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Buying a Tesla is basically buying a Mac. You are not buying a car you are buying an appliance that happens to get you from point A to point B and provides neat

Buying a Tesla is basically buying a Mac. You are not buying a car you are buying an appliance that happens to get you from point A to point B and provides neat new features. Unfortunately it makes it dangerous to do that…

sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
I'm really glad Tesla has shown their true self over the last few years. I've been in "maybe get a new car in a year or so" mode for a few years but haven't pulled the trigger yet for a variety of reasons. When that conversation in my head started, Tesla was absolutely in the mix. Now? Maybe if you gave me one for free, but I'm sure not buying one.
- taylodl 3y ago
  I'm in the same boat. Pretty sure I'm not buying a Tesla, but also pretty sure I'll still be buying a BEV.
  - dzhiurgis 3y ago
    Write down what you get from each and at what cost. You'd have to have extremely strong opinions to buy anything else than Tesla.
    - trog 3y ago
      Anyone who is remotely online is basically forced to have extremely strong opinions about Tesla because Elon can't help but put himself in almost every piece of discourse, making him and Tesla objectionable to many people for many reasons. The cost seems to be turning into less of an issue - the Model 3 was for a while the best priced EV here (Australia) but now there are several Chinese options that are more affordable for not much less on the feature side, and without any of the dumb stuff like no stalk for turn signals.
      - dzhiurgis 3y ago
        Yes we too have Chinese cars in NZ. They are pretty well built, albeit lame tech. The cheapness comes from the fact they are much smaller. Thats the market segment BYD is winning, they are not even competing with Tesla.
        trog 3y ago
        Sounds good to me, the more smaller cars the better
    - Gud 3y ago
      Not really. Today there are many EVs to choose from.
      - dzhiurgis 3y ago
        Absolutely if you wanna spend extra 10k for lesser trim.
        taylodl 3y ago
        It's not about trim - it's about a car that's a car, not a computer with wheels. Even the iPhone understood that it was first and foremost a phone. Apple had to create new human-machine interfaces for the iPhone because it was a new form factor demanding a new means of interaction. A Tesla does not. It's a car. We've spent 100 years refining and honing the interface. But of course they know better. They're smart, everybody else is stupid - and that is why I don't like Tesla.
        dzhiurgis 3y ago
        You're just regurgitating same mass media sewer. Tesla absolutely nailed the UX. Everyone else who is trying to copy it is failing just like Android used to copy Apple in early days. If you wanna buy something that's technically behind ~10 years, has less gear and costs more - all the best to you. Just don't be surprised by people make fun of you.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    I didn't buy a Tesla but bought a BEV. And I really miss the charging network during long vacations. Tesla seems to be the only player that has figured that out. Oh, and the other tech stack stuff (like actually using UWB for unlocking the car via phone), but there are plenty of things not to like about it.
rsynnott 3y ago
Specifically, it's like buying the very first Mac, whose keyboard didn't have function or arrow keys, because Jobs believed people would use the mouse for that sort of thing. This was, obviously, swiftly changed, and Macs soon had sensible keyboards. I'd be somewhat less certain that Teslas will soon have sensible controls.
- jerlam 3y ago
  Let's not forget the Tesla yoke, which was standard but is now an upcharge: https://electrek.co/2023/09/06/tesla-price-increase-controversial-yoke-steering-wheel/ https://electrek.co/2023/09/06/tesla-price-increase-controve...
bborud 3y ago
It is more like buying a cheap laptop and then getting the kind of attitude Apple has towards quality issues in their products. In terms of build quality, I wouldn't exactly say that Tesla have a "premium" product. Even after more than a decade in the mainstream market and impressive sales numbers.
- zitterbewegung 3y ago
  Are you sure we are looking at the same Apple that released Macbook with one usb c port, a keyboard that everyone hated, and basically doesn’t care about thermal designs ? I’m a Mac user but that doesn’t mean I am oblivious about their faults.
  - bborud 3y ago
    Oh, I have no illusions about Macs. There's a reason I didn't buy a new laptop for 5 years. But if you look at the macs since the M1, they actually seem to be back to decent build quality.
    - zitterbewegung 3y ago
      I own a M1 Max MacBook Pro 14.2 it is the best computer I have ever owned. Their build quality I haven't questioned its really their weird design choices. Although, I'm not sure why it didn't come out with Wifi 6E and faster SD card slot but those are nitpicks and I don't use SD cards (I did put in a flush SD card to give me a 512gb of extra storage).
drcongo 3y ago
Initially I thought this was a bit of a silly take, but then I thought about that MBP I had with a touchbar, no escape key, stupid arrow keys that you couldn't use by feel, and a keyboard where the keys regularly got stuck or fell off.
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  So you're saying there's hope for Tesla after all? The latest MBP might well be the best laptop Apple has ever built, and it's definitely a contender for best laptop anyone is selling. Though admittedly 'best' does vary somewhat with context.
  - orwin 3y ago
    Personally, i think Tesla have a chance to turn back. They still have brand recognition. If they manage to get their shit together and stop with the truck nonsense, improve on their older models (Put the buttons back!) and focus on battery size/weight, they can do it.

sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago

I'm really glad Tesla has shown their true self over the last few years. I've been in "maybe get a new car in a year or so" mode for a few years but haven't pulled the trigger yet for a variety of reasons. When that conversation in my head started, Tesla was absolutely in the mix. Now? Maybe if you gave me one for free, but I'm sure not buying one.

taylodl 3y ago
I'm in the same boat. Pretty sure I'm not buying a Tesla, but also pretty sure I'll still be buying a BEV.
- dzhiurgis 3y ago
  Write down what you get from each and at what cost. You'd have to have extremely strong opinions to buy anything else than Tesla.
  - trog 3y ago
    Anyone who is remotely online is basically forced to have extremely strong opinions about Tesla because Elon can't help but put himself in almost every piece of discourse, making him and Tesla objectionable to many people for many reasons. The cost seems to be turning into less of an issue - the Model 3 was for a while the best priced EV here (Australia) but now there are several Chinese options that are more affordable for not much less on the feature side, and without any of the dumb stuff like no stalk for turn signals.
    - dzhiurgis 3y ago
      Yes we too have Chinese cars in NZ. They are pretty well built, albeit lame tech. The cheapness comes from the fact they are much smaller. Thats the market segment BYD is winning, they are not even competing with Tesla.
      - trog 3y ago
        Sounds good to me, the more smaller cars the better
  - Gud 3y ago
    Not really. Today there are many EVs to choose from.
    - dzhiurgis 3y ago
      Absolutely if you wanna spend extra 10k for lesser trim.
      - taylodl 3y ago
        It's not about trim - it's about a car that's a car, not a computer with wheels. Even the iPhone understood that it was first and foremost a phone. Apple had to create new human-machine interfaces for the iPhone because it was a new form factor demanding a new means of interaction. A Tesla does not. It's a car. We've spent 100 years refining and honing the interface. But of course they know better. They're smart, everybody else is stupid - and that is why I don't like Tesla.
        dzhiurgis 3y ago
        You're just regurgitating same mass media sewer. Tesla absolutely nailed the UX. Everyone else who is trying to copy it is failing just like Android used to copy Apple in early days. If you wanna buy something that's technically behind ~10 years, has less gear and costs more - all the best to you. Just don't be surprised by people make fun of you.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  I didn't buy a Tesla but bought a BEV. And I really miss the charging network during long vacations. Tesla seems to be the only player that has figured that out. Oh, and the other tech stack stuff (like actually using UWB for unlocking the car via phone), but there are plenty of things not to like about it.

rsynnott 3y ago

Specifically, it's like buying the very first Mac, whose keyboard didn't have function or arrow keys, because Jobs believed people would use the mouse for that sort of thing. This was, obviously, swiftly changed, and Macs soon had sensible keyboards. I'd be somewhat less certain that Teslas will soon have sensible controls.

jerlam 3y ago
Let's not forget the Tesla yoke, which was standard but is now an upcharge: https://electrek.co/2023/09/06/tesla-price-increase-controversial-yoke-steering-wheel/ https://electrek.co/2023/09/06/tesla-price-increase-controve...

bborud 3y ago

It is more like buying a cheap laptop and then getting the kind of attitude Apple has towards quality issues in their products. In terms of build quality, I wouldn't exactly say that Tesla have a "premium" product. Even after more than a decade in the mainstream market and impressive sales numbers.

zitterbewegung 3y ago
Are you sure we are looking at the same Apple that released Macbook with one usb c port, a keyboard that everyone hated, and basically doesn’t care about thermal designs ? I’m a Mac user but that doesn’t mean I am oblivious about their faults.
- bborud 3y ago
  Oh, I have no illusions about Macs. There's a reason I didn't buy a new laptop for 5 years. But if you look at the macs since the M1, they actually seem to be back to decent build quality.
  - zitterbewegung 3y ago
    I own a M1 Max MacBook Pro 14.2 it is the best computer I have ever owned. Their build quality I haven't questioned its really their weird design choices. Although, I'm not sure why it didn't come out with Wifi 6E and faster SD card slot but those are nitpicks and I don't use SD cards (I did put in a flush SD card to give me a 512gb of extra storage).

drcongo 3y ago

Initially I thought this was a bit of a silly take, but then I thought about that MBP I had with a touchbar, no escape key, stupid arrow keys that you couldn't use by feel, and a keyboard where the keys regularly got stuck or fell off.

rootusrootus 3y ago
So you're saying there's hope for Tesla after all? The latest MBP might well be the best laptop Apple has ever built, and it's definitely a contender for best laptop anyone is selling. Though admittedly 'best' does vary somewhat with context.
- orwin 3y ago
  Personally, i think Tesla have a chance to turn back. They still have brand recognition. If they manage to get their shit together and stop with the truck nonsense, improve on their older models (Put the buttons back!) and focus on battery size/weight, they can do it.