Tag Archives: Elon Musk

Oh, Elon…

If you’ve been ’round these parts a while you know I’m really fond of electic cars.

I’ve long felt ICE cars (internal combustion engines) were a technology of the past, dirty, noisy (though I do love me the sound of 1960’s/70’s era muscle cars!), and featuring mechanisms that needed to change for the sake of the environment, if nothing else.

When Tesla became a thing, I read up on their cars. Their first big production vehicle was the Tesla Roadster…

Their first full on production model, however, was the Model S…

I felt the vehicle looked intriguing but the price was simply prohibitive to me. A little later they came out with the Model X, their luxury SUV, and the price was even more prohibitive…

I was so intrigued with what Tesla was doing and, yes, I became quite intrigued with the man behind the company, Elon Musk.

I suspect few people out there haven’t heard of Mr. Musk. He made himself a fortune being a part of PayPal in its infancy and bought up Tesla and pushed it along -at times facing financial collapse- until releasing the highly successful Model 3…

It can be argued, and I suppose it will in time, that the Model 3, first released in July of 2017, was the first electric car to break open the auto industry to EVs. Yes, there were hiccups. The early Model 3s had all kinds of minor issues, but the price was at least reasonable enough to allow people like myself to finally buy into these cars (mine is a 2019 model) and it certainly provided Tesla, and Elon Musk, their first really big success.

The Model 3 was followed by the Model Y, a smaller SUV, which seems to be even more successful than the 3 and in even higher demand from consumers…

In the meantime, Elon Musk has another company, Space X, which did the near unthinkable: Managed to create a rocket that could land vertically back on a pad! Mr. Musk has long stated a goal of his is to get to, and colonize, Mars.

In almost all his endeavors he seemed to have success and his forays into the media have been equally amusing and annoying, with many either loving or hating him… and perhaps in equally strong measures.

I still love my Tesla Model 3. I still feel it is a terrific vehicle even as I see the coming wave of EVs from other companies. If it wasn’t for Elon and Tesla and the Model 3 and Y, we wouldn’t be on the cusp of this EV revolution, and I think that’s a wonderful thing.

Having said that and for those who’ve been living in a cave these past few weeks/months…

What the hell is wrong with the guy of late?

Like Donald Trump, Elon Musk has used Twitter well, building up a fanbase and at times posting witty comments and cringey comments in equal measure and solidifying his fans and detractors.

It seems like a lifetime ago that he decided, via Twitter, to offer a fee to purchase the company. There was much back and forth afterwards, with many feeling Musk had overvalued the company and then he seemed to want to back out.

Lawsuits were filed but ultimately Musk bought the company for the price he originally offered, a whopping 44 billion dollars… and it seems like each day since things have gone further down the toilet for him.

Now, I don’t want to get into all the details as I’m sure most people know but some of the lowlights include Mr. Musk claiming he wanted to help “free speech” with Twitter but has banned many users… mostly because they were making fun of him. He also fired a whole bunch of Twitter staff and now looks like he’s realized he needed them and wants them back.

To say this whole affair is a shitshow is to undersell it.

The bottom line is that many are leaving the service and Musk wants to charge some $8 a month (admittedly not a terribly large amount) to have people given a “blue-check verification”… which frankly I have no idea how that works at all.

Yeah, while I’ve read the odd Twitter posts, some of which were quite witty and humorous, I’ve never been a part of the service.

Reports have stated Mr. Musk is basically flying by the seat of his pants here, doing this and that with Twitter and, I suppose, learning the very hard way that sometimes his instincts and proposed changes don’t exactly paint him in the best light.

This again returns to something I’ve stated before: Things can change and quickly.

I recall years ago the head of Netscape (remember that?) an early and quite popular at the time internet browser company having its CEO interviewed for some program or another and he was asked about the then new Microsoft Internet Explorer and the CEO scoffing at the interviewer and said something to the effect that the ship had sailed and Microsoft had missed the proverbial boat on the whole internet explorer thing.

Today, Microsoft has their Edge (Internet Explorer lasted many years before being retired) and Netscape is long, long gone.

Mr. Musk has paid a literal king’s ransom for Twitter but nowhere is it written in stone the company and service will continue to operate.

Given the way Mr. Musk has managed it so far, one wonders if Twitter might join Netscape in the near future.

Oh Canada…

I lived in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for one year way, waaaaaay back in 1984 and into 1985. It was my first year of College and, coming from the sunny (and warm) state of Florida, it was a hell of a change and was the main reason my stay wound up being so short.

My very early years were spend in Canada, Nova Scotia in particular, and I loved the time and figured I’d love returning to Canada. While my stay wound up being short lived, I had fond memories of Ottawa and its a beautiful and -at that time anyway- a very mellow city to live in.

For the past 10 days or so, though, its been ground zero for anti-vaccine groups which are protesting the vaccine mandates for truckers and… well, its really a right wing anti-government thing in the end, isn’t it?

And its pretty ugly.

Car horns are blasted at all hours, streets are clogged, and at times ambulances have been slowed or stopped from doing their function.

Reading the various reports on this (you can read one of them, by Christian Paas-Lang and presented on CBC.ca here), its clear the regular citizens and the government has had enough. They’ve given them some space but it looks like after all these days, that patience has ended and more aggressive actions will now be taken to end what some feel is nothing more than a “siege”.

Interestingly, there is some evidence right-wing characters within the U.S. have had a stand in this protest and GoFundMe.com had approximately $10 million in donations for the protests which they are now giving back (you can read about that here), which is prompting some, usually right-wing figures, within the U.S. to protest.

One person who reacted negatively to this news is Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (you can read about that here).

I… I wonder about Mr. Musk sometimes.

He’s a hell of a mind. He’s done something that no one else has done regarding changing the whole concept of what a car can -and I would argue should– be. He touts sustainable energy, he is clearly convinced that we need to reduce pollution and that global warming is a very real and dangerous threat to our world.

He moves ahead with scientific research, his SpaceX is doing things with rockets that are -whether you like him or not- amazing. He clearly has a great intellectual curiosity and has managed to do something about it.

He has his detractors and that’s understandable. He often goes on twitter and shoots himself in the foot with stupid statements.

Is this one of them?

I feel like it is.

I will try to give him the benefit of the doubt in the sense that he tweeted a few days back his feelings regarding the GoFundMe issue and his “support” of the truckers who are protesting. Since then, we’ve had reports some of them are incredibly… out there, with confederate flags (or worse) and racist elements. The disruption of the city of Ottawa seems to be devolving too from “protest” to (again, as described by some) a “siege”.

Sometimes it might be better to sit back, assess, then -and only then- make your public statements. For better or worse, whenever Musk tweets, the world does listen and sometimes the stuff he tweets is used to justify many peoples’ criticisms of him, whether justified or not.

Ah well.

Elon Musk… hosting Saturday Night Live?

Sorry I’ve been away from these parts for a few days… been busy moving my daughter -who finished her University studies- and is moving out of her apartment and needed help doing so.

…My back this morning sure does appreciate that fact…

Anyway, there’s been interesting news and events and we’re still in the middle of the Coronavirus Pandemic and I remain disheartened to find some people in other parts of the state ignoring using masks. For example, there’s this terrific Pizza place near my daughter’s apartment -how I wish I had this place close to home!- and I was totally shocked when I went into the place to pick up our order and found the entire staff of the place -a smallish, closed in restaurant- operating without using any masks.

In fact, the only masks I saw were from people who came in to pick up their orders!

Anyway, as I said, there’s been other news, perhaps things more important than this, but Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla and SpaceX, will host Saturday Night Live on May 8th (right around the corner!) and Dean Obeidallah over on CNN.com feels…

Elon Musk doesn’t deserve to host Saturday Night Live

While acknowledging the fact that having someone as high profile as Mr. Musk as the show’s host, Mr. Obeidallah feels:

(Saturday Night Live) should do better than bestowing that honor on Musk, given his irresponsible statements about Covid-19 and his insensitive comments surrounding the transgender community.

“Honor” being invited to host SNL.

I mean, I can see his point. When the Pandemic was first raging, Mr. Musk did indeed make some outrageous comments regarding the pandemic. Indeed, he seems to me like the people at that Pizza place I mentioned above, someone who discounts the seriousness of Coronavirus.

But…

His statements may well be silly -or well beyond- but they’re not quite as outright stupid as some others I’ve heard. Looking at you, MyPillow Guy and Ted Nugent, not to mention one Donald J. Trump… who actually has hosted the show, though I would grant you it was before he became the nightmare president we’ve had to deal with.

Besides, SNL is, like it or not, a show where they can do what they want within the parameters of what is allowed by the station it runs on.

Having said all that, and acknowledging that I love my Tesla Model 3 even as I sometimes cringe at what Elon Musk says… I wonder if the episode will be any good.

Elon Musk, as clever as he is with his businesses, is something of an awkward public speaker, at least IMHO.

I can’t help but wonder that his appearance, regardless of some of the controversial things he’s said, will be a dud only because I don’t know if he has the acting/comedic chops to be a successful host.

We’ll certainly see in a few weeks, won’t we?

Oh… Elon…

Found this article by Seth Fiegerman and presented on CNN.com:

Elon Musk wants to rate journalists.  He’d call his site Pravda

I like the things Mr. Musk has done.  I’d like to think if I had his money -and genius!- I’d want to do something like what he’s done.  Push for the abolition of combustion engines by creating very good electric cars.  Work on batteries/battery packs that, in conjunction with solar panels -which he’s also working on!- may one day replace the need for power plants.  Work hard on creating economical ways of exploring space.  Heck, even his Boring Company’s work on creating efficient, high speed underground subway systems is something worth pursuing!

All worthy goals and, while there are certainly setbacks here and there, one has to admire the man’s scope and drive.

But, come on Mr. Musk -and if I could be so bold as to offer this advice- don’t have such a thin skin about journalists.

Given the very high profile you have in the world, there will be people who second guess and, yes, outright talk negatively about the things you’re doing.

The way to shut them up is not by showing yourself to be thin skinned -and create this silly “Pravda” crap- but by constantly improving your product until everyone benefits from them.

Take a moment to relax and let that stuff go, then prove them wrong with your new and better releases.

Tesla… in spaaaaaaaceeeee…!!!!

By now you’ve seen it, Elon Musk launched his Tesla car into space and we got to see the pictures…

Just… wow.

Then there came news, the very next day, that Tesla lost more than expected.

What’s going to stick with you, those numbers or that image above?

Btw, you’re not fooling anyone, Mr. Musk.  I know what inspired you here, from the 1981 film Heavy Metal:

Rocket Man…

Every generation has its share of fascinating people.  Be they artists, politicians, inventors, or businessmen, they emerge and, sometimes, transform the world around them.

If you were to ask me who is the most fascinating such person around today, I’d have to go with Elon Musk.  Using a fortune built on the internet (he was behind the creation of Paypal), Mr. Musk has devoted himself to three fascinating areas: Space travel, sustainable energy, and electric cars (The last two are somewhat interrelated).  Its no wonder he was partly the basis for Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man.

If you want to learn a little more about him, there is a fascinating article/review of Mr. Musk’s biography by Will Oremus on Slate magazine and it offers some choice bits about the man.  I was particularly amused by the author noting some have compared Mr. Musk to Apple’s Steve Jobs and his (perhaps) sarcastic answer to that comparison.  The fact is that Mr. Musk is involved in technology on a level much higher than just about anything (at least so far) that Apple has done…and believe it or not I don’t say this to denigrate Apple!

Like him or not, Mr. Musk is dabbling into technology that has the potential to change for the better (one hopes!) humanity while Apple’s focus is on building wonderful gadgets that people like to use to communicate and entertain each other.

If you’re interested in reading more about Mr. Musk, check out the link below:

What Fuels The Rocket Man?