Popular Mechanics Defends Elon Musk -- While He Tweets About Fortnite (popularmechanics.com) 139
The November issue of Popular Mechanics includes a message from its editors that Elon Musk is "under attack," arguing that while some criticisms have merit, "much of it is myopic and small-brained, from sideline observers gleefully salivating at the opportunity to take him down a peg."
But what have these stock analysts and pontificators done for humanity? Elon Musk is an engineer at heart, a tinkerer, a problem-solver -- the kind of person Popular Mechanics has always championed -- and the problems he's trying to solve are hard. Really hard. He could find better ways to spend his money, that's for sure. And yet there he is, trying to build gasless cars and build reusable rockets and build tunnels that make traffic go away. For all his faults and unpredictability, we need him out there doing that. We need people who have ideas. We need people who take risks.
We need people who try.
The magazine includes statements from 12 high-profile supporters, including investor Mark Cuban, who writes "When you invest in a company run by an entrepreneur like Elon, you are investing in the mindset and approach that an entrepreneur brings to the table as much as you are valuing the net present value of future cash flows. That is not typical for public companies that are overwhelmingly run by hired CEOs. My advice for Elon is simple: Be yourself. Be true to your mission. Respect your investors. Ignore your critics."
Meanwhile, in a Friday post on Twitter, Musk jokingly claimed that he'd purchased and then deleted the game of Fortnite, posting a doctored Marketwatch article quoting him as saying "I had to save these kids from eternal virginity."
"Had to been done," tweeted Musk, adding "ur welcome".
We need people who try.
The magazine includes statements from 12 high-profile supporters, including investor Mark Cuban, who writes "When you invest in a company run by an entrepreneur like Elon, you are investing in the mindset and approach that an entrepreneur brings to the table as much as you are valuing the net present value of future cash flows. That is not typical for public companies that are overwhelmingly run by hired CEOs. My advice for Elon is simple: Be yourself. Be true to your mission. Respect your investors. Ignore your critics."
Meanwhile, in a Friday post on Twitter, Musk jokingly claimed that he'd purchased and then deleted the game of Fortnite, posting a doctored Marketwatch article quoting him as saying "I had to save these kids from eternal virginity."
"Had to been done," tweeted Musk, adding "ur welcome".
I fully agree (Score:5, Interesting)
I feel exactly that way about Elon Musk. I don't care about his defects shown so far. They are absolutely expected. I'd buy his company stock in small amounts just to stand where I speak. And if any goes bankrupt, I'd gladly share the weight of what I put. But to try to make him step down, feels like s*****d Apple when they fired Jobs for a "stable proven guy"...nothing got invented. Actually, Apple is still riding Jobs' waves and has done very little if nothing to invent anything that will change how we live or work, otehr than what was already started.
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Yup. We need people like Musk. He might need a better PR person though...
Also happy to invest in Musk.
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And it's not like he's wrong about Fortnite.
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you associate, and even equate, steve jobs and apple, with "inventions"? lol.
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musk and companies are indeed like jobs and his, lots of very creative hype to con people and governments in to buying mediocre products.
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He's a world class douche. He called some guy a pedophile. You shouldn't invest in his company or give him money.
Re:I fully agree (Score:5, Insightful)
With that said, all my money is in real estate...
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Short investors are bottom feeders.
Short investors who actually work to cause companies to fail to make their shorts pay off are plagues on society and deserve to go to the circle of hell reserved for people who talk in movie theaters and destroy the innocence of children.
Musk screwed up, but his motives were honest in my opinion, which was to stick it to the short investors. In a decent society making money in this way would be illegal.
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Re:I fully agree (Score:5, Insightful)
My wife asked me the other day whether I thought Kanye West might not be right in his head. This is what I said to her: West is a talented, intelligent, driven individual who rose from comfortable but modest beginnings to astonishing levels of professional success. Life experience has not taught him to be humble, hasn't even shown him the need for it.
There's a word for that, it's called "arrogance", but a lot of people who have it are really extremely capable people. Until fate gets around to humbling them, if it ever does, what reason would they ever have to doubt themselves? Naturally people like that sound a little unhinged; they're living in a different reality than you or me.
I think Musk fits this mold. If a bus were to hit him tomorrow he'd go down in the history books as the most significant tech entrepreneur of our age; where as Bill Gates made a fortune catching the PC wave, Musk actually drove change in a way that Gates never did. Why wouldn't Musk believe he can do anything just through sheer force of will? If he weren't a bit of an egotist he'd never have tried any of the things he's known for.
But his overblown reaction to the Thai cave rescue operation not needing him, personally, exposed Musk as, well, kind of a dick. But be honest: you'd probably be a dick too.
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Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.
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Yes, the tax breaks that drove Tesla and Solar City and the shift to commercial services that drove SpaceX have nothing to do with anything. Seriously, Musk caught waves too. He didn't force change, he latched onto circumstance.
Re: the soft bigotry of low expectations (Score:2)
On the contrary, I expect most people with those kinds of resources available to them to be insufferable giant bags of douche, mostly because it just doesn't matter on any significant level to them. At the end of the day he has the ability to live life in a level of luxury unlike just about anybody else, and calling someone a "pedo guy" on Twatter won't change that in the slightest.
Re: I fully agree (Score:2)
Jobs would be the first to admit that the firing and subsequent failure at NeXT was a lesson that had to be learned in order to achieve what he did later in life.
You can't look at the successes of his return to Apple without him going away.
Re:Taxpayer funded (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's hoping that Tesla can get over the financial hump, they've pulled out all the stops to meet important targets, but next 2 quarters are going to be make or break, and Musk will have to show that they can not only reach the current production (and distribution) levels, but sustain them as well, while turning to a positive cash flow.
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The main problem he has with Tesla is that it's selling products to the public, so when he tweets something a lot of people take it as a promise or at least a reasonably reliable statement. Then when Tesla doesn't deliver for years they get upset.
Most companies have a PR department for that reason, and don't let the CEO tweet. Well, at least now Musk will have to have his tweets vetted so maybe it will get better.
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So you think tax breaks should be offered by the government, but that nobody should take them?
Boeing called, they want to give the SLS money back.
Re: Taxpayer funded (Score:1)
I don't believe you. I bought Tesla stock a couple years ago, and made a bunch. It'd be difficult not to. If you're interested in transitioning to EV's, power grid changes, and/or American manufacturing, then you would understand that there is very good reason for grants. Grants are earned by doing important things - and if he pursued them, then the incentives did there job (but that wasn't the point to him - since if you'd even just read his biography, you'd know he was already talking about the importance
inventors are supposed to fail sometimes (Score:1)
And stock analysis are supposed to be reliable and infallible.
But reality has switched things around. And I end up with mutual funds managed by idiots, and there are people who invent big things who are criticized for perceived mistakes that have not even occurred.
Shaw. (Score:3, Interesting)
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
- George Bernard Shaw
Fortnite is free to play (Score:2)
So what exactly did he buy?
I feel like this guy jumps on any bandwagon he sees as popular and then tries to capitalize as much as possible from it.
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He bought the joke, put it into a SpaceX rocket, and launched it into LEO above your head.
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I had to read that a couple times to get it. That is, he joked about buying ownership of the IP/studio/control over the game's operation... and then shutting it all down. Fortnite makes so much money he might not actually be able to afford to do that, although if he did the players would go back to Minecraft or PUBG or something. Some kind of "how to not scream racial slurs at strangers 101" workshop would do more for their virginity than shutting down a game, though.
Re: Fortnite is free to play (Score:2)
For some reason, Forbes wrote an article doing the math. Epic Games is privately held, but figured to be worth somewhere around 8 to 10 billion. So if Musk wanted to liquidate half his Tesla holdings to make a videogame go away he could, but it would be a massive waste of resources.
I'd rather he use that money to make Twitter go away. He (and everyone else) would actually get some benefit on that investment.
Re: Fortnite is free to play (Score:2)
You know there is a difference between owning a license to use the software, and owning the software (copyrights), right?
That difference is, of course, a primary factor in understanding the joke.
Re: It's mine & WHY? It's me... apk (Score:2)
I'm starting to think these posts come from some shifty AI that just can't grasp language, and needs an adjustment to it's learning algorithm.
This is just words that do not add up to anything but nonsense.
They call me a fanboi. (Score:5, Insightful)
He failed to deliver on his promises. True. The goal was so over the top, what he did deliver is way above other car companies delivered.
He showed what a no compromise electric car can do, how it will drive, how it would feel and how great it would be. That genie is out of the bottle. No body can put it back in. No ICEV can compete with a EV.
And the party is just starting. The batteries are getting cheaper, energy density is getting higher. While ICE is fully optimized and there is nothing more you could squeeze out of an internal combustion engine.
In an EV, you can have two or four motors mechanically decoupled and electronically controlled. What such a car can do, no way an ICE can do.
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Am I a fan? Hell yes. I still ordered a Hyundai Kona EV instead of
Re:They call me a fanboi. (Score:4, Insightful)
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The big automakers were waiting for Tesla to die so that can continue business as usual. They terribly underestimated the potential of the electric car.
The big automakers were actively working to kill Tesla, paying for FUD in the press at least as much as the shortsellers and WERE some of the shortsellers themselves, since they're so old and so big they've been characterized as "a finance company with an auto business on the side". They didn't underestimate the potential of the electric car. They just failed to react appropriately.
They reacted with fear and tried to quash it, instead of embracing a new product category. If they had seen the writing on t
Re:They call me a fanboi. (Score:5, Insightful)
The Monroe teardown is pricing it at 33,500$ for the 49K car. Monroe is very critical, it says any other car company making the body using traditional methods would make it 2000$ cheaper. He says, despite squandering 2000$ on inefficient body design, Tesla is so far ahead on the electronics part, and the battery part, it is enjoying a positive gross margin of nearly 30%. He says the 35K version also will be profitable.
Tesla is also paying down enormous R&D cost, factory depreciation and loan payments. So the net margin is negative and the company is making loss because of that. But people casually say, "Tesla is losing money on every sale" indicating a negative gross margin. That is not true. All the cars, S, X and the 3 have positive gross margins.
I got mine for 50K. It is not a toy for the rich. It is a nice car for the moderately affluent. The median new car price is 35K. 50K is probably 80th percentile. 20% of all new car buyers can afford a Tesla model 3. He may not make too many 35 K model 3s. He will deliver enough for the original reservation holders. But the car being so hot, as long as people are willing to pay a premium he will, and he should sell the higher end versions.
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Hmm.
"Some service employees said they were surprised to learn that when they sent mechanics to help out with "bursts" to build new vehicles in the Fremont factory, their time was billed either to "training" or "research and development," rather than service or vehicle assembly. "
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/1... [cnbc.com]
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No, Tesla is not making a profit. The financials are public, look at them.
2018 Q2, $520 million loss on revenue of 4 billion.
You Musk/Tesla shills are unbelievable, denying reality.
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No, Tesla is not making a profit. The financials are public, look at them.
2018 Q2, $520 million loss on revenue of 4 billion.
You Musk/Tesla shills are unbelievable, denying reality.
You Musk/Tesla haters are unbelievable, denying reality AND twisting words.
The mother fucker said Tesla was not losing money on the materials and labor for producing the car and then held up that Tesla needed to pay for depreciation/R&D/etc.
I am unsure how you take what he said and then run off at the mouth saying that Tesla is an unprofitable company. His statement had nothing to do with your statement... and then you have the nerve to call him a shill. Dumbass. YOU are the shill. A negative one, but a
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Read the first words of his post "He is making a profit."
No, Tesla and Musk are not, that is the fact.
You are the one in denial of reality and needing basic reading comprehension.
Again, no profit is being made, Tesla won't and can't make a profit.
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No, Tesla is not making a profit. The financials are public, look at them.
2018 Q2, $520 million loss on revenue of 4 billion.
You Musk/Tesla shills are unbelievable, denying reality.
Yes, Tesla is making a profit. The financials are public, look at them.
2018 Q3, $312 million profit on revenue of $6.8 billion.
You gas guzzler shills are unbelievable, denying reality.
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Sorry fanboi but the business world has a concise and clear definition of "profit", which is what Tesla is not making.
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That is not making a profit. Take a basic bookkeeping class and learn definitions. Tesla is not profitable, cars are not made at a profit. All car manufacturers have R&D and expenses.
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The Germans will produce cars that make the Tesla look like a joke, as soon as it is sensible to do so from the standpoint of profitability.
Yes, we know that. It doesn't matter to them if the whole planet is a polluted wreck of burnt oil, other car manufacturers will make electric cars when *they* decide it is profitable. Thanks.
Fake news about fortnite... (Score:1)
All my normie roommates who play fortnite incessantly fuck a lot.
ABSOLUTELY NO SURPRISE!!! (Score:1)
I, for one, think that it is ABSOLUTELY NO SURPRISE some people keep trying hard to discredit & take down Musk/Tesla!
I, for one, can clearly see that, everytime a Tesla car taken apart (for reverse engineering?), what found is innovation after innovation!
Tesla cars keep getting highest safety ratings ever & W/O CHEATING!!!
Why others count as cheating, at least to me, is because all gasoline cars are always tested for safety w/ EMPTY GAS TANK!
Is that really a realistic test? Traffic accidents in the
Re: ABSOLUTELY NO SURPRISE!!! (Score:2)
I, for one, can clearly see that, everytime a Tesla car taken apart (for reverse engineering?), what found is innovation after innovation!
Design quirk after design quirk. What else would you expect when a bunch of SV Web developers set out to design a car? Some small fraction of whats thrown up at the wall won't slide off.
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Re: One thing I've noticed (Score:3)
You are't having a debate if you start out by calling them 'haters.' You're simply engaging in cult-belief reinforcement activities. To be fair, the people you are 'debating' with might also be in a cult.
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Legacy car maker vs Cell phone makers. (Score:5, Insightful)
Cell phones, laptops, Tesla are operating where you cant design for today's metrics. You need to predict the processor speed 18 months from now and design the phone. You need to anticipate the bandwidth increase expected in 12 months.
An EV's most critical metrics are energy density Kg/kWh of the battery and price $/kWh of the battery. Elon, in his famour 2006 "secret" master plan calculated a 7 year half life for these two critical metrics. The energy density will double, and the price wil halve every seven years. Sort of like Moore's law of batteries. Tesla is designing, building and pricing the cars based on that model. In 2012 for the Tesla Roadster, the battery cost was 270 $/kWh. Model 3, battery is 130 $/kWh (Tesla's claim) 140$/kWh Monroe's tear down. It is following the expected path. Tesla says it is going to hit 100 $/kWh sometime in 2019. That is the figure when the EV and ICEV will cost the same off the dealer's lot. Battery + motor cost = engine+transmission+emission control+fuel tank cost.
The legacy car makers are not used to engine manufacturing cost going down by 50% in 7 years. Nor the weight of the power train falling by 50% between drawing board and production.
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Traditional car manufacturing is also over-regulated. A car equivalent to original Beetle could be produced today for a fraction of what even cheapest used car costs and could easily deliver 40MPG and run for decades. Unfortunately, you have restrictive and illogical smog emissions (i.e. making all but impossible to have diesel car), very over-the-top safety requirements, and non-safety features (i.e. backup camera) mandated by the government.
Electric cars are that much better because they are not
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We will not give any break and reduction in pollution standards. If ICE can't meet it
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We will not give any break and reduction in pollution standards. If ICE can't meet it, it can die.
This approach is idiotic, considering that emission standards for passenger cars are well into diminishing returns and they are not even near top polluters. More so, additional emission control equipment on cars results in cars that have larger lifetime emissions due to added weight and additional manufacturing.
It is no big loss. Getting rid of diesel and gasoline vehicles will do wonders top world peace. We will stop pumping a trillion dollars to the middle east. Once the money is gone, they will calm down and sort it out in some fashion among themselves.
This is just magical thinking on your part. There is absolutely no reason to expect that middle east will become peaceful once petrodollars stop flowing.
More so, you are not thinking what it would
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More so, you are not thinking what it would take to switch to all-electric. We will need to completely rebuild power grid, we will have to drastically increase power generation capacity (probably natural gas or coal).
The base load on the grid is 33% of the peak capacity. The peak usage is around 900 GW. The base load, the lowest usage happens at night between 10 PM and 6 AM. The usage is 300 GW. There is 600 GW of unused capacity available at night. Let us take out the peaker plants that are started and stopped on demand, these gas turbine power plants out. Using high efficiency steam turbines usually fired by coal or natural gas, they have about 400 GW of capacity unused at night. The electric cars are going to be char
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We have the grid capacity to charge even if ALL the cars become electric tomorrow.
Citation required.
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We have the grid capacity to charge even if ALL the cars become electric tomorrow.
Citation required.
He showed his work. Here's [eia.gov] (some of) the basis for the 33% number. The link is for New England only, in 2011, but the numbers only look better for the rest of the country which uses more peak power for air conditioning than New England does, not less.
The numbers are actually getting dramatically better for available daytime capacity thanks to the ongoing installation of solar panels. The grid is so overpowered now that in two regions (California and New England), wholesale electricity prices go negative [pv-magazine-usa.com]
He's nothing special (Score:1)
Talented creative assholes... (Score:2)
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But Musk for the most part seems to be a pretty good guy.
Re: Talented creative assholes... (Score:1)
Except when he gets butthurt about someone publicly crapping on a dubious,over-complicated scheme to save some trapped kids, and takes to Twitter to levy completely unsubstantiated allegations of pedophilia. Twice.
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That compared to all the non asshole things he has done really isn't too bad.
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So because he was privately accusing someone of being a pedophile, it's suddenly ok?
That's some DNC-level equivocation right there. Just because it wasn't meant to be public means it's fine?
Yes, the journalist is an asshole and his justification of "I didn't agree to it being off the record" is amazingly unethical, but that doesn't dismiss Musk from also being an asshole. Stop being an apologist.
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Yeah but he did start SpaceX. Also to a large degree what you see in the Model S or X was because of his guidance. Both the good and the bad.