Elon Musk

markers, here are some of the people that were entertainingly scathing: kalebhorton, quartzcity, tcarmody, mikesonn

I wasn't scathing about Musk (I am about futurism in general) - if anything, he has a good track record on quixotic tech quests. I hope he's successful with this. I also hope there's a state left that can use it.

unveiling this while CA is deep in the hole with it's bullet-train project (something I support wholeheartedly btw) is pretty arrogant

Knowing how CA politics works (and the CA rail projects are amazingly political), how would you expect a non-arrogant to even get traction with this?

I have no doubt that Musk will solve the Hyperloop technical issues. I very much have doubts about him navigating Sacramento.

I was describing this to my wife today and kept calling it Supertube.

Bad connotations...

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supertrain-1_7696.jpg

lol @ the "open source" pdf proposal. build a section of the thing and then get back to us when you have it working.

Musk says the Hyperloop is best for distances of 900 miles. Beyond 900 miles, he thinks you're better off in a supersonic jet.

Lol

I never use my supersonic jet anymore as parking is always a total bitch

I have to say I rather like Elon Musk. He's made a massive pile of money and rather than sitting on it or managing it in mundane ways; he's making risky bets on thinks he's passionate about: Cars, Rockets, vacuum tubes.

Hyperloop seems a bit ridiculous to me, vacuum tube powered trains and trains in evacuated tubes are an old chestnut, almost as old as railways themselves. However, he's built a commercially viable private space programme and a car company* in the last ten years so anything is possible.

*Tesla isn't really a car company it's a power train company and if it is still making cars in 5 years I'll be surprised.

ya i'm kinda ll for crackpot genius billionaires actually doing interesting stuff, up until they become str8 up supervillains obv

lol @ the "open source" pdf proposal. build a section of the thing and then get back to us when you have it working.

― wk, Tuesday, August 13, 2013 2:23 AM

he might do this

is this dude one of the crazy silicon valley libertarian types or is he just beloved by them?

iirc he has liberal tendencies mixed in w the libertarianism

xp I heard him speak and he seemed not crazy and to have some kind of social or at least environmental conscience, unlike the usual libertarian types, but maybe he's just better at hiding it

(I like him too fwiw and right now he seems one of the most likely "crackpot genius billionaires" to solve some hard problems which are overdue for solving, so I hope he carries on with that. Also hoping that one day I'll get to see/read his computer game that appeared in some 8-bit micro type-in listings mag in the 80s)

he's not as bad as some of the other silicon valley libtards, I'll give him that.

nonetheless, this is a stupid proposal

do tell

curious to read a critique that amounts to more than 'hyperlol'

I think it's dumb that he's throwing around numbers when he doesn't even have a working prototype. It just seems like he's hoping to derail the other project. I also think the "open source" thing is pretty silly since it's not like code where an individual can make some kind of improvement and test it out to see if it works. I guess an open source design is an interesting idea after the fact if he actually gets it working and other people want to build his design, but it still seems basically irrelevant.

Didn't he make his fortune with Peter thiel?
I don't know if that is "guilt by association" or "looking better by comparison"

It just seems like he's hoping to derail the other project

^^^

A key part of his criticism of the other rail plan is that it's "more expensive to operate (if unsubsidized)." I'd like to see some more detailed numbers on that though. Why would we count the cost of unsubsidized rail against air travel which is heavily subsidized? All that really matters is cost to the traveller, and unlike airlines, I'm assuming the high speed rail system is not going to be run as a for-profit business. He also makes no comparison of the environmental costs of air flight vs. the planned high speed rail system.

markers, here are some of the people that were entertainingly scathing: kalebhorton, quartzcity, tcarmody, mikesonn

― eris bueller (lukas), Monday, August 12, 2013 11:24 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm generally contemptuous of futurists, primarily because they seem to think energy and climate change problems will just sort themselves out, but a mass transit system that relies on solar power and transports people across one of the busiest stretches of highway in America is a good thing. I looked at the first two feeds you suggested and they seemed to just be saying this is just a toy for rich people, which is afaict completely unsupported by his proposal. He's not suggesting a magic carpet for billionaires; it's mass transit that uses solar power. This is a good thing! Maybe it's completely impossible hogwash, but I'd like to see actual engineering criticism of it instead of casual dismissals based on suspicion of ideas from rich people.

the main challenges are not engineering-related, their political

anybody who is over the age of 25, has lived in a city for any length of time, and paid a modicum of attention to the world around them knows that these kinds of massive public works projects tend to be underbid by shady contractors and then they go wildly over the original schedule and budget. so the fact that he's coming in saying he can do it so much cheaper with a totally new and untested technology is a huge red flag. to me it immediately suggests that the whole thing is not serious.

if he honestly thinks this is a feasible plan he should raise some funding and build a private line from LA to Vegas.

It's transparently unserious in that he doesn't want to do it himself and "regrets even mentioning it"

right, that aspect has been p funny

haha, I missed that part

ya seems like he said something offhandedly then realized abt his celebrity

a mass transit system that relies on solar power and transports people across one of the busiest stretches of highway in America is a good thing.

people don't commute the LA to SF corridor though. i have a hard time believing a transit system would fill the role of the 5 freeway. it's mostly trucks anyway.

You know what would do really well in transportation corridors like that? Plain old freight trains.

I swear, the interstate highway system and the fact it's mostly used for semi truck freight is the biggest money hole in our post-WW2 car-dependent wonderland

there already are freight trains

people don't commute the LA to SF corridor though.

?! they most certainly do. there are these things called commuter flights, they are booked solid all the time.

there are a lot more trucks xp

what exactly are you proposing?

a solar powered superhighway paved with bitcoins duh

that we subsidize more public transport of freight in addition to passengers? or at least reallocate money away from interstate highways

idk, iatee and his ideas about gas prices to thread

HOOS otm

ah, ok. I thought maybe there was a problem with CA's existing freight lines. I don't really know anything about them but I do see freight trains going up and down the state all the time.

If this thing actually worked the political will would develop pretty quickly. If the Acela line was shipping people 400 miles in 30 minutes every state would want one.

Which is why yeah, he should just fucking build one. I wonder what a good demonstration distance would be.

L.A. to S.D.?

http://www.humancannonball.us/IMAGES/photos/017.jpg

what are the possible operating failure modes on one these loops

giant pillow deployment

halp im stuck in a tube inside of a tube

*giant sucking sound*

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/rsjem23/HomerWaterslide.jpg

homerloop

i don't understand why this would be a good alternative to commuter flights

I'd rather see the money spent on suburb-to-city trolley lines

commuter flights are very carbon-intensive, for one thing

There are ways.

http://opinion-forum.com/index/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/airplane_hybrid.jpg

wouldn't even a dependable normal rail line be comparable to commuter flights by the time you figure in airport screening and boarding times and shit?

n/m, I am being way optimistic about rail speeds

tldr haha

the highlights

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/elon-musk-twitter-buyout

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/how-elon-musk-destroyed-twitter-wtf-character-limit-book-1235099284/

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Hollywood Can’t Ditch Its Teslas Fast Enough: “They’re Destroying Their Leases and Walking Away”

In late August, Bloomberg reported rumors that electric automaker Tesla plans to reveal its forthcoming autonomous robotaxi — expected to be called the Cybercab — on Oct. 10 at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. This vehicle will reportedly be purpose-built to function solely as a self-driving cab. As such, it will not contain an accelerator, brake pedals or a steering wheel, and will be hailed via a special Tesla app. A week or so ago, sources shared an image of a small, canary-yellow vehicle trolling the Warners lot, tailed by Tesla production vehicles, leading some to suggest it was a camouflaged robotaxi.

Overstatements, obfuscations and broken promises regarding the unveiling and production of future Tesla products — a “semi” tractor-trailer, a new sporty roadster, an entry-level vehicle, this robotaxi — are so frequent as to be standard operating procedure. Since Tesla entirely eliminated its public relations department four years ago, The Hollywood Reporter can’t confirm that this event (already postponed once this year) will occur at all.

But, if it does move forward, the global launch of a new Tesla at Warners is certain to raise eyebrows in Hollywood and draw scrutiny toward the chummy relationship between the carmaker’s increasingly controversial CEO, Elon Musk, and Warners’ embattled chief executive, David Zaslav. (Warner Bros. declined to comment on the rumored robotaxi reveal.) As Musk has continued his trajectory into the MAGA-verse — pledging allegiance to right-wing conspiracies, amplifying racist and antisemitic messages, disparaging trans people, including his own daughter, and endorsing Donald Trump — his stock in Hollywood, and that of his brand, has plummeted.

“Elon is very outspoken, and his political views are not as popular in the entertainment industry,” says Debbie Levin, CEO of the Environmental Media Association (EMA), which promotes messages, actions and products to create positive environmental change in Hollywood.

The brand’s current diminished status in Hollywood is particularly notable when compared to a decade ago, when Tesla products began penetrating the industry. “The Tesla became the ‘It’ car in terms of electrification,” Levin says. “If you could spend $100,000 on a car, that was sort of the way to go to show that you care about the environment.”

As the brand expanded, Southern California — long at the forefront of vehicular trends — became one of its largest markets. “When you’re in Hollywood, driving around the studios, that’s pretty much all you see,” says Ed Kim, president and chief analyst of Auto Pacific, a SoCal-based mobility research firm. “It’s Teslas everywhere.”

Shifts are now occurring in local consumer interest and purchase behavior. “Certainly we have seen sales drop significantly at Tesla this year,” Kim says, citing a nearly 25 percent drop in sales in the Golden State this quarter alone. This is notable not just because the brand is losing market share as established luxury automakers like Audi, BMW and Mercedes, and compelling upstarts like Polestar, Lucid and Rivian, diversify their EV offerings, but because, in an expanding EV marketplace, Tesla is shrinking. “Despite all the headlines, EV sales are still growing. They’re just not growing at the same speed that they were before. But Tesla is actually losing sales,” Kim says. “In fact, Tesla is one of the few EV makers that has been losing volume, not just losing market share.”

This decline can be correlated with Musk’s recent rightward turn and related online antics. “Rejection of Tesla recently spiked and continues among Democrats. They want nothing to do with Tesla,” says Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a Southern California-based consultancy that conducts hundreds of thousands of in-depth psychographic surveys with new car buyers annually. “And there are no hidden Republicans that are buying these. That just doesn’t exist.”

Edwards cites recent proprietary survey data demonstrating that the number of potential new car buyers who would consider a Tesla for their next purchase fell by nearly half since 2022, and the number who would definitely not consider a Tesla increased by nearly two-thirds, with the steepest declines occurring this summer as Musk cozied up to Trump. “And those numbers are still moving in that negative direction,” he adds.

According to Edwards, such attitudinal shifts can take time to translate into consumer behavior in the automotive category, because — unlike in non-durable consumer goods like beer or fast fashion — the purchase cycle occurs infrequently. “Some people that are in Teslas now are so angry, they’re destroying their leases and walking away. However, most people don’t have the financial capability,” he says. “So, we’re not going to really see that magnitude until the next three years. But come the next purchase, you better believe there’s going to be that exodus if things don’t change soon.”

The Secret Service is looking into Elon Musk's post on X about threats to Joe Biden and Kamala Harrishttps://t.co/6D8BwEbgio

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 19, 2024

Very Concerning

The most pathetic billionaire that ever lived. pic.twitter.com/Hs5SDxcWK5

— Dana Roach (@danaroach) September 21, 2024

jesus christ man

i do want to read this book but also it is very definitely just going to be just a validating mulch of tweets i already read and still half-remember, possibly put in a different (better?) order

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GYA1TCUWoAARZZQ?format=jpg&name=large

glenn greenwald in shambles

re: the super bowl of petty lil thin-skinned assholes, which elon musk won, i think most of the world sees a very pathetic man, but his simp alt right fan base sees someone who is like them. you can be the richest guy in the world and have whatever you want constantly, and still be whining and complaining constantly about your own unfair treatment. that's a goddamn inspiration to so many people

the idea of being truly content with what you have is terrifying and can never be confronted

whatever happened to gary cooper the strong silent type

gary's fine, he reads but never tweets (vmic)