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Comment by ryandvm | Hacker News Reader

Tesla has completely fumbled a spectacular lead in EVs and managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And instead of turning it around, we're supposed to believe they are going to completely pivot and then take over a market with far more developed competitors (e.g. Boston Dynamics).

That Elon is riding this wave amidst the transparency of the whole thing is the funniest part. It's like watching people lose money at the "three cup" game but the cups are clear.

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I'm not sure how defensible the lead was. The only reason BYD isn't the only game in town is tariffs. The pivot to Optimus is ridiculous though. They can't get a car to drive truly autonomously after more than a decade and they want to expand the degrees of freedom?

Tesla had a good brand image in the early 2010, they could have positioned themselves like the quality/luxury brand for EV and have people buy Tesla for the brand itself like people do for Apple.

Instead they let Elon made their brand so toxic people are actively avoiding it.

I'm skeptical. If someone really wants a Tesla, my guess is that they'll rationalize Musk's actions or least compartmentalize them.

I think Facebook is even more universally thought of as a bad company, and everyone still engages there, too.

Difference is their product is so good as to be basically irreplaceable (good = strong network effects, which is the only flavor of "good" that matters)

Facebook as a monopoly of a sort and so is hard to get away from. If I don't like Tesla there are many other options. Even if you only buy EVs, there are a lot of options that you can buy today. The only people who have to buy Tesla are the type who are buying 10 year old EVs (the limited range on 10 year old Nissan rules them out).

Well, lots of people don't use Facebook. But you're right that there aren't any real like for like replacements.

Of course, Twitter was a quasi-monopoly as well. That said, Bluesky emerged but only as an alternative with much less critical mass.

There are network effects to social networks that do not apply to choice of vehicle

That was 10-15 years ago, but back then Musk appeared different, and Telsa was new. Today you can buy a Tesla, they are no longer the status symbol they once were. A 15 year old Mercedes is a status symbol in the US, a 15 year old Tesla is not, Tesla didn't capture the status symbol market (which might have been a good decision - what wasn't a good decision was for the CEO to go public about political views that are lot of his potential base to not support)

A 15 year old Mercedes is a falling apart PoS maintenance nightmare driven by someone with a lack of common sense.

They still look like luxury, though. Here's a 2011 entry-level Mercedes https://www.edmunds.com/assets/m/for-sale/38-wddgf8bb5br1533...

No, it's the reverse. Someone who finds Musk's behavior so abhorrent they fear being affiliated with it will actually find reasons they don't really want a Tesla.

It doesn't help that Tesla, making extremely low quality and uncomfortable cars for the price point, provides plenty of dislikable things to find.

Some people. Others are actively embracing it.

Most people don't know about the political aspect.

I'm glad Tesla is pivoting to a product that can drop your bag of groceries in the worst case, instead of one that can slam you into a concrete divider at 75mph.

In general, any robot that has servos powerful enough to be any of use is surprisingly dangerous to be around. While it's much easier to apply various limiters, the raw power in those engines will always pose a significant level of risk if anything goes wrong. If you're hovering above a human who sits up suddenly, you might get your nose broken. If it's a robot instead, it will have the strength and mass to easily mutilate you in the same kind of accident.

I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took a roundhouse kick to the head. Never let your humanoid robot watch TV!

The robot could leave the ironer standing on your clothes and walk away; it could leave your empty pan on the stove at max heating; it could take a nice hard grip of your throat for a few minutes.

Do you remember EVs before Tesla? They were glorified golf carts using lead-acid batteries. The performance and range were awful. The Roadster and the Model S changed all that. I'm not saying I remember this perfectly but as I recall, Tesla's original objective was to show that an EV could be a real car, look attractive (or at least normal), and to create demand for EVs that would force all manufacturers to start making them. The ultimate value in Tesla was supposed to be batteries, which all cars would eventually need.

…and the guy shuffling the cups is Dave Chappell’s crackhead character.

My theory has always been Trumps grand con was acting like what poor people thought a rich person was like, Elon acts like what morons think a genius is like.

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