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Yes but this is good timing. A lot of people are pretty unsatisfied with Musk as a human lately and it seems like if there was an alternative available, people

Yes but this is good timing. A lot of people are pretty unsatisfied with Musk as a human lately and it seems like if there was an alternative available, people would go there quickly.

IgorPartola 4y ago
Could a commercial player grab an existing open protocol like Mastodon and just put a really slick UI/UX on that?
DeathArrow 4y ago
Who is unsatisfied with Elon and would switch to something else for that? Is there a market study?
- nebula8804 4y ago
  Switching cost is 0 as long as your friends are on the other platform. Just get enough people pissed off at elon to "try" out the new service and enough might stick around.
- bamboozled 4y ago
  I've seen him say and do a lot of controversial and in my opinion very immoral things in the last year. Maybe I'm just talking for myself but if I used Twitter, and a decent modern alternative existed, I'd at least make an account and hope other came along so I didn't have to be part of his "town square" or his "everything app" (which sounds like a nightmare). I think Musk has done some good things in the past, but honestly, he seems like an asshole and increasingly willing to do questionable things for money and to protect his interests. I don't use any of his products and I'd been more than happy if it stays that way.
  - cudgy 4y ago
    Interesting. What technologies do you use that you are fully aware that no assholes were involved in its creation? How does one go about ensuring they follow this no-asshole rule? Many considered Steve Jobs to be an asshole. Do you use an apple product? How about Bill Gates and Microsoft? Or Linus and Linux? Or Amazon and Jeff Bezos? Or Oracle and Larry Ellison? Or Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg? Or …
    - bamboozled 4y ago
      Funny because I use Linux as my primary OS, while I think Linus can be abrasive, I don't think he is an asshole in the same way, because with Linus, it's not about money, in the same way that money is a thing for Musk or Gates. Woz built a lot of Apple and I feel his presence in a lot of their earlier stuff. He wasn't a money guy. So I actually think I have a point. I don't use FB because I don't like MZ, I try use Amazon as little as possible although sometimes, it's hard to avoid in some cases. I use an iPhone because I think Androids are less secure. I think Windows is a pathetic product and I've never liked it, I've never been a fan of Bill Gates and his ethos anyway. I'd actually avoid buying a Tesla because of false claims around self-driving and I'm also starting to feel like Tesla is synonymous with poor quality and issues. So with all due respect, I'm not sure you have a great argument. Life is (thankfully for me) about choices, and I'm making them.
      - cudgy 4y ago
        Overall I personally agree with most all of those decisions. However, my decisions are made based on the product or business practices not my perception of the personality or political beliefs of their founders or significant contributors based on social media or news accounts. Just because someone has an abrasive personality or differing political views doesn’t mean they are a worse person than someone who has a nice personality or similar political beliefs.
        Jotra7 4y ago
    - Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
      > What technologies do you use that you are fully aware that no assholes were involved in its creation? Asshole or not asshole, the role of a CEO of a public company is to sign off quality of life for the public. Musk is not signing off anything. At best you could say that he's aspirationally signing off quality of life for people who are not even alive yet and would benefit from a less warm Earth. But that is contentious given that solving transportation alone won't solve climate change and Tesla for sure won't be the sole player in transportation. As a matter of fact it will be a small player and the electrification will be provided by the legacy OEM. Character flaws pale compared to the big question: "What is this guy doing for me?" . There were no such questions with the other people you mentioned.
  - concordDance 4y ago
    Interesting that you think he's done a lot of unethical things over the past year compared to previous ones... this is the year where a good half of starlink terminals in Ukraine are being SpaceX funded. Rather than the year he accused someone of being a pedophile or the year he refused to comply with covid regs.
    - bamboozled 4y ago
      He did also threaten to shut them down after receiving flack for suggesting that a sovereign country give up part of it's territory to a lunatic, so yeah, still not a great year.
      - cudgy 4y ago
        There seem to be many lunatics when it comes to this Ukraine affair. Putin’s not the only one.
      - concordDance 4y ago
        I thought he said "We can't afford to keep paying for this"?
        bamboozled 4y ago
        Which he said not long after the comments were made, so maybe it's coincidental, but I mean, there was never any talk of having problems paying before the anti-musk comments were made.
trollied 4y ago
The general populace don't know much about him & don't care. The subset of people that do is just a rounding error.
lrvick 4y ago
Mastodon and ActivityPub already exist. It lacks ads or a path to profit and thus all content is neutral and untargeted. These are features, not bugs.

Yes but this is good timing. A lot of people are pretty unsatisfied with Musk as a human lately and it seems like if there was an alternative available, people would go there quickly.

IgorPartola 4y ago

Could a commercial player grab an existing open protocol like Mastodon and just put a really slick UI/UX on that?

DeathArrow 4y ago

Who is unsatisfied with Elon and would switch to something else for that? Is there a market study?

nebula8804 4y ago
Switching cost is 0 as long as your friends are on the other platform. Just get enough people pissed off at elon to "try" out the new service and enough might stick around.
bamboozled 4y ago
I've seen him say and do a lot of controversial and in my opinion very immoral things in the last year. Maybe I'm just talking for myself but if I used Twitter, and a decent modern alternative existed, I'd at least make an account and hope other came along so I didn't have to be part of his "town square" or his "everything app" (which sounds like a nightmare). I think Musk has done some good things in the past, but honestly, he seems like an asshole and increasingly willing to do questionable things for money and to protect his interests. I don't use any of his products and I'd been more than happy if it stays that way.
- cudgy 4y ago
  Interesting. What technologies do you use that you are fully aware that no assholes were involved in its creation? How does one go about ensuring they follow this no-asshole rule? Many considered Steve Jobs to be an asshole. Do you use an apple product? How about Bill Gates and Microsoft? Or Linus and Linux? Or Amazon and Jeff Bezos? Or Oracle and Larry Ellison? Or Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg? Or …
  - bamboozled 4y ago
    Funny because I use Linux as my primary OS, while I think Linus can be abrasive, I don't think he is an asshole in the same way, because with Linus, it's not about money, in the same way that money is a thing for Musk or Gates. Woz built a lot of Apple and I feel his presence in a lot of their earlier stuff. He wasn't a money guy. So I actually think I have a point. I don't use FB because I don't like MZ, I try use Amazon as little as possible although sometimes, it's hard to avoid in some cases. I use an iPhone because I think Androids are less secure. I think Windows is a pathetic product and I've never liked it, I've never been a fan of Bill Gates and his ethos anyway. I'd actually avoid buying a Tesla because of false claims around self-driving and I'm also starting to feel like Tesla is synonymous with poor quality and issues. So with all due respect, I'm not sure you have a great argument. Life is (thankfully for me) about choices, and I'm making them.
    - cudgy 4y ago
      Overall I personally agree with most all of those decisions. However, my decisions are made based on the product or business practices not my perception of the personality or political beliefs of their founders or significant contributors based on social media or news accounts. Just because someone has an abrasive personality or differing political views doesn’t mean they are a worse person than someone who has a nice personality or similar political beliefs.
      - Jotra7 4y ago
  - Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
    > What technologies do you use that you are fully aware that no assholes were involved in its creation? Asshole or not asshole, the role of a CEO of a public company is to sign off quality of life for the public. Musk is not signing off anything. At best you could say that he's aspirationally signing off quality of life for people who are not even alive yet and would benefit from a less warm Earth. But that is contentious given that solving transportation alone won't solve climate change and Tesla for sure won't be the sole player in transportation. As a matter of fact it will be a small player and the electrification will be provided by the legacy OEM. Character flaws pale compared to the big question: "What is this guy doing for me?" . There were no such questions with the other people you mentioned.
- concordDance 4y ago
  Interesting that you think he's done a lot of unethical things over the past year compared to previous ones... this is the year where a good half of starlink terminals in Ukraine are being SpaceX funded. Rather than the year he accused someone of being a pedophile or the year he refused to comply with covid regs.
  - bamboozled 4y ago
    He did also threaten to shut them down after receiving flack for suggesting that a sovereign country give up part of it's territory to a lunatic, so yeah, still not a great year.
    - cudgy 4y ago
      There seem to be many lunatics when it comes to this Ukraine affair. Putin’s not the only one.
    - concordDance 4y ago
      I thought he said "We can't afford to keep paying for this"?
      - bamboozled 4y ago
        Which he said not long after the comments were made, so maybe it's coincidental, but I mean, there was never any talk of having problems paying before the anti-musk comments were made.

trollied 4y ago

The general populace don't know much about him & don't care. The subset of people that do is just a rounding error.

lrvick 4y ago

Mastodon and ActivityPub already exist. It lacks ads or a path to profit and thus all content is neutral and untargeted. These are features, not bugs.