4 ms·

Their engineers do get much credit, but Tesla cars (well, at least for another decade) will be known as douche-mobiles. Not an insult. I'm highlighting a busin

Their engineers do get much credit, but Tesla cars (well, at least for another decade) will be known as douche-mobiles. Not an insult. I'm highlighting a business branding issue. A mistake Apple, for example, would never have been so careless as to make.

ghaff 3y ago
Well, one difference is that Teslas sort of are luxury products. Given Apple marketshare in the US among consumers, it's hard to consider their products as luxury goods in the same way.
- ido 3y ago
  Funnily enough in many countries (India, China?) iPhones are definitely considered luxury/premium (compared to the competition, i.e Android).
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Sure. That's why I specified US. Hardly surprising. US-based company and higher income levels.
    - ido 3y ago
      I didn't say you're wrong, just added it as an aside/addendum :)
  - brianwawok 3y ago
    Apple are the premium choice in the US as well. Green bubbles are seen as for plebs.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      How can something be premium when it has 60% market share? The iPhone is almost the norm in the US with Android being the knock off. It’s like bringing Sams Club soda to a picnic when people are use to Coke and Pepsi
      - meltyness 3y ago
        Marketing, M&A, and price? See, it's a vicious cycle, the aggressive M&A strategy leads to a need to increase sales, which leads to a larger marketing budget, which finally trickles down in to the price. Now price is actually segmented itself, in terms of up-front elasticity and "walled-garden" elasticity, which Apple can monitor independently of device sales through marketing novelty through the app store and seeing if the nibbles are elastic onto services, say like Apple+. Historically they also have segmented product (XR, Pro XR) to get more data points for the degree of price elasticity, which is probably most responsive because they're the most expensive thing on the broad market.
        scarface_74 3y ago
        Apple has only done two large acquisitions in 30 years. Next for $700 Million and Beats for $3 billion. Even Apple’s cheapest phone - the iPhone SE is over $100 more expensive than the average Android phone sold in the US. Apple has usually sold this years model, last years model and the year before that concurrently. Sometimes when the n-1 model is too expensive to sell at a discount they introduce a new phone (ie the iPhone 5C)
    - ghaff 3y ago
      The fact that there's some percentage of status-conscious high schoolers (or whoever) that think that blue bubbles make them special doesn't actually make it so. They're idiots.
      - Animats 3y ago
        "Hey, look, he's a default!"
    - matt-attack 3y ago
      Green bubbles are annoying because they’re just way less feature rich, and are entirely antiquated. Every green message is logged and listed on my phone bill and the transcripts routinely are revealed in court proceedings? Sorry it’s got nothing to do with classism, just objective differences.
- chrisco255 3y ago
  Tesla is working on a Model 2 I believe they're hoping to market at $25K. I see them as similar to Toyota, Ford, etc who have luxury models or lines, but also want to service the lower end of market too.
  - bdcravens 3y ago
    Considering the first Cybertruck just rolled off of the production line, after being announced almost 4 years ago, and they've never produced the second gen Roadster after announcing it 6 years ago, I wouldn't put much stock in their development pipeline.
signatoremo 3y ago
Can you elaborate what douche mobile means? And example of a non douche one?
- Velofellow 3y ago
  Not original commenter, but I think metrics of douchery probably vary person to person. Personally, the number of pithy vanity plates specific to the vehicle's energy source is what does it for me. I think it speaks more to the occupant and their outward projections & posturing than the vehicle. thinking of the South Park fart smelling prius meme. FTR - I have no problems with EVs, but I do give myself a good chuckle when I see someone who was proud enough of their vehicle purchase to turn their it into a billboard advertising something / someone (Musk) who has fallen from social grace.
- uncletaco 3y ago
  Not OP but Teslas I've seen around the Bay Area while driving around have Big Altima Energy. If someone's driving high above the speed limit, swerving through slower traffic like their life is in danger, or doing a U-turn on a two-lane street in the middle of rush-hour its usually a Tesla Model 3. On the other hand, where I grew up it always seemed to be Nissan Altimas that had this kind of energy. I think the stereotype is not really about individual drivers so much as its about the popularity of the vehicle and its performance characteristics. Both the Nissan Altima and Tesla Model 3 sell very well and are entry level ("entry level" here meaning entry level for the class of vehicles one is looking for, there are entry-level Mercedes' for instance) sedans with power behind them. So you have a lot of them both on the road, and thus more people who likely treat them as disposable and thus drive them recklessly. Any car that is super popular usually is popular enough that enough of the wrong kind of drivers have it, and so you can start stereotyping them. I think Model 3s have a lot of the wrong kind of drivers on the road. Maybe many of them care about saving the environment but they don't drive like they care about the car.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    > Not OP but Teslas I've seen around the Bay Area while How do you say you’re in a bubble without saying you’re in a bubble…
tomatotomato37 3y ago
reminds me of that one episode of South Park with hybrids causing a cloud of "Smug" pollution
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  And in San Francisco

ghaff 3y ago

Well, one difference is that Teslas sort of are luxury products. Given Apple marketshare in the US among consumers, it's hard to consider their products as luxury goods in the same way.

ido 3y ago
Funnily enough in many countries (India, China?) iPhones are definitely considered luxury/premium (compared to the competition, i.e Android).
- ghaff 3y ago
  Sure. That's why I specified US. Hardly surprising. US-based company and higher income levels.
  - ido 3y ago
    I didn't say you're wrong, just added it as an aside/addendum :)
- brianwawok 3y ago
  Apple are the premium choice in the US as well. Green bubbles are seen as for plebs.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    How can something be premium when it has 60% market share? The iPhone is almost the norm in the US with Android being the knock off. It’s like bringing Sams Club soda to a picnic when people are use to Coke and Pepsi
    - meltyness 3y ago
      Marketing, M&A, and price? See, it's a vicious cycle, the aggressive M&A strategy leads to a need to increase sales, which leads to a larger marketing budget, which finally trickles down in to the price. Now price is actually segmented itself, in terms of up-front elasticity and "walled-garden" elasticity, which Apple can monitor independently of device sales through marketing novelty through the app store and seeing if the nibbles are elastic onto services, say like Apple+. Historically they also have segmented product (XR, Pro XR) to get more data points for the degree of price elasticity, which is probably most responsive because they're the most expensive thing on the broad market.
      - scarface_74 3y ago
        Apple has only done two large acquisitions in 30 years. Next for $700 Million and Beats for $3 billion. Even Apple’s cheapest phone - the iPhone SE is over $100 more expensive than the average Android phone sold in the US. Apple has usually sold this years model, last years model and the year before that concurrently. Sometimes when the n-1 model is too expensive to sell at a discount they introduce a new phone (ie the iPhone 5C)
  - ghaff 3y ago
    The fact that there's some percentage of status-conscious high schoolers (or whoever) that think that blue bubbles make them special doesn't actually make it so. They're idiots.
    - Animats 3y ago
      "Hey, look, he's a default!"
  - matt-attack 3y ago
    Green bubbles are annoying because they’re just way less feature rich, and are entirely antiquated. Every green message is logged and listed on my phone bill and the transcripts routinely are revealed in court proceedings? Sorry it’s got nothing to do with classism, just objective differences.
chrisco255 3y ago
Tesla is working on a Model 2 I believe they're hoping to market at $25K. I see them as similar to Toyota, Ford, etc who have luxury models or lines, but also want to service the lower end of market too.
- bdcravens 3y ago
  Considering the first Cybertruck just rolled off of the production line, after being announced almost 4 years ago, and they've never produced the second gen Roadster after announcing it 6 years ago, I wouldn't put much stock in their development pipeline.

signatoremo 3y ago

Can you elaborate what douche mobile means? And example of a non douche one?

Velofellow 3y ago
Not original commenter, but I think metrics of douchery probably vary person to person. Personally, the number of pithy vanity plates specific to the vehicle's energy source is what does it for me. I think it speaks more to the occupant and their outward projections & posturing than the vehicle. thinking of the South Park fart smelling prius meme. FTR - I have no problems with EVs, but I do give myself a good chuckle when I see someone who was proud enough of their vehicle purchase to turn their it into a billboard advertising something / someone (Musk) who has fallen from social grace.
uncletaco 3y ago
Not OP but Teslas I've seen around the Bay Area while driving around have Big Altima Energy. If someone's driving high above the speed limit, swerving through slower traffic like their life is in danger, or doing a U-turn on a two-lane street in the middle of rush-hour its usually a Tesla Model 3. On the other hand, where I grew up it always seemed to be Nissan Altimas that had this kind of energy. I think the stereotype is not really about individual drivers so much as its about the popularity of the vehicle and its performance characteristics. Both the Nissan Altima and Tesla Model 3 sell very well and are entry level ("entry level" here meaning entry level for the class of vehicles one is looking for, there are entry-level Mercedes' for instance) sedans with power behind them. So you have a lot of them both on the road, and thus more people who likely treat them as disposable and thus drive them recklessly. Any car that is super popular usually is popular enough that enough of the wrong kind of drivers have it, and so you can start stereotyping them. I think Model 3s have a lot of the wrong kind of drivers on the road. Maybe many of them care about saving the environment but they don't drive like they care about the car.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  > Not OP but Teslas I've seen around the Bay Area while How do you say you’re in a bubble without saying you’re in a bubble…

tomatotomato37 3y ago

reminds me of that one episode of South Park with hybrids causing a cloud of "Smug" pollution

iancmceachern 3y ago
And in San Francisco