Max KennerlyFeb 2, 2023

Amusing to compare Musk's grandiose "everything app" and "Product X" with the practical effect of nuking the free API, e.g., sites dropping the ability to login with Twitter.

Google understands how to weave itself into the web's fabric. Musk does not.

Show threadAlan TwigzFeb 2, 2023
@maxkennerly he simply doesn't understand systems he can't get directly paid from, which is weird for a guy with enormous numbers of fans who can't afford to be his customers
Show threadkwhFeb 2, 2023

@maxkennerly @Quisley he doesn’t understand shit.

It is becoming obvious that he’s a parodic figurehead, and that the Tesla/SpaceX is a deep right wing grift to get rich off government grants and contracts that he was chosen to head. See his odd relationship with NASA Administrator Michael Griffin.

Consider also how the right wing went ballistic over “Solyndra” and Fisker a few years ago (“picking winners and losers”) but never had an issue with Tesla.

Show threadAlan TwigzFeb 2, 2023
@kwh561 @maxkennerly I feel like the tech press and tech industry are pretty good at propping up useless figureheads without anyone needing to pull the strings. 100% on Musk owing his success to government programs, though
Show threadkwh
@Quisley @maxkennerly well I think that the .com boom was rife with those who cashed out and disappeared, those who became VCs, but Elon was never a Wunderkind ala Jobs/Wozniak/Gates. He was just a guy who stumbled into the PayPal and the eBay IPO at the right time, but he has never been responsible for shepherding any consumer technology or service through startup to success without massive government subsidy.
Feb 2, 2023 at 8:36pmWeb
Show threadkwhFeb 2, 2023
@Quisley @maxkennerly I even remember at the time seeing that the X.com bank business model and execution was pathetic and unworkable. There are millions of people who think he “invented” PayPal in his garage and nobody really corrects that record.
Show threadAlan TwigzFeb 2, 2023
@kwh561 @maxkennerly Absolutely, he's been a liar since the beginning of his career and his only proven skill set is as a pitchman