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

[Boris-VTR]

Reminds me of what Balmer said about the iPhone…

Yeah, but this time no Steve Jobs. Only beaner counter and accountants. I will belive Musk this time.

 

[Trius]

Because if the roles were reversed then it would be acceptable. But because its elon musk its not. If Tim cook or phil schiller made such a statement this whole board would be singing hosannas in the street. Lower your reality distortion field. Phasers not on stun.

Ah ok, got you. You're saying there is a double standard regarding the reaction to Musk's sanctimonious attitude. You have to keep in mind where you are. There is a built in bias on a forum focused on Apple products. However, in your "innovate my ass" example, it's really not the same thing. Phil wasn't mud slinging. All this says to me is Musk is nervous, why else would he care so much and possibly damage future business opportunities with one of the largest tech companies in the world?

 

[Boris-VTR]

Atleast he's not pulling punches.

I like the fact that he have courage to say this things. To many people are kissing apples ass and hope to get some of that apples euro stash dollars

 

[Boris-VTR]

Just remember Steve Ballmer’s dismissive response to the iPhone in 2007. “It doesn’t have a keyboard so it can’t be used for business.” (laugh, chuckle). Just remember the European watchmaker’s dismissive response to the Watch right before their sales started to slump.

It sure looks like Musk is whistling past the graveyard in this post of his.

What apple watch in europe? this thing tanked deeper than titanic here.

 

[Dmunjal]

Except the massive amount of CO2 needed to produce that additional electricity to power that car. Coal plants, Natural gas fired plants and nuclear power plants aren't disappearing anytime soon. It takes more energy to charge these so called green vehicles. Not 100% efficient. On top of that, if electric cars become more popular, more power plants will need to be built to handle the massive electricity demand. You can't even build a solar plant anymore with all the environmental whackos out there trying to stop every new power plant. Thus the increased demand will cause electricity cost to sky rocket.

Many Tesla owners put solar on their roof which charges 100% of their driving. That's about as green as you can get with zero added load on the grid.

 

[TonyC28]

Settle down, Elon. It's called competition. It makes you better. It makes Apple better. You win. Apple wins. The consumer wins.

 

[X38]

I'm sorry but Elon is spot on. Apple is an entertainment company now - one which does entertainment very, very well. But a car company? Don't bet on it.

No, Apple is an IT products company with a huge impact on the IT and communications industries that in turn impact pretty much all industries. Entertainment is only one of many.

 

[X38]

Most people stop to eat, drink, and relieve themselves every 250 miles I would think. Don't forget, that supercharger is free for life. Compared to a $40-60 fill up. I think I'll take the 30 minutes to buy a decent meal with the savings instead of buying fast food.

Besides, that's only for long trips. 95% of the time I'm charging to 100% while I sleep at home. Just like an iPhone.

But for the 5% of the time when I need to make a longer than 250 mile trip without stopping for a couple hours every 250 miles, I can't justify owning a second vehicle. Therefore I can't justify owning an electric vehicle for the the other 95% of the driving I do if I can find one vehicle that covers 100% of my needs. Just like 99.999% of the rest of the vehicle market, which is why electric vehicles, Tesla included, remain a niche market with little overall impact.

 

[X38]

Many Tesla owners put solar on their roof which charges 100% of their driving. That's about as green as you can get with zero added load on the grid.

If you can afford it, yeah for you. But since the cost of said solar panels is more than the cost of buying an equivalent amount of electricity from the power company, the vast majority of consumers can't justify it.

 

[springsup]

He said it like a jerk, but he's right that electric cars are much more meaningful than iToys. Though Apple makes a lot more profit... infinite times as much profit.

"More meaningful" is vague praise.

RIM said the same about Apple's iPhone. "The computer guys aren't just going to walk in and figure it all out" or something similar.

Electric cars aren't that complex compared to a smartphone. Some similar challenges (e.g. Battery capacity), some different (e.g. More moving parts). I don't think it's outlandish to expect that a company with Apple's resources, IP and experienced employees could make a competitive electric car.

Apple doesn't just go to Foxconn and say "build me a smartphone". They design the components from the ground up (e.g. A-series processors), they invent the manufacturing techniques and sometimes the industrial machinery used in these plants. They'd rather not employ an army of low-skilled workers in far-flung parts of the world to do the actual assembly, so they outsource it. That may not be typical in the automotive industry, but who's to say that it makes Apple incapable of producing a car?

 

[rdlink]

He said it like a jerk, but he's right that electric cars are much more meaningful than iToys. Though Apple makes a lot more profit... infinite times as much profit.

That's because it takes a Helluva lot of money to build a car, you don't sell 700 million cars, and you can't turn around and get 80% profit on it.

 

[kds1]

I'll try and clarify the Apple Watch comment. Musk is known for having a vision for the future that is straight out of science fiction. The goal of SpaceX is to make humans a multi-planetary species. Literally. Go to their website and see the picture of the red planet Mars turning into a green, terraformed Mars (spacex.com/careers). The goal of Tesla is make the electric car more viable and mass produced.

On April fool's this year, Tesla had a major product announcement — "The Model W" which turned out to be a a fake watch. The joke was that everyone got really excited for a HUGE announcement that Musk was going to release some new revolutionary electric vehicle that would be GREAT... and it turned out to be a watch. What a let down. This was meant to poke fun at Apple, while Musk is focused on getting us to Mars, Apple is releasing functional jewelry.

Musk has been making allusions to technology companies failing us for some time now, these comments aren't really new.

I'm really not interested in going to Mars. That's his fantasy.

 

[jasonkratz]

Because you don't care about the sustainability of the planet.

Completely wrong but a simple jab where a more nuanced answer was appropriate. Thanks for playing.

 

[billy the fish]

He said it like a jerk, but he's right that electric cars are much more meaningful than iToys. Though Apple makes a lot more profit... infinite times as much profit.

Back to the profit thing, this has been discussed and agreed to death, you only mention profit when real world things like products are not up to scratch with the competitions offerings... End of...

 

[rdlink]

I like Musk's moxy. And I'm not going to lie, I would love to own a Tesla. But to take such public shots at Apple over rumors that they might be building a car is frankly ill advised and bad form. It makes you seem childish, worried and petty, and gives credibility to the mysterious project that hasn't even been confirmed yet.

 

[greytmom]

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.

Didn't say anything about Tesla being impractical. Simply refuted your statement that "no one drives more than 250 miles in a day."

 

[X38]

Musk is a Bond villian. He just hasn't shown his cards yet.

Specifically, Hugo Drax.

 

[ZubaZ]

I am kinda considering to buy Tesla Model S
It is a sexy fast electric car!

Of course this guy is laughing but the laugh is not his and the jokes were probably only jokes.
However, he should not be concerned until the Apple car is actually released (in 10 years maybe?).

 

[peasantrebellion]

So the company known for Section 8/AKA Heavily Government funded, is saying Apple can't compete in the automotive area? Well, time will tell.

It certainly could be 2007 all over again where Apple shocked the world with something called the iPhone, then again a few years later with the iPad.

I'm guessing Elon was too busy lobbying for money to keep his company afloat with tax payer handouts at the time to remember, while Apple was actually turning a profit. SMH.

 

[billy the fish]

Everybody knows you don't punch down. When you're the top dog you don't even mention your competition. Does Coke ever mention Pepsi or McDonald's Burger King?

Lol, good theory, explains why Apple mention Android so often in keynotes then ..

 

[springsup]

I'm really not interested in going to Mars. That's his fantasy.

Exactly. For me, the problem isn't Earth, it's human beings.

If we colonise Mars, were making the problem worse not better.

 

[Solomani]

The Apple Car: Sleek. Magical design. Light weight. Highly reliable.

And ultra-thin!!! You forgot THIN!!

 

[stanhope]

Laughing out loud with a smirk, brown streak in the underwear. My money is on Apple any day.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Holy cow. Elon Musk needs to learn to reel it in. This post made me cringe.

Hell no! Apple CEO and their executive staff are cutting their teeth on new ground and he's earned he's chops like they have. He's basically proven Electric Cars are a viable business and CAN be done when everyone else tried and sided with oil conglomerates. I'm willing to wager Elon is more mentally intelligent, capable and resourceful than any 2 top Apple brass. He, like Jobs takes no shorts and quite frankly this is relevant considering the minimal engineering upgrades to products Apple has been feeding it's customers and raking in top revenues/profits on. Heck even Microsoft showed them up days ago - other than the Mac Pro ... they need to deliver MORE for their customers = US.

 

[Dmunjal]

If you can afford it, yeah for you. But since the cost of said solar panels is more than the cost of buying an equivalent amount of electricity from the power company, the vast majority of consumers can't justify it.

Have you shipped for solar lately? Most offer zero down leases that lower the cost of electricity in month one. It's practically a no brainer if you use a lot of electricity at home.