Elon Musk: If You Don't Make It at Tesla, You Go Work at Apple

[Rogifan]

Because apple for its entire existence has made computers, tablets, etc. The whole apple army comes into the room as "We will build the worlds best car" etc. Have they made a car before? They have not. So essentially selling wolf tickets is not a good thing until one can actually produce something they are arrogant about.

Tesla can innovate as far as making cars. Can apple? Well until they produce something they need to realize they have alot to prove.

But Apple's not out there trashing Tesla (or any other automaker). In fact Apple has said nothing publicly about their car project. Musk is the one doing all the talking. Perhaps Apple is talking a bunch of smack behind the scenes. Or perhaps Musk really does see them as a threat.

 

[Mr D]

No matter how successful Tesla is, or how great their cars are, Musk's comments display a lack of class.

Class means nothing. It's a cop out for people, something people say to make themselves feel better inside because they dislike someone else's strong opinions. It's a way for people to balance it out so you don't feel inferior to the other person, but in reality, class means nothing.

 

[Rogifan]

That threw me off as well. I mean, I assume he's referencing the Apple watch as a flop. Although it didn't sell the 850 trillion units that investors wanted or analysts predicted, it's sold several million and is, in my opinion, a great success for a product that is, in its current state, a $350+ iPhone accessory.

Seems to me he's insinuating Apple is a wasteland full of vanity projects and the car will just be another one?

My guess is all these employees just got a huge motivational boost.

I really like Musk. He is definitely pushing his companies into the future. I wish someone at Apple was doing that. Instead, Apple is pushing into fashion and accessories and pink hardware. We know how long that stuff sticks around. Very fleeting and inconsequential. The software has been suffering the most. I used to look forward to software updates. Now I dread them since it seems to make things worse.

Who would you believe more if they said Steve's famous line "....or do you want to come with me and change the world?” Tim Cook or Elon Musk? Tesla is the better bet.

And people say Apple "fans" are kool-aid drinkers.

 

[Lennholm]

Wow, what a great way to insult a huge part of your customer base.

The only customers insulted by this would be the ones with an unhealthy personal attachment to Apple.

How is that a double standard? One of them is being condescending and insulting and the other one is defending allegations against them.

And Musk was also defending against the allegation that Tesla is losing their "best engineers" to Apple.

 

[Mr D]

The only customers insulted by this would be the ones with an unhealthy personal attachment to Apple.

In defense of the previous statement, what you said doesn't really counter that. A customer is a customer, their personal problems are irrelevant.

 

[Jimrod]

That's not a car for you. No one car is perfect for everyone. But to say Tesla is unpractical is like saying a Ferrari is no good because you can't drive it daily.

I seem to remember Jeremy Clarkson buying a Ford GT because he loved the car then realising it can only manage 90 miles on a tank in real-world driving! The fact the Tesla can manage nearly four times as far, accelerate faster and seat up to 7 people is pretty impressive, even if the basic tech is nothing earth-shattering.

They're not quite there yet but if they can keep improving range, release a "normal" car which is more affordable and keep increasing the number of charging stations they really will start to worry the established manufacturers, all of which is good for us all in the long term. Competition is healthy.

 

[gnipgnop]

Tesla has produced some very nice cars that have very limited manufacturing runs and are only affordable to the very wealthy. They're not a major manufacturer or player in the car industry at all. Is that what everyone is supposed to be impressed with?

 

[Lennholm]

Not sure what Tim has done... Close to what Balmer did with MS.. Elon is just taking Jabs at Tim.. No one should underestimate Apple though.. Even with a lame duck CEO as Tim

Cook is busy trying to hammer home the idea that the Watch is the game changer the iPhone was.

 

[anomie]

Reminds me of what Balmer said about the iPhone…

Like when he said it was way too expensive?
I´m asking because this cannot be compared to what this Tesla guy said since he was talking employees not products.

 

[Sly13MacRumor]

What a douchebag. This guy is seriously jealous of Apple and must have a stick up his ass. Haha

 

[baryon]

Isn't is a bit sad that he calls the current location of his own ex-employees "the graveyard"? I mean if you work with someone for a while and for some reason you stop working together, that doesn't mean it's okay to say those employees are good as dead, that the company that hires them is bad, or anything bad about them for that matter.

It's like he's saying "Well we fired them, so they're obviously bad people - if you hire them you suck - in fact, they should never work again and they basically deserve to die.". He's talking about people! If he thinks Tesla is the best company in the world, then surely hiring someone they fired is not such a bad thing. He's making it sound like if even Tesla doesn't want them, they should just be dead.

Sounds unprofessional to me from Musk, who seemed like a nice guy!

 

[Thunderhawks]

Cook is busy trying to hammer home the idea that the Watch is the game changer the iPhone was.

In the land of smart watch sit is.
Don't own one, don't want one (at the moment) and will wait where it goes.

As for Musk, why can't he say what he wants or believes. This politically correct business is nauseating.
He is the flag ship of Tesla, so getting free press for some controversial statements is just fine.

He is trying to change the auto industry for the better. As usual Apple will come into a field very late and just fine taking market shares away.

If his remarks make all the "losers" work harder it's a good thing.

 

[peterdevries]

I hope someone has pointed out that Elon Musk is, in fact, a rocket scientist.

No he is not. He manages a company that employs rocket scientists. That is something else entirely.

 

[alexgowers]

Not a Tesla fan, i feel like they make pretty weak cars and as a company have low prospects. I don't think this guy has any vision and a severe lack of interpersonal skills. If Apple enters the automotive market, they'll easily outpace Tesla sales so he should be seriously concerned, considering he's hired more apple employees than apple have tesla employees especially considering number of employees total, his statements really should be reversed. Tesla are like Google but without any solid products or services to sell, it's all hot air from these guys, Elon Musk is one of the biggest waste of spaces i've ever encountered. I don't like the apple watch but it's a successful and sells in volumes many watch manufacturers at the same sale value would kill for!

 

[Lennholm]

Reminds me of what Balmer said about the iPhone…

Context is, as always, key (you know, like it was when Jobs said "nobody wants a stylus"). Ballmer was talking about the original iPhone priced at $599 with a two year contract. He was right, the original iPhone sold below expectations, Apple slashed the price a few months later and it didn't become a huge success until the iPhone 3G.

 

[scott911]

It's precious how people here are calling Musk classless for these comments yet Steve Jobs himself carried the exact same tone for his entire life.

my exact thought... It was very much like Jobs.

Apple corporate now is all about the safe choices, and product release that is so carefully engineered to protect the next version.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Yeah... I want to work for this guy....

 

[CR7tique]

The most innovative company of the 1st decade of the century Vs. the most innovative company of the 2nd, I love it.

 

[WarHeadz]

to which he joked "did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch?"

Famous last words....

 

[sirdir]

Maybe the Tesla Roadster (their original car, a Lotus Elise lookalike) is what you're thinking of. Top Gear rigged the test for that, and there was a lawsuit. Anyway, the Model S is a great car, only it's too darn expensive.

Also the S throttles down (cool down mode ) if you're really pushing it. I don't think it's a big problem in everyday usage, though.

 

[sirdir]

Those certainly aren't the comments of a CEO that isn't worried about Apple. I'm a huge fan of both companies and both are great innovators, but Musk sounds nervous to me.

So am I. And Musk always sounds nervous, when he showed his new battery I almost couldn't watch his presentation, I was really feeling sorry for him. He looked as if he wanted do be far far away from that place

 

[stewy]

Ego Musk

Haha... because Jobs didn't have an ego at all right?

 

[thewap]

In all fairness when a reporter alleges that Apple has hired all of Tesla's best engineers, I think his response was appropriate and clever to protect the image of Tesla.

 

[Rogifan]

The most innovative company of the 1st decade of the century Vs. the most innovative company of the 2nd, I love it.

Not sure everyone would agree that Tesla is the most innovative company of the second century. Maybe that's what it will become but right now it's just selling expensive EVs to wealthy hipsters. I'd love to see Musk's reaction if Apple decided to partner with BMW.

 

[kds1]

What's all this "Apple is turning into a fashion brand" ******** talk? Apple makes a watch, does an amazing job at it, knows how to market it, and suddenly people start talking crap? Oh, the ignorance.....