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Tesla seems to be  toeing a line between: A) manufacturing vehicles for sale as an exclusively-electric auto maker... and B) manufacturing the n

Tesla seems to be  toeing a line between: A) manufacturing vehicles for sale as an exclusively-electric auto maker... and B) manufacturing the necessary hardware, but then just collecting an equiptment-fee. This equipment is required, but enables use of their smart-car-as-a-service driving subscription (Terms and Conditions subjuct to change without notice). I wonder if some Tesla cars will end up like old set-top boxes for some paid Satellite TV service (DirecTV): utterly useless, illegal to circumvent due to Tesla IP violations required, but still yours to keep!

jacquesm 8y ago
'toeing'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line
- goldenkey 8y ago
  Thanks, I didn't write the previous comment but had no idea that it was "toe the line" instead of "tow the line." Idioms.....why do they always seem to beat around the bush... ;-)
  - goodcanadian 8y ago
    Even then, I think it's the wrong idiom. To me, toeing the line means following the rules or maybe supporting the story . . . toeing the company line, for example. I would suggest, rather, that Tesla is walking a fine line between . . .
  - vinceguidry 8y ago
    You can usually work out which homophones make up an idiom just by thinking visually about what those homophones would mean in the idiom. "Towing a line" gives you a visual of hauling a cable out to something or someone, perhaps the meaning of that idiom, if it were a thing, would be to save someone. Toeing a line invokes using your foot for, well, something related to a line. Is it an actual line or a metaphorical line? What's the line going to be used for after you toe it? The idiom is usually used in the sense of getting really close to some imaginary, arbitrary boundary. Even if you don't know the history behind the saying, that it's something that boys used to do to mess with each other, you can usually rule one of them out and get pretty close to the actual history / meaning of the idiom. When I first came across it, I 'knew' it was 'toe' and I would have been pretty surprised if it had actually been 'tow'. What I didn't know was the precise thing that the end of the foot was actually supposed to be doing to the supposed line.
- drewmol 8y ago
  Thanks, I did know the idiom refers to foot placement, but still typed 'towing' for whatever reason. If 'B' becomes the primary business model, towing won't be necessary. A quick T&C change for automaticSelfRecycle() to default accept.
  - dahlueblojen 8y ago
    Given that the subject is about motor vehicles, towing seems appropriate.
syshum 8y ago
Sounds like history repeating itself Last time Automakers tried crap like Telsa is trying we got the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act I would have hope we would get a revision that protects consumers but we are more likely to see a repeal of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act from both Democrats and Republicans than any support for lowering of Intellectual privilege protections. (Democrats are in the pocket of Hollywood who lives and dies on copyright laws)

jacquesm 8y ago

'toeing'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line

goldenkey 8y ago
Thanks, I didn't write the previous comment but had no idea that it was "toe the line" instead of "tow the line." Idioms.....why do they always seem to beat around the bush... ;-)
- goodcanadian 8y ago
  Even then, I think it's the wrong idiom. To me, toeing the line means following the rules or maybe supporting the story . . . toeing the company line, for example. I would suggest, rather, that Tesla is walking a fine line between . . .
- vinceguidry 8y ago
  You can usually work out which homophones make up an idiom just by thinking visually about what those homophones would mean in the idiom. "Towing a line" gives you a visual of hauling a cable out to something or someone, perhaps the meaning of that idiom, if it were a thing, would be to save someone. Toeing a line invokes using your foot for, well, something related to a line. Is it an actual line or a metaphorical line? What's the line going to be used for after you toe it? The idiom is usually used in the sense of getting really close to some imaginary, arbitrary boundary. Even if you don't know the history behind the saying, that it's something that boys used to do to mess with each other, you can usually rule one of them out and get pretty close to the actual history / meaning of the idiom. When I first came across it, I 'knew' it was 'toe' and I would have been pretty surprised if it had actually been 'tow'. What I didn't know was the precise thing that the end of the foot was actually supposed to be doing to the supposed line.
drewmol 8y ago
Thanks, I did know the idiom refers to foot placement, but still typed 'towing' for whatever reason. If 'B' becomes the primary business model, towing won't be necessary. A quick T&C change for automaticSelfRecycle() to default accept.
- dahlueblojen 8y ago
  Given that the subject is about motor vehicles, towing seems appropriate.

syshum 8y ago

Sounds like history repeating itself Last time Automakers tried crap like Telsa is trying we got the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act I would have hope we would get a revision that protects consumers but we are more likely to see a repeal of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act from both Democrats and Republicans than any support for lowering of Intellectual privilege protections. (Democrats are in the pocket of Hollywood who lives and dies on copyright laws)