5 ms·
The contrast to Elon Musk's plan is so striking. Musk is trying to fix global climate change, avoid the 1 million+ yearly traffic deaths and secure the future
by johansch 10y ago
The contrast to Elon Musk's plan is so striking.
Musk is trying to fix global climate change, avoid the 1 million+ yearly traffic deaths and secure the future of the human race in case there is a planetary-size disaster.
Zuck just wants more more users, "engagement" and in the end - opportunities for monetization.
- dingaling 10y agoBear in mind that this might still be Mr Zuckerberg's "Paypal Phase"; making his fortune by means of a generally-reviled yet enormously-used service to enable him to personally pivot to Great Human Projects once he casts it off. Mr Musk wasn't known for wanting to save humanity in that phase of his life.
- n72 10y agoOoh, that 'might' is huuuuuuge.
- johansch 10y agoMusk made $165M from Paypal. Google tells me Zuck's current net worth is $35B. Sure, this might be inexact, but the latter number is about 200 times larger than the first.
- freyr 10y agoExcept his net worth far exceeds that which is required to move from PayPal phase to Great Human Projects phase. I think you're giving him way too much credit. He wants to spread a platform across the globe that "connects" people by isolating them in front of their screens/VR goggles. That's the grand vision in a nutshell.
- stepanhruda 10y agoSo many times this.
- xiaoma 10y agoWhat does that even mean?
- beambot 10y agoBecause global internet connectivity to help the 1 billion disenfranchised, unconnected 3rd world populace isn't altruistic enough for you? EDIT: For those who aren't intimately familiar with the Google & FB plans for global internet coverage.... you shouldn't so quick to assume that it will only provide access to facebook.com (I happen to know many of the people working on both projects). This is like the people deriding Elon for building the Tesla Roadster first for the wealthy. Progress is a process that requires strategy, planning, and thoughtful rollouts.
- lunula 10y agoDoes enslaving them in a pseudosocial mindcage constitute enfranchisement?
- ethanbond 10y agoSure it is! But they're not giving out Internet connectivity. They're giving out Facebook & Co connectivity. And no, that isn't altruistic enough. Besides the fact that Musk's plans are impressive and admirable regardless of altruism. No one is asking or expecting Musk to forego making boatloads of cash. He is and will continue to be wealthy, and that's the entire point: it's possible to do good without doing charity. Likewise, it's possible to do charity without doing good.
- mpbm 10y agoIf you're honestly confused why a for-profit corporation needs to find a business model before they can provide a service then go back to the basics and start reading again. Charities are altruistic, and even then it's more theory than practice. For example, when charities altruistically donate food to starving people, they can either send armed guards along with it, or watch the food taken by the local armed militia and sold for profit. Dumping anything free into a market always distorts it, and that's after you figure out how to afford the cost of providing the free thing in the first place.
- ethanbond 10y agoWhere did I say I was confused? I only said that Free Basics isn't altruism and we shouldn't be giving Zuckerberg et al. the leeway earned by attempting to do altruistic things.
- tcoppi 10y agoGoogle wants to organize the world's information. Elon wants to go to Mars, reduce carbon emissions, save lives and increase efficiency with self-driving cars. Zuckerberg wants more users and for us to sit in VR pods like zombies.
- cryptoz 10y ago> Zuckerberg wants more users and for us to sit in VR pods like zombies. http://blogs-images.forbes.com/parmyolson/files/2016/02/12719113_10102665120179591_3471165635858509622_o-1200x799.jpg http://blogs-images.forbes.com/parmyolson/files/2016/02/1271... He just looks so happy with his zombie army.
- unfunco 10y agoMy gosh, that is terrifying.
- artursapek 10y agoHoly shit
- gohrt 10y agoGoogle wants to flood us with information like zombies. Elon wants us to sit in our cars and spaceships like zombies. Everything sounds bad if you tack on "like zombies" as an empty insult at the end.
- stcredzero 10y agoI need to find a gif from this scene in Flash Gordon 1980: http://www.thiel-a-vision.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/flash38sm.jpg http://www.thiel-a-vision.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/fla... Perhaps more apt: http://api.ning.com/files/bFPh39OVQGutOnwuJRXsBubBr1Jq6O1mbbGdWKtccWmJ9HVlnbl3rFSJzHnn0r7x74O13Lryjs*55NHnoWumwr5BprfGe5Br/masonic_room_flash_gordon_resistance2010.jpg?width=750 http://api.ning.com/files/bFPh39OVQGutOnwuJRXsBubBr1Jq6O1mbb...
- mpbm 10y agoWait, so, Google controlling your access to information on the internet via "the front page" doesn't bother you. Facebook controlling your access to information inside of a website you have to visit and log in to, does bother you. Google has 7 products with 1 billion users, as explained in this article titled "Google has 7 products with 1 billion users." http://www.popsci.com/google-has-7-products-with-1-billion-users http://www.popsci.com/google-has-7-products-with-1-billion-u... You realize that "organize the world's information" translates into "control the world's information", right? Just like "provide internet to everyone" translates into "control everyone's internet." Google wants you to keep coming back so it can sell advertising. Facebook want's you to stay so it can sell advertising. Musk wants your eyes free to watch advertising while the car drives itself. Advertising wins every time.
- tajen 10y agoThe number and mood of comments in the thread is striking too. Zuck is almost a persona non grata in our future, like traditional banks, lobbyists and a supreme court who has never once read constitution correctly.
- johansch 10y agoThat's because he's a rent-seeker rather than an innovator.
- mhurron 10y agoIt's not so different. Zuckerberg simply came out and said 'I want your money.' whereas Musk left it as subtext. You just buy the veneer over Musk's pitch. Musk wants to change the world ... by selling you the products to do so.
- gooseus 10y agoMusk wants to change the world directly by providing products designed to be world-changing. Zuckerberg hopes he can change the world through the side-effects of a product designed for advertisers to sell stuff.
- mpbm 10y agoTo be fair, Facebook was an idea that caught on, and advertising was all they could come up with to keep the lights on. I mean, I can't think of anything else they could do for revenue.
- mikeash 10y agoIf Musk was after money, he wouldn't have started SpaceX. A rocket company is the dumbest way to make a fortune that you could imagine, short of putting your money in a pile and lighting it on fire. That he's made it work (so far) is miraculous.
- mhurron 10y agoHe's running it at a loss with money from other ventures so that when he works it out he is the person you have to go to. There is no altruism here, he's trying to create an industry where he would be the monopoly.
- mikeash 10y agoThat makes little sense. There's no vendor lock-in and SpaceX has no inherent advantage over its competitors, just a greater willingness to push ahead, try new things, and relentlessly streamline. The moment one of the incumbents decides to start imitating them, or some other billionaire with an interest in space (<cough>Bezos</cough>) starts their own version, they'll have competition again, if competition even went away in the first place.
- jluk 10y agoThis is an extremely narrow view - Musk just elicits pathos to an extreme degree because that is the inherent nature of his products. If you seriously don't think social media has brought positive effects to the world and the human condition, you are naive and set in viewing the world through the lens of black and white.
- cocktailpeanuts 10y agoI don't know where people get the idea that "flying cars" is a more noble achievement than "140 characters". All these narratives you're repeating--you probably picked it up from some news article or tweet--is just another way people package their own agenda. What you're saying is equivalent to saying police is much more important than scientists. The truth is both are important and it's foolish to say one is more important than another. Basically you're comparing apples to oranges and saying oranges are bad because the guy who sells apples started a well packaged propaganda to sell more apple and you believe it word for word.
- aerovistae 10y agoI can't even imagine where anyone would get the idea that saving lives and the environment is more noble than 140 characters. Hard to fathom. Strange to equate 140 characters to "scientists," but what do I know.
- gohrt 10y agoThe HN crowd tends toward anti-socialites who don't see the value in human communication or that purpose of life is to live it. What's the point of going to Mars, if not to share the experience with other people?