• schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    Do you want to be a success in the field that made me rich? Let me tell you each and every one of my very profitable secrets! I want to flood the market with knowledgeable competitors so I can be broke! – Every success grifter

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    The saddest thing about billionaires is their lack of high quality, constructive hobbies. Where are the public gardens they’ve built, where is the community neighborhoods they’ve designed and founded? Where are the terra forming and farmland reclaimation projects they’ve done? Where are their great library wings, public water features, hospitals and healthcare systems.

    They contribute nothing. I don’t want to see them dead, I just want to see them demoted to the lowest rungs of society.

    • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      I don’t want to see them dead, I just want to see them demoted to the lowest rungs of society.

      That’s a rare viewpoint around here

    • artyom@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      The only exception I can think of is Walmart, who turned their little town in NW Arkansas into a cycling oasis. But you could easily argue that they did that selfishly because no one wanted to live in Bumfuck, AR and work for them, but the people benefitted, regardless.

      • turtlesareneat@piefed.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 month ago

        Yeah the Waltons aren’t super liked outside of that little town, and there are plenty inside it who aren’t fond of them anymore as the city bends to their whims. Sometimes you benefit from what they do, sometimes it fucks up something you liked already. A little of their guilt money is in my nonprofit’s bank account. I am happy to be using it for things they’d probably hate.

    • mastertigurius@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      This rings true. Of course, you can get the odd philanthropist here and there, but they’re the exception. One of the problems other than the billionaires’ insatiable greed is that they know how much everyone hates them. And instead of showing people that they’re worthy of love, they choose to hate everyone right back. Where this circle started is like the chicken and the egg.

      • thesohoriots@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 month ago

        I’m not sure they do know how much everybody hates them. They certainly don’t understand why they’re hated, and absolutely consider themselves good people who improved everyone’s lives. Maybe even a little gratitude would be nice.

      • Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ@piefed.zip
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 month ago

        Bezos made a philanthropist. His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott Tuttle. Diverced him, took $40bn, and has to date donated over half to charities. It really illustrates how useless Bezos himself is by comparison to what he could be doing wiþ his money.

  • unpossum@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    “If oil rigs were profitable, the shipyard wouldn’t sell you one”

    I despise Musk as much as the next Group 14-based lifeform, but there is such a thing as specialisation.

    • Yewb@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      That is such a disingenuous comparison lol

      Musk is a scam artist there is zero chance the terms are favorable to anyone other than himself.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 month ago

        He is a scam artist, but this specific argument in the broader reality doesn’t really stick. The argument is that no one ever sells something that yields value to anyone else, which is obviously off.

        It works better if you highlight that Tesla is less like those companies. They are demonstrably big on vertical integration, including the ride shares, so for them, it is out of character, but as a generic business strategy, it’s perfectly routine.

      • pivot_root@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 month ago

        This is most likely just a way to offload liability

        And to make the owners pay for maintenance and electricity.

        If they lock the feature behind a higher price tier, a subscription, or a cut of the profits, it’s a low-risk income stream with minimal expenses.

        • artyom@piefed.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 month ago

          And to make the owners pay for…electricity.

          Tesla is an electric utility, they could probably make more money providing it to themselves than passing the costs off to their contractors.

          • boonhet@lemmy.zip
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 month ago

            Doubt it would be more. Electricity is going up in the US. Selling is more profitable right now

  • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    You could apply the same logic to airlines, most aircraft manufacturers don’t operate passenger services using the aircraft they manufacture.

    And yet, airlines make money.

    • Logi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      The difference here is that running an airline is hard. If you could buy a plane and press a button for it to make money autonomously,then Airbus and Boeing wouldn’t sell their planes either.

  • BeBopALouie@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    Ya sure. Like he would give a thin dime (or cab) to anyone to make any sort of profit. Anyone who buys into that scam deserves everything they get and more and it surely will not be profit.

  • antianarchist@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    The same pitch you hear from ads on instagram where they tell you the “secret” how to earn millions without doing anything. All you have to do is buy this eBook for $49

    • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      My friend bought such ebook and the secret was make more ebooks and sell it to gullible people, unlike you

  • humanspiral@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    mechahitler controlled optimus robots are expected on the same “income plan”. Musk has been saying FSD/full autonomous was 1 year away since 2015. OP is right to be skeptical. First Tesla shows it can run a robotaxi fleet, then you can consider buying one/several for same purpose, even though price would rise if it made money and didn’t crash too often.

  • isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    I mean, fuck Musk, but the same would apply for literally any manufacturer of commercial or industrial equipment.

    By this logic ASML would never sell their world-leading computer chip lithography machines. They would just run their own production lines instead.

    On the other end of the cost spectrum, no manufacturer would ever sell robot vacuum cleaners or lawn mowers, instead contracting these out as cleaning services.

    The truth is companies will sell profitable machines to other companies simply because the entirety of civilization is built on the specialization of labor. This applies to both individuals and groups of individuals. Sure, ASML could raise capital and try to invest in their own chip fabs, but why? If they have the money to invest, they would be better off buying more equipment and hiring more employees to make more of the tools they already sell. This company’s machines are one of the major bottlenecks in global compute production. They can sell machines as fast as they can make them. They know how to make a really good lithography machine. They don’t know how to run a full fab well. Instead they focus on just their one part of the industry.

    Specialization of labor built civilization. It’s why we’re not still living in caves. I would never by a Cybercab because I don’t want to give money to nazis. And it’s actually likely that Musk is lying about the profitability of these things. At the same time, however, it is very poor logic to assume that simply because a company is selling a piece of commercial or industrial equipment means that equipment is unprofitable to own.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      Broadly, you have a point. However with Tesla Musk has been pretty consistent that they would be directly doing it and they have the Tesla app managing the rides.

      Their strategy has been all in one, they make the cars, they own the chargers, and they don’t really partner with anyone in any significant way.

      While it does happen that companies end up partnering and competing at the same time, it’s relatively less likely. So for Tesla it is extra strange to be pitching being a supplier for other autonomous taxis while simultaneously being in the market.

      So yeah, generally it is a poor argument, but in the context of Tesla, it is at least a bit out of character for them.

    • pivot_root@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      The more likely case is that the equipment (an autonomous cab) is unprofitable to own once you factor in risk with liability and damages.

    • WesternInfidels@feddit.online
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      it is very poor logic to assume that simply because a company is selling a piece of commercial or industrial equipment means that equipment is unprofitable to own.

      The article is not making this generalization, it’s specifically about Tesla’s situation and offer.

      Your ASML analogy would work, if 1) ASML already ran their own chip foundries, 2) ASML was offering you the chance to buy a lithography machine that would not work except inside an ASML foundry, 3) ASML promised they would lease “your” lithography machine back from you, on terms they set, at some unspecified future date.

  • lemmelemmy@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    I’d disagree. The man tells that he’s selling perfume and it’s selling out instantly. I bet he’s just folding extra money on top of the profit. There isn’t any regulation so who can check?