There does appear to be a social cost to driving a Tesla in blue-leaning areas these days. Nothing overt, but I've heard people who bought them without knowing who Musk is (and don't agree with him) now openly saying "never-again".
If the used Tesla market gets flooded, will there be consumer demand for those used Teslas? I suspect that most will be in suburban red-leaning areas in areas that aren't openly EV-technology hostile (something like the Dallas or Atlanta suburbs).
The problem for Tesla is that unlike the prestige effect of used luxury car sales driving new luxury car sales (i.e. BMW, Benz, etc), these cars are being disposed of because they are becoming less desirable. The target market for new Teslas seems to be shrinking among the primary populations who both want and can afford EVs.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming. One sold (Model X), one scrapped (Cybertruck). Oddly, opposite ends of the political spectrum. Both because of Musk’s new brand.
The graphic shows that 85% of the addressable market favour party A and 15% party B. My point is that once you strongly align your brand with either party, you alienate a decent chunk of your customers.
If you have to choose, then in this situation choosing A is much better than B, but why alienate any of your customers like this?
The 2025 model of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 has NACS and is my favorite alternative in terms of looks, features, and price. Rivian has been in a different price category so I have a hard time believing the $45k starting price.
Yup, We are waiting for the rivian to have NACS as well. I was considering the idea of buying a used Tesla and just ripping the emblems off and putting a wrap on it. I don't like car models and brands on cars anyways.
But yeah, probably will definitely get a rivian, especially the new R3!
I still don't know if the heat pump will be as good as Tesla's but it doesn't matter. I don't respect Elon anymore. I still do definitely admire some of his technical talents and ability to ship products. I don't think just cuz a person does a bad thing means they're a bad person.
I encourage the author to spend an afternoon and evening in Palo Alto as well as in SF and SJ downtown. Please tell us afterwards where you and your family would rather live.
Dangers of Car-Dependent Suburbs: How Urban Planning Affects Parenting
In this segment, the speaker highlights the stark contrast between the freedom and independence of Dutch children versus the restrictive upbringing in car-dependent suburbs of North America. By comparing their own childhood in London, Ontario, to their current experiences in Amsterdam, the speaker argues that the Dutch city's design and culture enable children to develop autonomy and independence, whereas North American suburbs lack the necessary infrastructure and social norms to allow children to thrive without excessive parental supervision
I may be biased since I lived in San Jose for a while, but definitely San Jose. Palo Alto sometimes has that small college town thing where everywhere can be unexpectedly busy (like why is a sit down restaurant bar absolutely packed with 22 year olds doing shots? Because the college bars are too full to even enter). San Jose is a little dull, but charming. I’m thinking northside, like around backesto park. Palo Alto’s proximity to both SF and all that state park/open space preserve to the west is really nice, and I think it might stay a bit cooler than San Jose, which occasionally gets toasty, but still, I’d pick SJ.
I've spent an afternoon in downtown Manhattan; it's rather a nice place. The world could use more places like that, preferably close to existing population centers.
Currently trying to buy a Corolla Hybrid (base). The best out-the-door quote I got so far is $28.5k, the MSRP is $23k. So yes, you are looking at almost $30k for the most basic car.
Other brands surely have cheaper basic options, and although I might not recommend going all the way to a Stellantis/GM car, a Ford/Honda/Mazda might be available for less and still be acceptable for quality.
Ford's business is selling as many F150's as possible. Due to the way fuel efficiency regulations work in this country it makes sense for them to axe sedans from their lineup and replace them with large cars that can be classified as trucks because their more fuel efficient "trucks" can counteract the fine they would get from selling fuel inefficient F150s.
Imho MSFT overestimates the loyalty of video game fans to a game franchise vs a console ecosystem. Even if the deal should go through and even if it should result in - let's say - CoD being exclusive to Xbox, I don't think a lot of fans would then switch away from Playstation just for that.
There is a huge number of folks who buy video game consoles to play one or more games from just a few franchises: Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, and MLB: The Show. Modern Warfare 2, a 2022 remake of a game from 2009, was the 5th best selling video game in the US in April 2023. It was the best selling game in the US last year. Any console getting one of those games as an exclusive would gain an huge upper-hand.
> Modern Warfare 2, a 2022 remake of a game from 2009
Was it a remake? I played Modern Warfare (2019) recently and it was a completely different game than Modern Warfare (2007). Different plot, characters, settings and levels.
Definitely a fair point. I guess I'd call it a "remake" the way that "Final Fantasy VII Remake" used the term. "What is a 'remake?'" is a question I've heard a lot of games media ask over the last couple of years, and it seems to cover a whole spectrum of approaches.
I bought a XBox360/Wii/Switch/PS4/PS4Pro/PS5 specifically because some specific game I wanted to play was on that console. If something was cross-platform I'd obviously buy/play it on something I already owned, but, for whatever reason the games I play are mostly exclusives.
I think you're dead wrong about this. It is well known that big games sell consoles. It's why this generation of XBox is struggling against PS5. Also, CoD is big but it's not the only thing in this Activision deal.
> It's why this generation of XBox is struggling against PS5.
I think a big part of a console’s success is how its previous version did. The PS2 wouldn’t sell the way it did if not for the clout/consumer trust from the PS1.
The Xbox Series* line of consoles came after the Xbox One which was an utter PR disaster that handed Sony the generation on a silver platter.
* Horrible naming. You wouldn’t know it was the successor to the Xbox One if no one told you.
That doesn't hold. There is some stickiness but just look how horribly the Wii U did after the superstar success of the Wii, how hard Sony had to push with the PS3 despite the monster success of the PS2, how terrible the Sega Saturn did in North America, etc.
The Wii did well as a fad but most of its buyers just toss it in the closet after the novelty wore off.
The PlayStation 3 was a screw up. It was too expensive and came out late after the 360. It damaged Sony’s reputation somewhat but did alright despite Sony’s misstep IMHO due to the PS2’s clout.
The Saturn … so many mistakes by Sega. Got trounced on price by the PlayStation. Was rushed to market at the last minute to try to beat the PlayStation to the market, resulting in shortages and uneven distribution that piss off retailers and limited launch titles. The earlier launch date also pissed retailers off because they have to adjust floor space and piss launch title developers off because their titles can no longer make the new date and they were banking on the visibility of being a launch title. There was mixed messaging with the launch of the X32, which flopped, relatively close to the Saturn’s launch too which hurt consumer trust. Sega burned a lot of bridges.
All things being equal this generation, the PS4’s tremendous popularity IMHO helped the PS5 pull ahead of the Series X - don’t get me started on the confusingly named cousin system the Series S.
Many a gamer avoided Xbox and Halo because MS; I’ve only every played Halo 1 split screen on OG Xbox.
COD is a fading franchise as-is, and MS has tanked Halo’s rep with recent releases. No reason to believe they can’t screw up COD and still lose to other consoles.
Sony could announce a new SOCOM tomorrow.
Steam on Linux is amazing; package that as a bootable image and consoles become redundant hardware.
Big software business moat building is holding technology back.
Facades are also for preventing passersby from seeing an eyesore. I am sure they know about this, and if they really wanted it to stop they would send one of their umptillion lawyers after them.
I think the people who run the parks know that super fans are a big part of the theme park world and that you can’t keep everything from them. In fact they seem to embrace the super fans and even their rumors.
