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Comment by warp_factor | Hacker News Reader

That's what I find so interesting with Tesla owner. They spend a fortune on a car, then they minimize every single issue they have with the car. My explanation for this is that for a lot of owners, the car is a way to be part of a hyped group more than being a utilitarian object (what a car should be).

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Happens with a lot of stuff, certain American-made motorcycles, for instance. You're in the club now, and the only way to stay in the club is to carry the manufacturer's water. In no case are we to admit that we spent a bunch of money on something that does a poor job of fulfilling its advertised purpose.

Or more relevant to the HN audience, Apple.

What, Tesla wasn't relevant enough for you to not take an "obligatory" dig at Apple product owners?

Trust me, if I'm taking a dig, I'm pointing at myself; I have probably $7k of Cupertino products within arm's reach at the moment. But I have to admit there's times when the comparison is apt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias

The cars are brilliant pure and simple, minor defects get eclipsed.

Nothing out there comes close to Autopilot. It's biggest problem is it works 99% of the time and people trust it too much.

It's also worth noting you are NOT meant to be using it in work zone. A point a lot of comments seem to completely ignore.

https://www.tesla.com/content/dam/tesla/Ownership/Own/Model%...

In context of Apple this was often referred to as the Stockholm Syndrome.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

The point non owners miss is that early adopters are aware of what they are buying and what to expect, while the very vocal know-it-alls of the interwebs are judging the technology as if it was supposed to be perfect. I am glad Tesla’s future doesn’t depend on these people’s opinions.

what's even more interesting is when a market of people choose to act out of the ordinary to cope with a product that has an issue, but in the situation where the product is self-learning to a degree.

Tesla hits a wall, Folks drive abnormally due to qualms with incident, Tesla receives data and throws it in the ML mix, Car learns from people driving purposely strange.

Of course, it doesn't work out like that; not enough people will do it to influence anything very much, but it's a funny thing to consider.

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