Regarding Musk’s new Tesla pay package: How much is your ADHD worth?
Tesla’s board is giving Elon Musk $29 billion (a record compensation for a CEO) to “keep him focused” on Tesla. I have questions:
Leave the freakin’ Teslas alone
If you are angry as hell about the actions that Elon Musk has taken in his protean role in the Trump administration, this post is for you. (If you are are a supporter of Musk and his activities, this post is not for you, go read something else.) It’s natural that people project their anger…
Tesla design elegance and the death of Angela Chao
The design elegance of Tesla cars exceeds that of any other vehicle. Tesla’s iPhone-like design aesthetic starts with the sleek exterior design (putting aside the horrifying CyberTruck, of course) and continues with the touchscreen-based center display, which elegantly integrates every function from navigation to climate control. That design aesthetic may have contributed to the death…
Newsletter 2 August 2023: viral stories; Tesla dash lies; Texas porn blockers; B&N unchained
Newsletter week three, thanks for hanging with me. This week: an essay on COVID’s viral storytellers, how Tesla faked out its drivers (including me), more snarky news takes, people to follow, books to read, and explugation. Stories are easier to invent and spread than messy scientific truth David Quammen has been writing books on science,…
The dishonesty of The Dawn Project’s anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad
An advocacy group called “The Dawn Project” aired an ad challenging the safety of Tesla’s Full Self Driving feature during the Super Bowl. The ad is a good example of dishonest fearmongering. Before I analyze the ad, let me clarify two things. First, this ad appeared, not nationally, but in local markets like Washington, DC…
Cybertruck approaches infinity
Tesla has made an amazing claim for its soon-to-be-available, coyote ugly Cybertruck: the ability to pull “near infinite mass.” Here’s the text from the Tesla site: RUGGED STRENGTH With the ability to pull near infinite mass and a towing capability of over 14,000 pounds, Cybertruck can perform in almost any extreme situation with ease. This…
Disruption wins — except when it loses
Disruptive innovation requires viewing the world differently from conventional wisdom. Disruptors who succeed manage to change the conventional wisdom. Disruptors who fail end up victims of the conventional wisdom. And that includes the conventional wisdom inherent in government regulation Disruptors who ignored the rules YouTube was built on pirated, copyrighted content. It violated rules and…
Electric car realities and gas car biases
I’m on my third electric car now: I’ve owned a Nissan Leaf, a Tesla Model 3, and a Tesla Model Y. People are curious, but anxious, about what it’s like to own one. So I’ll share what I can in hopes that if you’re buying a car, you can benefit from my experience as you…
I love Tesla. I hate Elon.
I love my Tesla cars. But Telsa CEO Elon Musk has become increasingly unhinged of late, and I have serious problems with him. What to do? Maybe some “I love Tesla, I hate Elon” swag would make us Tesla owners feel better. How did this happen? Here’s the story. Teslas are terrific cars I bought…