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Comment by timzaman | Hacker News Reader

I have become so disillusioned by some of the Hacker News crowd on here. It used to be full of nuanced smart people with interesting takes. Nowadays it seems very one sided - makes me very sad. People seem to be completely forgetting that SpaceX is one of the most "inspiring" companies that currently exist. They produce things (Starship) that give adults long-lost goosebumps and excitement just looking at it. SpaceX tech and launch stats speak for themselves. I know its hard to extend an exponential, but just try. All the comments on here feel like they were made against Tesla in 2017, and look how that worked out.

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> I have become so disillusioned by some of the Hacker News crowd on here.

I feel the exact same way, but it's due to comments like yours that seem to excuse anything in the name of innovation. The goosebumps people feel are them just projecting what they think the future may look like based on what the snake-oil salesmen are peddling. How long have we been "just 2 years away from fully-automated self-driving" again?

The difference with spacex is you can watch the rockets fly. You can also watch them actually build. That's where the goosebumps come from

one livecam view, there are many https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg

this guy releases videos about once a week or so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_YDnrjf3G8&t=241s

this aerial photography channel documents bocachica every week or so too. Spacex is absolutely watched from every angle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnPcEFla3Dw

Okay…

That has nothing to do with whether it is worth its valuation

what i'm saying is retail investors don't care about the valuation and will trade on what they see. So expect a lot of ups and down in the price because of retail investors.

There's more to this story than goosebumps over starships. If you have a retirement account or any investments open up your eyes widely because you're about to be fleeced.

Isn't something like "the company that makes really cool reusable rockets may also be engaging in securities fraud" exactly the sort of nuance you're looking for?

"SpaceX is inspiring! Be nice to them!"

"SpaceX is neither all good nor all bad! They do good things and bad things."

One of those has nuance, the other does not.

You can be inspired by the company and skeptical of its finances.

Ford was the same at one point. 100 years later, revolutionary technology being attached to incredibly toxic and unethical leaders has consequences (Ideally).

I've dragged starship since the very first day as an example of bad product leadership and bad project management. It's going to turn out to be the cybertruck of space.

The inflection point for both Tesla and SpaceX is when Elon decided he's the genius and he must make his mark on the next big product. He stopped listening to his own experts.

The company may be inspiring but its investment prospects must be taken with more scrutiny.

You mean “disillusioned” by people paying attention to valuations, revenue, profit margins etc?

And if you have seen the latest sells from Tesla, how it’s continuing to sell less every quarter and its reliability is shit.

https://boingboing.net/2026/01/05/new-study-ranks-tesla-as-t...

Are you sure that’s the argument you want to be making?

The world finally woke up to the fact that “colonizing mars” was fake bullshit.

The same way “full self driving” was (and is) fake bullshit used to do what the rich always do:

Take from you (via taxes and inflation spending) and give to themselves via government contracts that are done via lobbyists and regulatory capture.

Musk literally raided the govt via DOGE to ensure these contracts got done. His entire grift is to get on the government tit via subsidies or direct contracts

Are you really making this point?

Someone somewhere probably once thought agriculture was "fake bullshit" and insisted on the hunt instead. I definitely take GP's point (so long as one can afford the longest of plays).

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