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

[parapup]

As much as I love Apple the ride won't last forever as no company is on top forever and the arrogance in this thread means it's really gonna hurt when Apple doesn't dominate.

I was only half joking! Apple has so much money it's not at all out of their reach to build a decent car and given their clout, given how many people with money would want Apple to build their phone, computer, watch, car and maybe house - it's not far fetched to imagine they will have a good start. Beyond that it's just a matter of them remaining invested in it. It will take a lot of undoing to come to a point where they don't dominate in one way or the other.

 

[jasonkratz]

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.

Why are electric cars more meaningful? I get a lot more done and a lot more value out of my "iToys" then I get out of my car. My car gets me from place to place (and costs me a fortune at that. It sits most of the day. Have to pay insurance and upkeep). That's it. The "iToys" let me communicate, create, monitor my health, etc. I honestly don't give a damn about Tesla or Apple cars but the notion that electric cars are meaningful in some way is silly.

 

[Sharkey311]

Ego Musk

For real. I just lost a tremendous amount of respect for him.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Does he know that Apple has a wealthy fan base? Who else will be buying Telsa cars? Android users want everything for free.

 

[wovel]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Tesla introduce mobile devices in the near future.

That would be 12 months before they filed for bankruptcy. Apple could ramp up a car company the size of GM have it completely fail and still have enough cash on hand to buy Tesla and shut it down without noticing. If Tesla tried to make a serious play in the mobile device industry they would just be broke. That would be unfortunate.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Musk will undoubtedly eat his words just like Ballmer and Ed Colligan when the iCar is released and millions with spare money and nowhere to travel will make lines in front of the Apple store to buy a two wheeled first gen that can only turn right. Then onwards every version will add a wheel and more turning points, thereby driving upgrades and making Tesla feel even worse

Sorry but Im not into car culture. I think mass transit is more efficient transportation TBQH... especially when considering the limited resources here on the planet.

 

[Mr. Donahue]

Ego Musk

Haha Ego Musk for sure. But I guess you have to be eccentric to accomplish what they have. But yea seems like a defense mechanism. I think he's a little worried.

 

[Sharkey311]

It would be an uphill battle for Apple to go against Tesla.

Competition is good and there is plenty of room for both companies.

 

[Tycho24]

As much as I love Apple the ride won't last forever as no company is on top forever and the arrogance in this thread means it's really gonna hurt when Apple doesn't dominate.

I get your point, but Elon's is REALLY weird.
Tesla is famous for making a bunch of their tech open source & freely admitting that they alone simply cannot change the world in the way that they want to. Elon has called out to other companies to please use his intellectual property to also create similar businesses.... so this goal can be reached!
This is so awesome & altruistic of him. It is one of the reasons that I hold him & his company in such high regard. Sooooooo, why is it that when the 1st company joins him in trying to free the world from the terrible problem of reliance on fossil fuel, he ridicules them?? *confused*

 

[greytmom]

No one drives more than 250 miles daily.

What? I do so about once a week. Drove 300+ yesterday.

 

[jhulgan]

This reminds me of Steve Ballmer comments, and Palm CEO, and Nokia, and Motorola, and Blackberry, and John Dvorak, and Samsung, and Swatch, etc.. etc.
It's usually a bad idea to bet against Apple.

 

[IbisDoc]

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.

Yeah, only a nervous CEO would make those types of comments about a competitor. Apple would never stoop to that level.

In the earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the Microsoft Surface tablet. This is what he had to say:

“I haven’t had a chance to try a Surface, but from what we’re reading, it’s a fairly compromised and confusing product. […] One of the toughest things you do when you make a product is to make hard tradeoffs. To decide what a product should be. I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don’t think it would do all of those things very well.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Any other CEO I would agree with you. But Musk's experience with SpaceX probably inspired his comment. Making and designing rockets from raw materials and manufacturing them in the US with his own dime is much different than designing and assembling lcd panels and chips.

He successfully developed rockets at the tenth of the cost — again manufactured in the US, (did you know the Atlas V rocket used by NASA is Russian? And we have trade sanctions on them, how will we resupply ISS?) again, against all odds. SpaceX is the first private company to resupply the ISS. This is NOT something Samsung can just copy.

Why do people want to work for these companies over Apple?

Musk is selling what the 2015 SHOULD have been before people got pessimistic. Apple is selling a fashionable wristwatch, even with hordes of cash. This is why people want to work for Musk, they believe in this future, not Tim Cook's. Similar to what Job's sold.

Certainly investors will probably favor Apple's model of making insane profits, but at the end of the day I want to work for a company that is bringing meaningful change to the world.

Cars aren't the future. That's the real issue. Cars aren't the future. Mass transit is the future. Anything else is a temporary diversion from reaching that future. It's a complete utter waste of resources.

 

[Sonmi451]

Musk wouldn't be talking **** if he wasn't concerned about Apple's potential car. Makes me think he might know something that the rest of us don't about Apple's plans.

He's not concerned, he wants other car makers to make better EV's and push competition. He's probably talking *** to motivate them to do better. I don't think Elon cares much about the stock price, he wants to build better cars.

Why are electric cars more meaningful? I get a lot more done and a lot more value out of my "iToys" then I get out of my car. My car gets me from place to place (and costs me a fortune at that. It sits most of the day. Have to pay insurance and upkeep). That's it. The "iToys" let me communicate, create, monitor my health, etc. I honestly don't give a damn about Tesla or Apple cars but the notion that electric cars are meaningful in some way is silly.

I hear this rhetoric from a certain political party often. Just sayin'.

 

[jpgr15]

Wow. Colossal douche canoe.

 

[dcorban]

Musk cautions that cars are far more complex than smartphones and smartwatches. "You can't just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: Build me a car," Musk told the German newspaper.

“PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

 

[dotnet]

Building cars is not rocket science.

Neither is rocket science, BTW.

 

[2IS]

I see the ADF's feelings have been hurt by this interview.

 

[The Doctor11]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Tesla introduce mobile devices in the near future.

And they would run CarPlay PhonePlay!

 

[codelode84]

Why do you say that? What exactly is Tesla doing that Apple couldn't? Clearly Musk doesn't agree otherwise he wouldn't even give Apple the time of day. Unless he's like Donald Trump and just wants the publicity.

Have you seen or driven a Tesla? It is unlike any other car on the market by long shot. Talk about innovation they have turned over the auto industry the same as Apple did with the phone. I think Apple is going a little deep here I really do.

To be honest Apple is spending a ton of money on this i am sure and it would be a lot easier if they just bought Tesla and they could have one of the best innovators right in house.

 

[steve09090]

He doesn't need to have class. Steve Jobs didn't have class. He straight out called people bozos if he didn't like them.

Anyway, Musk is Tesla's boss. What do you expect him to say?

I guess maybe having at shot at their watch, their iPad, innovation in general plus saying that they are pretty well second... It's about talking them down. No class. Maybe he is worried about them taking the employees?

 

[JediZenMaster]

I get your point, but Elon's is REALLY weird.
Tesla is famous for making a bunch of their tech open source & freely admitting that they alone simply cannot change the world in the way that they want to. Elon has called out to other companies to please use his intellectual property to also create similar businesses.... so this goal can be reached!
This is so awesome & altruistic of him. It is one of the reasons that I hold him & his company in such high regard. Sooooooo, why is it that when the 1st company joins him in trying to free the world from the terrible problem of reliance on fossil fuel, he ridicules them?? *confused*

Weird is good. Apple used to be weird and surprising and all about innovation. They have lost that because every year like clock work there is going to be a new iPhone, Revisions to their macbook lineup. etc. Even the car has been the worst kept secret.

 

[dotnet]

For real. I just lost a tremendous amount of respect for him.

I too was surprised at this sort of trash talk from Musk. But hey, it's the sound of sweating bullets.

 

[Mattsasa]

I believe him...

honestly I do.

 

[macduke]

Musk saying that Apple has hired away "very few people" from the car company

…

Tesla has hired nearly 150 Apple employees.

These two statements are incompatible. He said that Apple is their Tesla employee graveyard. So very few go to Apple and yet Tesla has hired 150 from Apple? Sounds like Tesla is Apple's toilet. In all seriousness though, does he realize how much of an asshat he seems like when he talks like this? just because you sound like an ass doesn't make you the next Steve Jobs. His comment was very reminiscent of Ballmer, Nokia, etc saying Apple can't just come in and make a smartphone. Don't underestimate $150B in cash and a talented team. Does he also realize that a huge portion of his market segment are big time Apple users? If he doesn't see the merit in Apple's design then I don't see the merit in buying one of his cars because he clearly doesn't pay attention to the details.