and you know he is serious, lol
https://i.imgur.com/uP2906d.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NUD2Njw.jpg
and you know he is serious, lol
https://i.imgur.com/uP2906d.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NUD2Njw.jpg
I don’t really know much about Musk, but other than the fact he made a couple of very shrewd/lucky decisions a few years ago and made a bundle of money, he seems like a character out of Silicon Valley. It seems to me like it’s gone to his head and when he comes out with a lot of crazy stuff (like “reality may be a simulation”), gullible techies just lap it up. Is he a genius, or just a reality-distortion showman?
the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but if i had to choose-Quote:
Originally Posted by robcat
genius
That's what I call a new car launch. Great publicity stunt.
... and guess who’s in Titusville watching the liftoff on Dec 29!!??
Yes, me!
I really think he’s a genius. Up there with Tesla himself and Edison.
Time will determine whether he’s one or both.Quote:
Originally Posted by seikopath
He was name checked in the new Star Trek series - this will either be prescient, or terminally date the series, like “President Trump” in The Simpsons in 1996 (...hang on).
Has he actually invented anything himself though?Quote:
Originally Posted by thieuster
hes a visionary . thats all.Quote:
Originally Posted by robcat
You could say that about most sci-fi writers.Quote:
Originally Posted by seikopath
Yeah. You could say it about my cat as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by number2
I see trees of greenQuote:
Originally Posted by seikopath
and flying red electric cars going to (mars)
(now here’s a few billion quid, sort it out you clever fellows)
I’m a visionary, me
Musk is going to change the way we do things on this planetQuote:
Originally Posted by robcat
Thats the difference between you and him
On a more serious note, would we really not be progressing to electric vehicles and space travel without Musk, or is he just good at publicising his own ventures?Quote:
Originally Posted by seikopath
I think we’d been to the moon (allegedly) before 1971, and seem to remember milk floats running very quietly in the early 70s.
History will tell you that Edison did remarkably little himself. His New Jersey lab was an 'invention factory' where more people worked on several projects. Dutch company Philips has the same structure: a science lab where the Philishave, the cassette tape, the CD and the Senseo coffee machine were invented. Only, Frits Philips was a very modest man who didn't want his name in papers - and there was no Twitter... And now Musk has the same structure.Quote:
Originally Posted by robcat
Let's stay on topic with the SpaceX program: since the beginning of spaceflight there's an urge to return the complete rocket to earth. SpaceX managed / manages to do this. So yes, there's an invention no-one has achieved before.
Menno
Musk thinks of big ideas and is able to assemble and motivate a team to deliver them. His ventures have come perilously close to bankruptcy on more than 1 occasion. He hires very clever people because as he says you can't make up with numbers, a lack of talent/intelligence. He does work them hard, but they're motivated because they really are changing the world.
But did Musk “invent” this himself? He may have inspired and overseen the development, but that’s more like Kennedy initiating the Apollo programme.Quote:
Originally Posted by thieuster
I’m not undermining what he seems to have achieved, it’s just a lot if it verges on emporer’s new clothes to me.
He’s obviously a great facilitator.
Whatever. His roadster, if it works as advertised, is seems like a good value for an electric sports car.
The idea you refer to there, known as the "simulation hypothesis" may or may not be true; it's probably unknowable. But it's not crazy.Quote:
Originally Posted by robcat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis
Well put.Quote:
Originally Posted by Caruso
Financial wealth helps though that's nothing compared to motivation and vision. The very fact that we're discussing an individual rather than a corporation or even national / global policies is enough to demonstrate that he has an incredible influence on the way that we conduct our way of living, whether we're conscious of it or not.
Who is pushing the boundaries? SpaceX gets more headlines than NASA. Tesla gets more headlines than pretty much the entire motor industry put together. Only the Japanese appear to be anywhere near Tesla's vehicle / personal transport solutions, everyone else is playing a reactionary role.
I'm not going to portray Elon Musk as some kind or deity, history shall be the final arbiter. I will say that he could very easily retire with his billions of whatever currency you choose and sleep off the hangover on a beach in Bermuda... except he doesn't.
Musk is a bona fide genius and visionary.
It is people like him that every once in a while enable humanity to take a leap forward.
He could have just kept his wealth, hidden it in offshore accounts, and bought a private island like so many billionnaires.
Instead he is doing stuff that will ultimately, hopefully, benefit the entire human race.
I applaud him.
The closest Edison ever got to inventing anything himself was the first industrial research lab. That statement may be true but it's just as misleading as saying Elon Musk has never invented anything, they are both (were in the case of Edison of course) visionaries who enable and support unbelievable ideas to fruition. Tesla was the greatest inventor of his generation, probably of many generations but he lacked the business acumen that Edison and Musk possess.Quote:
Originally Posted by robcat
... and Edison went high and low to protect his inventions/patents. He was the man who tried to take Tesla down. And he was successful with that too. There was a fierce battle between the men about AC /DC power. http://www.davidjkent-writer.com/201...lectric-chair/
I wouldn't be surprised when Musk will try to bring Tesla's Wardenclyfe Project back to life: in short: electric power through the air. That will take care of every criticism about slow charging electric vehicles.
Menno
Other than scale or range, how does it differ to wireless charging that we already have?Quote:
Originally Posted by thieuster
A popular misconception of the time was that Edison arranged the electrocution of an elephant during his battle with Tesla over D/C vs A/C. However by the time Topsy the elephant was electrocuted 10 years had passed since the end of the current wars and Edison was no longer involved in the electric lighting business. However the link with Edison persisted because the Brooklyn company that did fry the elephant still bore Edisons name and Edison was involved earlier with electrocuting some animals as a demonstration of the dangers of A/C during the "current wars" The whole episode was filmed by the Edison Manufacturing film company and the footage still exists.Quote:
Originally Posted by thieuster
I thought he was using other people's money for Tesla, isn't he. And Tesla has run at huge loss since the startQuote:
Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana
Unless he solves electrical transmission and storage, then EVs have to falter. I don't mean his shiny new UPS storage!!
I like Musk.
He has vision and he's a class act.
Take one Musk over 20 Bransons any day.