6 ms·

> I remember back in 2012 where spacex was still a laughingstock I can't help but draw a parallel to how Tesla is considered by the old guard to be a laughings

> I remember back in 2012 where spacex was still a laughingstock I can't help but draw a parallel to how Tesla is considered by the old guard to be a laughingstock today. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16305520 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16305520

chasd00 9y ago
an exgf of mine describes Musk as an alien stuck on earth and needs humans to help him develop the technology to get back home. It fits haha
- pensivemood 9y ago
  An alien won't be this good at human PR.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    He really is an alien. Human PR usually involves making a slick show, and having skilled communicators express vague messages full of bullshit. Musk is an exact opposite of that.
    - treecycle 9y ago
      Well, there is Hyperloop. There there is the idea (or is it a promise) 'to take all of us to mars and save from earth!' The only real things they have done are making Electric cars and Rockets popular. More PR than hard tech if you ask me...
    - somesayso 9y ago
      Well, hyperloop was kind of bullshit that now appears only made up for cheap publicity aka PR stunt. Then there is the promise of taking humanity to "mars", which quite honestly, sounds a bullshit claim at this point. It wold have held more water, if they said it after making real tech breakthroughs (Ie not stunts like landing a rockets, which only guillable people finds magical because they were not tech savvy to know that it was possible with tech that is half a century old).
      - TeMPOraL 9y ago
        I addressed Hyperloop elsewhere, but RE Mars: > It wold have held more water, if they said it after making real tech breakthroughs Going to Mars is literally the only reason they're in the rocket business. Like everything behind their breakthroughs, which they had a few - including landing and turnaround times - is meant to enable the Mars mission. They've been explicit about this since day one. > stunts like landing a rockets This is not a stunt. It's the real, practical, working, cost-effective rocket reusability. For the first time ever. Not sure what do you expect; em-drive? Because SpaceX booster landing is exactly how a technological breakthrough looks like (as opposed to fundamental science breakthrough).
        snrplfth 9y ago
        > Like everything behind their breakthroughs, which they had a few - including landing and turnaround times - is meant to enable the Mars mission. They've been explicit about this since day one. It's not so much a rocket company with a Mars objective, it's a Mars cult with a rocketry front operation. Somehow, people get the idea that they're "not really serious" about the one driving goal that they've never deviated from.
        TeMPOraL 9y ago
        Whatever. Freedom of religious worship and all...
        snrplfth 9y ago
        That's not a criticism. The Mars cult is a very good thing. For forty years, most space programs have been motivated by the burning urge to...uh...send some more people to Low Earth Orbit, I guess, and eke out marginal improvements on technology that never really changes. The force of the idea of Mars keeps people focused on what really matters.
        TeMPOraL 9y ago
    - pensivemood 9y ago
      I think hyperloop pretty well fit the "full of shit" category and I can only consider it as a PR stunt...
      - TeMPOraL 9y ago
        For a "full of shit" idea it had a better technical document than most of the specifications I've seen in software industry; so no, I don't agree.
        pensivemood 9y ago
        It is possible for a "technical document" to appear rigorous enough to untrained eye, but sadly, you can fool people, you cannot fool nature. Which is why "Hyperloop", which was not even an original idea, still remain in paper...
        TeMPOraL 9y ago
        So does the Mars trip. Until it won't. AFAIR the paper was technologically sound to the first approximation; the objections were mostly economical (I'm ignoring people who missed that Hyperloop was not a vacuum tube design and went on ranting how infeasible it is). Also, for a paper-only design, there seem to be plenty of activity involving people building actual hardware to test components. Also2, from the first day it was known that Elon is not going to pursue Hyperloop himself any time soon; he threw an idea for others to pick up, and didn't promise anything. Judging him by not having built the Hyperloop by now is... insane.
- mwambua 9y ago
  He's basically playing factorio in real-life :)
justin66 9y ago
People skeptical regarding that video won't view Tesla as a laughing stock, they'll view them as not living up to the previous standard of quality they set with their higher-priced cars. That is bad enough, really.

chasd00 9y ago

an exgf of mine describes Musk as an alien stuck on earth and needs humans to help him develop the technology to get back home. It fits haha

pensivemood 9y ago
An alien won't be this good at human PR.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  He really is an alien. Human PR usually involves making a slick show, and having skilled communicators express vague messages full of bullshit. Musk is an exact opposite of that.
  - treecycle 9y ago
    Well, there is Hyperloop. There there is the idea (or is it a promise) 'to take all of us to mars and save from earth!' The only real things they have done are making Electric cars and Rockets popular. More PR than hard tech if you ask me...
  - somesayso 9y ago
    Well, hyperloop was kind of bullshit that now appears only made up for cheap publicity aka PR stunt. Then there is the promise of taking humanity to "mars", which quite honestly, sounds a bullshit claim at this point. It wold have held more water, if they said it after making real tech breakthroughs (Ie not stunts like landing a rockets, which only guillable people finds magical because they were not tech savvy to know that it was possible with tech that is half a century old).
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      I addressed Hyperloop elsewhere, but RE Mars: > It wold have held more water, if they said it after making real tech breakthroughs Going to Mars is literally the only reason they're in the rocket business. Like everything behind their breakthroughs, which they had a few - including landing and turnaround times - is meant to enable the Mars mission. They've been explicit about this since day one. > stunts like landing a rockets This is not a stunt. It's the real, practical, working, cost-effective rocket reusability. For the first time ever. Not sure what do you expect; em-drive? Because SpaceX booster landing is exactly how a technological breakthrough looks like (as opposed to fundamental science breakthrough).
      - snrplfth 9y ago
        > Like everything behind their breakthroughs, which they had a few - including landing and turnaround times - is meant to enable the Mars mission. They've been explicit about this since day one. It's not so much a rocket company with a Mars objective, it's a Mars cult with a rocketry front operation. Somehow, people get the idea that they're "not really serious" about the one driving goal that they've never deviated from.
        TeMPOraL 9y ago
        Whatever. Freedom of religious worship and all...
        snrplfth 9y ago
        That's not a criticism. The Mars cult is a very good thing. For forty years, most space programs have been motivated by the burning urge to...uh...send some more people to Low Earth Orbit, I guess, and eke out marginal improvements on technology that never really changes. The force of the idea of Mars keeps people focused on what really matters.
        TeMPOraL 9y ago
  - pensivemood 9y ago
    I think hyperloop pretty well fit the "full of shit" category and I can only consider it as a PR stunt...
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      For a "full of shit" idea it had a better technical document than most of the specifications I've seen in software industry; so no, I don't agree.
      - pensivemood 9y ago
        It is possible for a "technical document" to appear rigorous enough to untrained eye, but sadly, you can fool people, you cannot fool nature. Which is why "Hyperloop", which was not even an original idea, still remain in paper...
        TeMPOraL 9y ago
        So does the Mars trip. Until it won't. AFAIR the paper was technologically sound to the first approximation; the objections were mostly economical (I'm ignoring people who missed that Hyperloop was not a vacuum tube design and went on ranting how infeasible it is). Also, for a paper-only design, there seem to be plenty of activity involving people building actual hardware to test components. Also2, from the first day it was known that Elon is not going to pursue Hyperloop himself any time soon; he threw an idea for others to pick up, and didn't promise anything. Judging him by not having built the Hyperloop by now is... insane.
mwambua 9y ago
He's basically playing factorio in real-life :)

justin66 9y ago

People skeptical regarding that video won't view Tesla as a laughing stock, they'll view them as not living up to the previous standard of quality they set with their higher-priced cars. That is bad enough, really.