Elon Musk now owns 9.2% of twitter...update.. will soon be the sole owner as Board of Directors accepts his purchase offer

[manly]

It was a big amount that could really make a difference, before Musk took over.

Now it's just another body blow to a collapsing twitter.

Twitter is in a self inflicted downward spiral, and instead of attempting to self correct, Musk keeps lashing out and making it ever worse.

It's a big account, but wasn't their annual advertising revenue about $1B? The real problem is the other 49 top advertisers who are also sitting on the sidelines unless the fires are put out (if ever). Also, it's unlike he'll roll out a Twitter phone. But assuming he does, he'd just "badge engineer" some cheap Chinese phone.

I realize a lot of progressives have been openly cheering against Elon in recent months, but he's not going broke unless there are serious financial improprieties going on at both Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla is going to sell 1.3M "luxury" priced vehicles this year, and at least 1.5M next year. Musk is unfortunately engaging in demand destruction of his company's car sales. But as long as the growth continues, the compliant board won't rake him over the coals. Personally, I do agree the stock price is still inflated, and there is approximately 0 chance that Tesla sells 10M cars annually a decade from now as their plans have suggested.

You have to be a mainstream car company to sell 10M vehicles annually. If your ASP is > $60k now, there is no pathway to acquiring that many customers annually unless inflation is 8% annually for a decade (and you never raise your prices much).

 

[Zorba]

If only we had some way to move freight on fixed paths with electricity. Perhaps they freight "cars" could be coupled together to further increase efficiencies.

This country spends so much time and effort trying to reinvent the wheel. We already have a great way to move freight, and we used to even do local delivery with it. Nationalize the rail system and force proper operation instead of the BS our rail industry does now, and electrify the rail system.

We are subsidize trucking to nth degree especially through road installation and maintenance, but I don't think we do anywhere near the same amount of support for rail. Then we've allowed regional monopolies to form that are impossible to penetrate because no one can afford to lay a new rail network. So rail ends up being more expensive and takes much longer than trucking, even though it uses a fraction of the fuel and labor.

 

[akugami]

If only we had some way to move freight on fixed paths with electricity. Perhaps they freight "cars" could be coupled together to further increase efficiencies.

This country spends so much time and effort trying to reinvent the wheel. We already have a great way to move freight, and we used to even do local delivery with it. Nationalize the rail system and force proper operation instead of the BS our rail industry does now, and electrify the rail system.

Wish this could come to fruition. A high speed rail system, for both freight and travel, would alleviate a lot of traffic. Freight trucks should be last mile only. Not cross country transport vehicles.

 

[MrSquished]

For some reason this country doesn't like rail. I mean all the conservatives and plenty of moderates and then also some Dems. Though they are the only ones that support rails

Basically a rail system is mass transit. This is good for the community so conservatives are naturally against that. it's all about independent schedules in your individual car. Nevermind the congestion it causes and rail can be faster and more convenient. It's not individual enough. They practically see it as communism. it's the weirdest thing. Anything that can make society more efficient and better, they are against, if it has any type of communal sense to it. Trains are communal in that you are not in your individual car on your schedule and it has the word MASS in it, meaning for the masses, never mind anything else, so thus it goes against their sense of self. Nothing can be good for the masses. Masses=communism.

 

[IronWing]

I thought the boring company was all about the hyper loop? Supersonic trains running through a vacuum that get us from SF to LA in an hour?

It was vaporware, an attempt to undermine support for the passenger rail connection from SF to LA that was already in the works. It wasn't even needed as the price of the connection was already destroying support for the project. It's a shame because passenger rail from SF to LA is about 150 years past due.

 

[brycejones]

I thought the boring company was all about the hyper loop? Supersonic trains running through a vacuum that get us from SF to LA in an hour?

Lol, no

 

[Brainonska511]

Wish this could come to fruition. A high speed rail system, for both freight and travel, would alleviate a lot of traffic. Freight trucks should be last mile only. Not cross country transport vehicles.

Even if it was just normal speed, that would be a huge improvement. Freight companies have ceded so much to trucking, and instead have focused on time insensitive transit, like natural resources and chemicals. We used to move so much more by rail, so it is something that could be done. There is just no political will to wrest control from the mega duopolies.

 

[Leeea]

Free markets are

I'm picturing a white VW bug with white tires that costs $300k.

Much to our horror, 55.45% of the market will then buy them. The used car market would be ruined for all time.

I thought the boring company was all about the hyper loop? Supersonic trains running through a vacuum that get us from SF to LA in an hour?

I thought it was all about specially designed autonomous cars driving down tunnels just barely large enough for them at 100 mph.

... and then what we received was taxi drivers driving generic Tesla's 35 mph down a tunnel a bit to large for them.


Curious how Elon goes for the all things to all people approach.

 

[Greenman]

It was vaporware, an attempt to undermine support for the passenger rail connection from SF to LA that was already in the works. It wasn't even needed as the price of the connection was already destroying support for the project. It's a shame because passenger rail from SF to LA is about 150 years past due.

It was always nothing but a marketing tool, and not a very good one at that. The above ground medium speed rail we're now building between bumfuck and nowhere anyone wants to go is past the point of absurdity. California will piss away a few billion before quietly pulling the plug on the entire bungled endever.

 

[cytg111]

If only we had some way to move freight on fixed paths with electricity. Perhaps they freight "cars" could be coupled together to further increase efficiencies.

This country spends so much time and effort trying to reinvent the wheel. We already have a great way to move freight, and we used to even do local delivery with it. Nationalize the rail system and force proper operation instead of the BS our rail industry does now, and electrify the rail system.

Seems to be a pattern all over though, trucking outperforming train freight…. for whatever reason that may be…

 

[IronWing]

It was always nothing but a marketing tool, and not a very good one at that. The above ground medium speed rail we're now building between bumfuck and nowhere anyone wants to go is past the point of absurdity. California will piss away a few billion before quietly pulling the plug on the entire bungled endever.

There are millions of people living in that bumfuck nowhere. California is weird that way. I got in a traffic jam in Dorris, fer Christ’s sake. How does that even happen?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Apparently Twitter declined to pay some of their employees. That's always a good sign.

Of a lawsuit. Bitches better pay.

 

[cytg111]

It's a big account, but wasn't their annual advertising revenue about $1B? The real problem is the other 49 top advertisers who are also sitting on the sidelines unless the fires are put out (if ever). Also, it's unlike he'll roll out a Twitter phone. But assuming he does, he'd just "badge engineer" some cheap Chinese phone.

I realize a lot of progressives have been openly cheering against Elon in recent months, but he's not going broke unless there are serious financial improprieties going on at both Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla is going to sell 1.3M "luxury" priced vehicles this year, and at least 1.5M next year. Musk is unfortunately engaging in demand destruction of his company's car sales. But as long as the growth continues, the compliant board won't rake him over the coals. Personally, I do agree the stock price is still inflated, and there is approximately 0 chance that Tesla sells 10M cars annually a decade from now as their plans have suggested.

You have to be a mainstream car company to sell 10M vehicles annually. If your ASP is > $60k now, there is no pathway to acquiring that many customers annually unless inflation is 8% annually for a decade (and you never raise your prices much).

Well, Elon of yesterday may have been able to pull it off but the Elon Muppet of today? Muppet seems more interested in scoring fake social credit points with Rogan by stirring up shit with AOC and owning the libs.
Didnt Trump JUST now empty out that account? Oh well.

 

[fskimospy]

It was always nothing but a marketing tool, and not a very good one at that. The above ground medium speed rail we're now building between bumfuck and nowhere anyone wants to go is past the point of absurdity. California will piss away a few billion before quietly pulling the plug on the entire bungled endever.

High speed rail in California has become an enormous clusterfuck. The US desperately needs to reform the way in which we build infrastructure as we are basically paralyzed now.

The only first leg of high speed rail that should have been built in California would be to connect the major coastal cities. Pick one: San Diego -> LA or LA-> Bay Area. That's the rail to build. Everything else is lighting money on fire.

 

[IronWing]

High speed rail in California has become an enormous clusterfuck. The US desperately needs to reform the way in which we build infrastructure as we are basically paralyzed now.

The only first leg of high speed rail that should have been built in California would be to connect the major coastal cities. Pick one: San Diego -> LA or LA-> Bay Area. That's the rail to build. Everything else is lighting money on fire.

The SF to LA leg is (was?) what was being built. The state started in the middle and worked in both directions. This brought on complaints that the rail would be serving bumfuck and nowhere. From a technical perspective, starting on the flats and building toward the more difficult terrain makes sense as one gains experience and demonstrates progress before taking on the hard part.

 

[fskimospy]

The SF to LA leg is (was?) what was being built. The state started in the middle and worked in both directions. This brought on complaints that the rail would be serving bumfuck and nowhere. From a technical perspective, starting on the flats and building toward the more difficult terrain makes sense as one gains experience and demonstrates progress before taking on the hard part.

While this is technically true what it really is is: LA -> Palmdale -> Bakersfield -> Fresno - Gilroy -> Bay Area. A giant diversion through cities that don't want or need high speed rail at enormous additional cost. This was instead of just following the 5, which is what the actual experts recommended. A straight shot between your two biggest urban areas. The dysfunction was so bad that the French company hired to direct it quit and went to work in AFRICA WHERE IT SAID GOVERNMENT WAS LESS DYSFUNCTIONAL.

How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails (Published 2022)

America’s first experiment with high-speed rail has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare. Political compromises created a project so expensive that almost no one knows how it can be built as originally envisioned.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Brainonska511]

While this is technically true what it really is is: LA -> Palmdale -> Bakersfield -> Fresno - Gilroy -> Bay Area. A giant diversion through cities that don't want or need high speed rail at enormous additional cost. This was instead of just following the 5, which is what the actual experts recommended. A straight shot between your two biggest urban areas. The dysfunction was so bad that the French company hired to direct it quit and went to work in AFRICA WHERE IT SAID GOVERNMENT WAS LESS DYSFUNCTIONAL.

How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails (Published 2022)

America’s first experiment with high-speed rail has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare. Political compromises created a project so expensive that almost no one knows how it can be built as originally envisioned.

www.nytimes.com

That NYT article is kind of garbage. Building through a more direct route would mean scaling steep terrain, which wouldn't really save anything. And those "empty areas" of Bakersfield and whatnot still are home to hundreds of thousands of people.

 

[IronWing]

While this is technically true what it really is is: LA -> Palmdale -> Bakersfield -> Fresno - Gilroy -> Bay Area. A giant diversion through cities that don't want or need high speed rail at enormous additional cost. This was instead of just following the 5, which is what the actual experts recommended. A straight shot between your two biggest urban areas. The dysfunction was so bad that the French company hired to direct it quit and went to work in AFRICA WHERE IT SAID GOVERNMENT WAS LESS DYSFUNCTIONAL.

How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails (Published 2022)

America’s first experiment with high-speed rail has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare. Political compromises created a project so expensive that almost no one knows how it can be built as originally envisioned.

www.nytimes.com

One can't "just follow the 5" until one gets over/under the mountains. Palmdale isn't a bad compromise. The freight railroads go even farther east to Cajon Pass to get over the mountains. Once to Bakersfield, sure the I-5 coridor is probably better but then one bypasses five million people.

 

[fskimospy]

That NYT article is kind of garbage. Building through a more direct route would mean scaling steep terrain, which wouldn't really save anything. And those "empty areas" of Bakersfield and whatnot still are home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Engineers from both the French company originally tasked with creating the train and from CA engineers looking at the problem disagree, saying it is both faster and cheaper. The real issue, as always, was powerful NIMBYs.

High-speed rail planners revive Grapevine route

High-speed rail planners revive Grapevine route

www.latimes.com

As far as Bakersfield, etc. go those places are not going to use high speed rail, lol. They barely have bus systems.

 

[IronWing]

That NYT article is kind of garbage. Building through a more direct route would mean scaling steep terrain, which wouldn't really save anything. And those "empty areas" of Bakersfield and whatnot still are home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Millions of people and traffic congestion reaching LA league. Last time I drove Hwy 99, it was bumper to bumper from Bakerfield to Stockton and heavy from Stockton to Sacramento. The days when the Central Valley was mostly rural are long gone.

 

[IronWing]

Engineers from both the French company originally tasked with creating the train and from CA engineers looking at the problem disagree, saying it is both faster and cheaper. The real issue, as always, was powerful NIMBYs.

High-speed rail planners revive Grapevine route

High-speed rail planners revive Grapevine route

www.latimes.com

As far as Bakersfield, etc. go those places are not going to use high speed rail, lol. They barely have bus systems.

You are speaking from a chair two thousand miles away and are completely behind the times.

 

[fskimospy]

One can't "just follow the 5" until one gets over/under the mountains. Palmdale isn't a bad compromise. The freight railroads go even farther east to Cajon Pass to get over the mountains. Once to Bakersfield, sure the I-5 coridor is probably better but then one bypasses five million people.

Yes, exactly, you bypass those people. When designing mass transit in America people often forget that GOOD service is more important than WIDESPREAD service. What we do instead is have crummy service everywhere, which no one uses because it's crummy. You go LA -> Bay or LA-> SD because that's where you can run a lot of good, fast service that helps the most people, and you only need one line to do it.

Most cities should do this with their mass transit - cancel and consolidate little used lines and concentrate on making fewer lines genuinely useful.

 

[fskimospy]

You are speaking from a chair two thousand miles away and are completely behind the times.

Read my other post. I'm right.

 

[IronWing]

Read my other post. I'm right.

No, you're just redundant.

 

[fskimospy]

No, you're just redundant.

Good service is more important than widespread service. Bypassing those communities where transit use is low is the smart move. This is true everywhere in America but we rarely do it because politics trumps usefulness.