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Is it just me or is everything that Tesla, SpaceX, <name of musk business>... is doing something that is "game changing" feel like everyone massively over hypes

by aranw 5y ago

Is it just me or is everything that Tesla, SpaceX, <name of musk business>... is doing something that is "game changing" feel like everyone massively over hypes what there doing

wongarsu 5y ago
Tesla did change the game in automotive, creating a viable market for pure electric cars. SpaceX did change the game for space launch providers, proving that it's a viable and profitable business for startups with reasonable funding. Today we have lots of startups in the market competing for different niches, before SpaceX there were only slow moving giants like Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Of course the press likes to pump up the hype and will subsequently call everything they do game-changing. But it could be justified in this case. This could be game changing for lithium mining. And that's a game we are all somewhat invested in because of how prevalent lithium batteries have become in the last two decades.
- leereeves 5y ago
  > before SpaceX there were only slow moving giants like Boeing and Northrop Grumman. SpaceX gets all the media attention, but Blue Origin was actually founded before SpaceX.
  - wongarsu 5y ago
    Blue Origin gets little media attention because their list of accomplishments is rather short. The seem to make good engines, but in the time SpaceX has developed the Falcon 1, the Falcon 9 (and launched it 120 times), the Falcon 9 heavy, and a human rated capsule that has made multiple crew launches to the ISS, Blue Origin has managed to develop one demonstrator that reached about 90 meters, and the suborbital New Shepard that is now finally about to have its first commercial launch. They certainly weren't involved in any game changing activities yet. They might play a significant role in bringing about space tourism, but that's yet to be seen.
    - blackoil 5y ago
      You mean 90 km. As I have seen Diwali firecrackers going beyond 90m :D.
      - wongarsu 5y ago
        "The vehicle climbed for approximately 10 seconds, reaching a height of roughly 85 m (279 ft) before starting to descend, and making a controlled landing back on its landing legs approximately 25 seconds after take-off." [1] It did two other flights, but nobody seems to know how far up those went. New Shepard has undergone 15 test flights to around 100km (suborbital), so that's something I guess. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin_Goddard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin_Goddard
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - leereeves 5y ago
      > They might play a significant role in bringing about space tourism, but that's yet to be seen. I hope so. SpaceX is launching a private spaceflight soon, for which each passenger is paying $55 million.[1] That's not really game changing, though, because Russia has been selling seats for similar prices for years, and it's space tourism only for billionaires. SpaceX is working on big, expensive rockets and talking about Mars. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic seem to be our best hope of seeing space tourism for the masses. They both talk about selling short suborbital trips for less than $1 million soon, and if that is popular, efficiency of scale should lead to further price decreases. 1: https://apnews.com/article/1st-private-space-crew-pay-55m-each-2e8a78c31ae6309e69632f0f41feccbf https://apnews.com/article/1st-private-space-crew-pay-55m-ea...
      - kjksf 5y ago
        best hope? SpaceX hopes that Starship will cost $200k per launch and that they'll be able to offer point-to-point transport on earth under an hour for a cost of business class airline ticket. You'll go to space as a side effect. Given that cost structure, eventually they should be able to offer a trip around the moon for tens of thousands of dollars.
  - detritus 5y ago
    Implying that Blue origin is even slower-moving than those two incumbents?
  - tigershark 5y ago
    And what astonishing results did it produce in even more time than SpaceX? Exactly, none whatsoever.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 5y ago
  There's been far more press coverage about "Tesla killers" than Tesla's "game-changing tech/products". These killers are now called "Tesla fighters", for some reasons https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2021/07/mercedes-eqs-tesla-fighter-named-best-electric-car-in-the-world/ https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2021/07/mercedes-eqs-tesla-...
SEJeff 5y ago
Improving the cost of lithium extraction, if this can be scaled up, is actually a really big deal for electric vehicles. The single largest cost of a modern EV is the battery. Tesla thinks this process reduces the cost of lithium extraction 30%.
whydoineedthis 5y ago
Well... no one could make electric cars work. He did. no one could get rockets to return to earth. He did. no one could build battery networks that actually contributed to an electric grid in a meaningful way. He did. So, I don't know. It does indeed seem alike quite a few games have indeed been changed.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- whydoineedthis 5y ago
  Thank you for the negative downvotes! I know that I'm 1000% correct when HN users downvote me without a response. Your little clicks on the down arrow give me confidence, so THANK YOU!

by aranw 5y ago

Is it just me or is everything that Tesla, SpaceX, <name of musk business>... is doing something that is "game changing" feel like everyone massively over hypes what there doing

wongarsu 5y ago

Tesla did change the game in automotive, creating a viable market for pure electric cars. SpaceX did change the game for space launch providers, proving that it's a viable and profitable business for startups with reasonable funding. Today we have lots of startups in the market competing for different niches, before SpaceX there were only slow moving giants like Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Of course the press likes to pump up the hype and will subsequently call everything they do game-changing. But it could be justified in this case. This could be game changing for lithium mining. And that's a game we are all somewhat invested in because of how prevalent lithium batteries have become in the last two decades.

leereeves 5y ago
> before SpaceX there were only slow moving giants like Boeing and Northrop Grumman. SpaceX gets all the media attention, but Blue Origin was actually founded before SpaceX.
- wongarsu 5y ago
  Blue Origin gets little media attention because their list of accomplishments is rather short. The seem to make good engines, but in the time SpaceX has developed the Falcon 1, the Falcon 9 (and launched it 120 times), the Falcon 9 heavy, and a human rated capsule that has made multiple crew launches to the ISS, Blue Origin has managed to develop one demonstrator that reached about 90 meters, and the suborbital New Shepard that is now finally about to have its first commercial launch. They certainly weren't involved in any game changing activities yet. They might play a significant role in bringing about space tourism, but that's yet to be seen.
  - blackoil 5y ago
    You mean 90 km. As I have seen Diwali firecrackers going beyond 90m :D.
    - wongarsu 5y ago
      "The vehicle climbed for approximately 10 seconds, reaching a height of roughly 85 m (279 ft) before starting to descend, and making a controlled landing back on its landing legs approximately 25 seconds after take-off." [1] It did two other flights, but nobody seems to know how far up those went. New Shepard has undergone 15 test flights to around 100km (suborbital), so that's something I guess. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin_Goddard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin_Goddard
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - leereeves 5y ago
    > They might play a significant role in bringing about space tourism, but that's yet to be seen. I hope so. SpaceX is launching a private spaceflight soon, for which each passenger is paying $55 million.[1] That's not really game changing, though, because Russia has been selling seats for similar prices for years, and it's space tourism only for billionaires. SpaceX is working on big, expensive rockets and talking about Mars. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic seem to be our best hope of seeing space tourism for the masses. They both talk about selling short suborbital trips for less than $1 million soon, and if that is popular, efficiency of scale should lead to further price decreases. 1: https://apnews.com/article/1st-private-space-crew-pay-55m-each-2e8a78c31ae6309e69632f0f41feccbf https://apnews.com/article/1st-private-space-crew-pay-55m-ea...
    - kjksf 5y ago
      best hope? SpaceX hopes that Starship will cost $200k per launch and that they'll be able to offer point-to-point transport on earth under an hour for a cost of business class airline ticket. You'll go to space as a side effect. Given that cost structure, eventually they should be able to offer a trip around the moon for tens of thousands of dollars.
- detritus 5y ago
  Implying that Blue origin is even slower-moving than those two incumbents?
- tigershark 5y ago
  And what astonishing results did it produce in even more time than SpaceX? Exactly, none whatsoever.
rcMgD2BwE72F 5y ago
There's been far more press coverage about "Tesla killers" than Tesla's "game-changing tech/products". These killers are now called "Tesla fighters", for some reasons https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2021/07/mercedes-eqs-tesla-fighter-named-best-electric-car-in-the-world/ https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2021/07/mercedes-eqs-tesla-...

SEJeff 5y ago

Improving the cost of lithium extraction, if this can be scaled up, is actually a really big deal for electric vehicles. The single largest cost of a modern EV is the battery. Tesla thinks this process reduces the cost of lithium extraction 30%.

whydoineedthis 5y ago

Well... no one could make electric cars work. He did. no one could get rockets to return to earth. He did. no one could build battery networks that actually contributed to an electric grid in a meaningful way. He did. So, I don't know. It does indeed seem alike quite a few games have indeed been changed.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
whydoineedthis 5y ago
Thank you for the negative downvotes! I know that I'm 1000% correct when HN users downvote me without a response. Your little clicks on the down arrow give me confidence, so THANK YOU!