont amount to much.

We are on our second Model 3 now - the interiors are sparse and the build doesn't have the same quality feel as some of the better traditional brands of equivalent or higher price.  But the Tesla utterly smokes them in driving experience.

[viper37]

I keep telling you how dangerous marijuana can be, but no one listens to me.
Not that one needs to do drugs to be crazy, but it ain't no coincidence here.  This and Poilièvre's weird economic theories.

Musk also drinks water, as does Poilievre and at least nine of the last ten people involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital (probably the tenth, as well, but data is too sketchy to say for sure).  All of this cannot be coincidental. Water is dangerous and should be outlawed!

There is no evidence at all that water leads to delusions or psychotic episodes.  There is however a ton of evidence of this for marijuana:
Link to studies

If you believe all these studies and meta studies were badly conducted, please elaborate and demonstrate. 

[Grey Fox]

Tesla is built on the back of selling it's carbon credits to other companies.

[viper37]

I think a good chuck of Tesla's value being tied to Musk is not at all about fanboyism, but the realization that Tesla would never have happened with him, and neither would SpaceX for that matter.

Amen to that.  The guy is a genius.  Super smart.  Totally lack people's skill (possibly due to his asperger syndrome).  He became super rich.  And weird.  And arrogant.  But he's still a bold genius.

Maybe now that he has them going, they would be better off with more traditional leadership. But that isn't obvious to me anyway.

Tesla was a precursor.  They were the first successful commercial brand with electric engine.  

And they were the first to sell directly to consumers without a dealership system.  The first to sell cars 2-3 years before they were ready, with consumers not even sitting in the car to try it first.  That's something traditional brands were unwilling to do.  Until recently.  The most recent car buyers told me they have to order their car in advance, be on a waiting list, and commit to buying without trying it first.  And some companies are letting you customize and order your car online, with the dealership only responsible for final delivery.

So, like said, a very smart man, now imitated by many.  Everyone has gotten on the electric bandwagon after 2008.  I'm not sure there are that many brands still offering zero electric cars in their lineup now.  And they didn't wait for more stringent regulations to do it, they watched Tesla.

Just like in the tv & movie business every network now wants to imitate Netflix where as it was inconceivable a few years ago.

They smell the scent of profit.  They can sell inferior products at a premium price, they're all jumping on it.

[DGuller]

I keep telling you how dangerous marijuana can be, but no one listens to me.
Not that one needs to do drugs to be crazy, but it ain't no coincidence here.  This and Poilièvre's weird economic theories.

Musk also drinks water, as does Poilievre and at least nine of the last ten people involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital (probably the tenth, as well, but data is too sketchy to say for sure).  All of this cannot be coincidental. Water is dangerous and should be outlawed!

There is no evidence at all that water leads to delusions or psychotic episodes.  There is however a ton of evidence of this for marijuana:
Link to studies

If you believe all these studies and meta studies were badly conducted, please elaborate and demonstrate. 

I recall reading multiple times that pot use early in life increases the risk of schizophrenia, though it's not clear whether it increases the general risk, or just accentuates the existing predisposition.  Has that link ever been discredited?

[Barrister]

I recall reading multiple times that pot use early in life increases the risk of schizophrenia, though it's not clear whether it increases the general risk, or just accentuates the existing predisposition.  Has that link ever been discredited?

There is a well-known correlation between marijuana and schizophrenia.

But because you can't exactly do double-blind studies on marijuana, we can't necessarily attribute causation - it might be that people susceptible to schizophrenia are just more likely to use marijuana.