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Because it's hard and Tesla think they can do it. See 'reusable rockets' and 'having paralysed people control things with their minds' for other examples. HN

by nailer 9mo ago

Because it's hard and Tesla think they can do it. See 'reusable rockets' and 'having paralysed people control things with their minds' for other examples. HN often seem to think there's Elon fans downmodding things but it seems more like a case of irrational hatred.

MBCook 9mo ago
So? They could make the first working flying cars. They could work fantastically. And maybe one they release them we find out… no one wants flying cars. They sell 500 a year despite only costing as much as a normal car. Just because you can figure out how to do something doesn’t mean you’re going to make money at it.
- nailer 9mo ago
  Are you saying SpaceX doesn't make money? I have no idea about Neuralink but the first sounds pretty odd.
  - MBCook 9mo ago
    Where did I say that? I was using the classic idea of the flying car as an example of a thing that has been out of reach as an as a product for normal people and may not actually be successful if it were to really be sold. Replace flying car with whatever example you want. To put it in a different way, you could be so busy figuring out how to do it that you don’t figure out that a business case doesn’t actually exist. I wasn’t trying to comment on any of Musk‘s other companies specifically. Only that we don’t know if making robots will actually make money.
    - nailer 9mo ago
      > > Are you saying SpaceX doesn't make money? > Where did I say that? > > > Just because you can figure out how to do something doesn’t mean you’re going to make money at it.
      - MBCook 9mo ago
        Oh come on. Lots of successful companies are based on something they figured out how to do that others hadn’t. I really was not trying to slam his other companies. I think you’re reading too much into this. Making humanoid robots is not a guaranteed path to riches. That’s all I’m trying to say.
Fischgericht 9mo ago
'having paralysed people control things with their minds' would be great if you guys had a healthcare system that would pay for it.
perardi 9mo ago
Oh, well let me get in my sub-$30,000 Model S, with a swappable battery and full-self-driving capabilities, and take a fully automated trip to the Hyperloop downtown so I can catch a quick ride out to O’Hare so I can fly out to watch a successful Starship launch… …oh wait. I can’t. Because for all his successes, Musk has also sowed quite a lot of bullshit that has gone precisely nowhere.
- vel0city 9mo ago
  > so I can fly out to watch a successful Starship launch Not just watch a launch, but go to O'Hare to launch and go to Sydney in ~30min. In September 2017 they said we'd be flying Earth-to-Earth on a BFR last year.
  - nailer 9mo ago
    Technology sometimes takes longer than estimates.
    - perardi 9mo ago
      And in Musk’s case, “longer” means “abandoned”. Like the cheap model 3. Or the Hyperloop. Or swappable batteries. Or X as an everything app that includes banking.
      - nailer 9mo ago
        In everyone else’s case too. This was supposed to be a Startup News site. Instagram was supposed to be a way to check into cool places in your neighbourhood and see who was around.
        vel0city 9mo ago
        In both of those cases, the platforms actually did those things at some point in time and for one later pivoted a few times. When did SpaceX do Earth-to-Earth commercial travel service? How many people have ridden on a BFR?
FireBeyond 9mo ago
To be clear, Neuralink has shown some promising signs. Has also shown some terrible signs. And then I don't know if Musk is oversimplifying for a soundbite or more of his Dunning Kruger, but some of the descriptions seem to lack any knowledge of neurology. He describes a universal chip that will do different things and solve different issues depending on what part of the brain it's implanted in. That's not how it works at all.
Qwertious 9mo ago
More examples, please! Reusable rockets is the load-bearing example, I don't think that argument works without it. You could maybe squeeze in "he kickstarted the EV market".
- scottyah 9mo ago
  maybe? Tesla is the biggest reason there are any electric vehicles on the road today, I haven't heard of anyone (knowledgeable) who has even hinted otherwise. I can understand not liking Elon, but trashing the companies he's formed and the marvels they've created is just proof you don't value a truthful understanding of the world.
  - jfoster 9mo ago
    I agree with you, but I find it interesting that BYD got started around the same time as Tesla. They took quite different paths to international distribution.
  - habinero 9mo ago
    Elon bought Tesla, he didn't start it.
    - scottyah 9mo ago
      I guess that may be technically correct, but that's really just a anti-elon reddit type comment you're parroting. There were like four people and him "buying it" was just investing way more money in than anyone else wanted to.
- _Tev 9mo ago
  Starlink was also ridiculed. "Some upstart beating industry veteran at crewed spaceflight" was also treated as a ridiculous idea (see extra funding Boeing was able to extract from congress). But all those massive successes are SpaceX . . .

by nailer 9mo ago

MBCook 9mo ago

So? They could make the first working flying cars. They could work fantastically. And maybe one they release them we find out… no one wants flying cars. They sell 500 a year despite only costing as much as a normal car. Just because you can figure out how to do something doesn’t mean you’re going to make money at it.

nailer 9mo ago
Are you saying SpaceX doesn't make money? I have no idea about Neuralink but the first sounds pretty odd.
- MBCook 9mo ago
  Where did I say that? I was using the classic idea of the flying car as an example of a thing that has been out of reach as an as a product for normal people and may not actually be successful if it were to really be sold. Replace flying car with whatever example you want. To put it in a different way, you could be so busy figuring out how to do it that you don’t figure out that a business case doesn’t actually exist. I wasn’t trying to comment on any of Musk‘s other companies specifically. Only that we don’t know if making robots will actually make money.
  - nailer 9mo ago
    > > Are you saying SpaceX doesn't make money? > Where did I say that? > > > Just because you can figure out how to do something doesn’t mean you’re going to make money at it.
    - MBCook 9mo ago
      Oh come on. Lots of successful companies are based on something they figured out how to do that others hadn’t. I really was not trying to slam his other companies. I think you’re reading too much into this. Making humanoid robots is not a guaranteed path to riches. That’s all I’m trying to say.

Fischgericht 9mo ago

'having paralysed people control things with their minds' would be great if you guys had a healthcare system that would pay for it.

perardi 9mo ago

Oh, well let me get in my sub-$30,000 Model S, with a swappable battery and full-self-driving capabilities, and take a fully automated trip to the Hyperloop downtown so I can catch a quick ride out to O’Hare so I can fly out to watch a successful Starship launch… …oh wait. I can’t. Because for all his successes, Musk has also sowed quite a lot of bullshit that has gone precisely nowhere.

vel0city 9mo ago
> so I can fly out to watch a successful Starship launch Not just watch a launch, but go to O'Hare to launch and go to Sydney in ~30min. In September 2017 they said we'd be flying Earth-to-Earth on a BFR last year.
- nailer 9mo ago
  Technology sometimes takes longer than estimates.
  - perardi 9mo ago
    And in Musk’s case, “longer” means “abandoned”. Like the cheap model 3. Or the Hyperloop. Or swappable batteries. Or X as an everything app that includes banking.
    - nailer 9mo ago
      In everyone else’s case too. This was supposed to be a Startup News site. Instagram was supposed to be a way to check into cool places in your neighbourhood and see who was around.
      - vel0city 9mo ago
        In both of those cases, the platforms actually did those things at some point in time and for one later pivoted a few times. When did SpaceX do Earth-to-Earth commercial travel service? How many people have ridden on a BFR?

FireBeyond 9mo ago

To be clear, Neuralink has shown some promising signs. Has also shown some terrible signs. And then I don't know if Musk is oversimplifying for a soundbite or more of his Dunning Kruger, but some of the descriptions seem to lack any knowledge of neurology. He describes a universal chip that will do different things and solve different issues depending on what part of the brain it's implanted in. That's not how it works at all.

Qwertious 9mo ago

More examples, please! Reusable rockets is the load-bearing example, I don't think that argument works without it. You could maybe squeeze in "he kickstarted the EV market".

scottyah 9mo ago
maybe? Tesla is the biggest reason there are any electric vehicles on the road today, I haven't heard of anyone (knowledgeable) who has even hinted otherwise. I can understand not liking Elon, but trashing the companies he's formed and the marvels they've created is just proof you don't value a truthful understanding of the world.
- jfoster 9mo ago
  I agree with you, but I find it interesting that BYD got started around the same time as Tesla. They took quite different paths to international distribution.
- habinero 9mo ago
  Elon bought Tesla, he didn't start it.
  - scottyah 9mo ago
    I guess that may be technically correct, but that's really just a anti-elon reddit type comment you're parroting. There were like four people and him "buying it" was just investing way more money in than anyone else wanted to.
_Tev 9mo ago
Starlink was also ridiculed. "Some upstart beating industry veteran at crewed spaceflight" was also treated as a ridiculous idea (see extra funding Boeing was able to extract from congress). But all those massive successes are SpaceX . . .