I suspect if Elon wasn’t at the helm then SpaceX would get more of a look in at some of those contracts. That being said, it’s a really bad idea to lock the entire national infrastructure into a single provider outside your control.
Think of Germany reshaping their entire national infrastructure to focus on importing 80% of its energy from Russia… up until 2022…
The world has a very awkward dilemma coming up. SpaceX is by far the dominant space launch and remote internet provider. Both of those are really dangerous to leave in the hands of a single monopoly. The fact that the monopoly exists purely due to good product development doesn’t change the risk it creates long term.
There currently isn’t another viable option. It will change in the future and no doubt there will be anti-trust action against his companies to open up competition.
Blue origin being the obvious with their planned deployment of LEO of their own satellites and the new Glen rockets which will hopefully launch successfully in October.
I don’t know much about anything really. But I do know this. Without Starlink, my family and pretty much most of my town would not have internet. Telstra/broadband and the powers behind the basic infrastructure of that ilk have little to no interst in regional areas.
Yeah sounds like a fair question wim. But I couldnt give an honest answer. I dont know enough about him or the worlds affairs that he’s having an effect on.
I know he is extremely unpopular on blitz and a lot of other places. I can only assume for good reasons. But one of the service he offers has had a very positive impact on my family and community. But Im not saying he’s wonderful. I assume he’s a total nob. Coz I hear that way more than anything else.
To give him his due credit, he has a knack for publicity and the user experience. He didn’t invent Tesla, but he invested at the right time, and many of the most attractive features of a Tesla car are there because he insisted on it. It’s reasonable to say that size of the current market for EVs is owed significantly to his input. Others have already mentioned the good that SpaceX and Starlink have done (Ukrainian War aside).
The closest comparison one can make is to Steve Jobs, who also possessed the same knack for user experience without the technical knowhow. The publicity and undue credit given to both men led them down ego-driven paths they’re incapable of escaping from. For Steve, that manifested in him never taking showers and eating fruit to cure his cancer, for Elon that means spending 30 hours down a K-hole shitposting on Twitter while inventing the worst truck in the world.
Starlink is great but it’s not an original idea, it’s inextricable from Space X which gets the satellites up there fast and relatively cheap, including by piggybacking on rides paid for by other companies. Elon isn’t inventing internet of the gods or space travel, but has been very good at using money to fast track stuff that should’ve happened long ago
I’m unsure if SpaceX was his idea or if he latched onto a good pitch, but credit is well deserved that he’s transformed the global space industry. He deserves credit for that.
The SA battery was probably being talked about internally at Tesla and so they would have had some relevant IP developed to do a grid scale battery. Jumping onto the SA request was good marketing for a product that was already an obvious next step.
So I think he’s good at extrapolating technology markets that are awaiting funding and then being risk tolerant enough to go on the bumpy journey to scale up. Reusable spacecraft, electric vehicles, grid scale batteries, satellite constellations are all sensible step changes rather than moon shots. They just needed a benefactor.
I think Musk will go down in history as having a hugely positive impact on the world, but his recent foray into becoming the world’s most influential voice wasn’t wise. He is a very flawed man. He is neither as bad as made out or as brilliant as some believe.
I consider him an interesting person to listen to about history and technology, but unable to avoid falling down dumb information bubble rabbit holes on anything to do with culture, politics and social dynamics.
Bannings have increased since Musk took over Twitter. Furthermore, he has banned many accounts (notably those of journalists) for incredibly arbitrary reasons, Ken Klippenstein being the most recent notable example.
Trump had never ever been considered a brilliant businessman.
The business world knew a long time ago he was a hack, hence nobody would lend him money.
Musk, as previous posters noted has been good at seeing where tech is going. He has invented nothing but taken others ideas and executed well in some cases.
He is now the emperor with no clothes, surrounded by yes men. The most recent example was his ‘joke’ about Kamala Harris. People laughed when he told it privately he complained… no ■■■■ wit, they laugh because they are yes men who know which side their bread is buttered on.
As for business, if a CEO of a mid-sized company did what Musk has done recently they would have been charged numerous times with securities fraud.
Morgan Stanley running bullish stories on Tesla as they are on thr hook for Twitter debt (backed my Tesla stock).
Look for Musk to find random excuses to sell a lot of Tesla stock over the next few years.