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One company builds a ride hailing app while the other builds one of the premier, high-performance EVs in the world with significant levels of driver assistance,
by beambot 6y ago
One company builds a ride hailing app while the other builds one of the premier, high-performance EVs in the world with significant levels of driver assistance, over the air updates, and world-class onboard perception that industry incumbents readily admit is "years" ahead of their own development.
How exactly would you characterize the comparison?
- judge2020 6y agoUber is more of a tech company in that their entire value is based on internet connectivity (while Tesla could take a 99% market cap hit and still put together metal on an assembly line), but Uber is less impressive since it's just an app and an API connecting drivers to people and sometimes throwing a restaurant in the mix.
- maxlamb 6y agoPeople forget these days that technology (i.e. “tech companies”) does not equate to the internet, which is a just small subset. Technology is defined as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.”
- beambot 6y agomaxlamb captured my sentiment exactly... tech is not synonymous with "internet connectivity". Modern vehicles (ICE or EV) are vastly more sophisticated than "putting together metal on an assembly line" -- they're modern marvels of all the physical sciences: chemistry, thermodynamics, materials science, electronics, mechanics, aerodynamics, wireless connectivity, reliability, safety, real-time controls, computer vision, sensing, and on & on & on. Vehicles are vastly more "technological" than most mobile phone apps, especially one like Uber. Pure software companies may (rightfully) fetch higher valuations, but that's simply due to the nature of their economics: higher margins, pricing power (oligopoly?), and negligible incremental unit costs.