Elon Musk's epic bacon adventures

Halftrack

Full Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2014
Messages
3,941
Location
Chair
Was browsing back through the thread while bored, and it dawned upon me just how many people list PayPal as one of his accomplishments, despite his involvement being minor.

The idea and software was developed by Confinity. Musk and his crew had an online bank called X.com. Confinity was growing, and X.com was expanding into online payments. Eventually, in March of 2000, the two companies merged. Musk took over as CEO in April of 2000, and stepped down in October of 2000. He was captain of the PayPal ship for all of six months, had nothing to do with developing the original concept (all of X.com was essentially jettisoned within a year of the merger, with Confinity's product becoming their sole focus), but somehow he's still being credited for founding and creating it, and it's being used as evidence for his genius and programming prowess. How? Why? Is it because people see his name on the list of founders and assume his big, infallible brain must have birthed it?
 

calodo2003

Flaming Full Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
41,749
Location
Florida
Was browsing back through the thread while bored, and it dawned upon me just how many people list PayPal as one of his accomplishments, despite his involvement being minor.

The idea and software was developed by Confinity. Musk and his crew had an online bank called X.com. Confinity was growing, and X.com was expanding into online payments. Eventually, in March of 2000, the two companies merged. Musk took over as CEO in April of 2000, and stepped down in October of 2000. He was captain of the PayPal ship for all of six months, had nothing to do with developing the original concept (all of X.com was essentially jettisoned within a year of the merger, with Confinity's product becoming their sole focus), but somehow he's still being credited for founding and creating it, and it's being used as evidence for his genius and programming prowess. How? Why? Is it because people see his name on the list of founders and assume his big, infallible brain must have birthed it?
Cultists gonna worship their cult leader to any end.
 

Solius

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Staff
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
86,395
He's like a real life bond villain but more incompetent and weird.
 

Charles Miller

Full Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Messages
3,046
I bet this massive hypocrite was the first to buy vaccines for his entire family, and now he is spreading anti-vaccine propaganda to please his lunatic followers.
 

entropy

Full Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
11,224
Location
Where's my arc, Paulie?
I bet this massive hypocrite was the first to buy vaccines for his entire family, and now he is spreading anti-vaccine propaganda to please his lunatic followers.
I don’t know why so many people seem to need him to be stupid, so they can hate him even more. I’d say there’s an excellent chance he is well capable of holding his own in discussions with his anti-vaxx team.
 

calodo2003

Flaming Full Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
41,749
Location
Florida
We shouldn't be. Autonomous driving will be normal in a few years, since most cars will be EVs.
We’re not there yet. Don’t see us being there for quite some time.

It seems completely daft to give total control to a car when very, very few other cars are in the same mode.

It’s utterly idiotic.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
130,103
Location
Hollywood CA
We’re not there yet. Don’t see us being there for quite some time.

It seems completely daft to give total control to a car when very, very few other cars are in the same mode.

It’s utterly idiotic.
In 15 years that won't be the case though, which is why the technology is being developed and tested in the present. In 2035 GM will no longer make fossil fuel powered cars (Ford and Chrysler will probably follow GMs lead), so the technology really needs to be honed right now since millions of new EVs are hitting the market over the next few years.
 

calodo2003

Flaming Full Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
41,749
Location
Florida
In 15 years that won't be the case though, which is why the technology is being developed and tested in the present. In 2035 GM will no longer make fossil fuel powered cars (Ford and Chrysler will probably follow GMs lead), so the technology really needs to be honed right now since millions of new EVs are hitting the market over the next few years.
We can quibble over when this will be ubiquitous, but don’t think we can argue over the stupidity of doing this now.

It’s another Darwin Award for me. Actions have consequences, stupid actions tend to create stupid consequences.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
130,103
Location
Hollywood CA
We can quibble over when this will be ubiquitous, but don’t think we can argue over the stupidity of doing this now.

It’s another Darwin Award for me. Actions have consequences, stupid actions tend to create stupid consequences.
Yes, but in the context of a thread which is basically a self-licking ice cream cone for dunking on all things Musk, "giggling" that a couple of humans lost their lives in a car accident is probably a bit extreme and off the mark. Ultimately, the technology is not going to be flawless and yes, there will be accidents - none of which have anything to do with Musk having a goofy, eccentric personality who smokes weed on podcasts.
 

calodo2003

Flaming Full Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
41,749
Location
Florida
Yes, but in the context of a thread which is a self-licking ice cream cone for dunking on all things Musk, "giggling" that a couple of humans lost their lives in a car accident is probably a bit extreme and off the mark. Ultimately, the technology is not going to be flawless and yes, there will be accidents - none of which have anything to do with Musk having a goofy, eccentric personality who smokes weed on podcasts.
I get you, but this thread also discusses the somewhat surreal & to think that two people might be such acolytes of Tesla / Musk to give up their autonomy & safety just to be hipster or cutting edge is baffling to me.

It’s a bit of the extension of when you were a kid & giggled at your friend wiping out on a bike. This is that writ large.

I’ve just never seen the validity in the feral worship some have for Musk & his inventions (with the exception of SpaceX). It’s bizarre, the cult of personality & the apparent trust in his inventions.