Karl BodeApr 22, 2023

it literally took the US tech press the better part of fifteen years to realize musk was an unremarkable rich brat cosplaying as a supergenius engineer, which says more about our press than it does musk

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/22/elon-musk-the-barking-mad-publicity-hound-00093293

Elon Musk Figured Out the Media’s Biggest Weakness

Here's why the press falls for his stunts every time.

POLITICO
Show threadKarl Bode
I'm still really enjoying the seamless pivot of countless big name tech journalists who enabled his bullshit mythology for more than a decade, and now, only when he's descended into full caricature, casually pretend to be hard nosed skeptics who saw him for what he was the entire time
Apr 22, 2023 at 2:12pmWeb
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
golly shucks gee maybe there are lessons here
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
there were like four or five US tech journalists who adequately called out musk's bullshit from the start, and most of them were rewarded with ridicule, marginalization, and if they were female, death threats
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
I repeat this often because it's true, but three or four years ago if you dared suggest that musk was a rich, unremarkable bullshit artist you'd get a look somewhere between confusion and constipation from 90% of the tech press punditry elite
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
but if you were actually paying attention to the details instead of the hype or marketing, the evidence was there long before he fully embraced all the red-pilled memes and dipshittery
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023

You can tell from the starship explosion the press isn't really incentivized to learn from a decade+ of mistakes, either. Musk's bulbous ego and a rush to launch on a dumb weed joke date resulted in him nixing flame diverters, which severely damaged the launch pad and engines, all portrayed by the press as a smashing success:

https://twitter.com/Tazerface16/status/1649443447164776450?t=UBBuDSLAOI8yCh0YTvpWLw&s=19

Christopher David on Twitter

“This is what happens to your launchpad when you think it would be funny to launch to the world's largest rocket on 4/20, instead of when it's ready. It will probably be at least a year before the FAA will approve another Starship launch.”

Twitter
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
over and over again. Rinse and repeat. greed, superficial hype, and an ad-engagement based press is why we're so easily victimized by bullshit artists like Adam Neuman to Elizabeth Holmes, who'd be weeded out much earlier if the US press was remotely interested in meaningful introspection
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023

I always recommend people watch The Lady and the Dale, and behold as the same stupid unskeptical hype cycle repeats itself over and over in America with nobody learning anything from history or experience

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lady_and_the_dale/s01

The Lady and the Dale

Synopsis:Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets

Rotten Tomatoes
Show threadErnie SmithApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode great movie, and one with something to say
Show threadGarrett WollmanApr 23, 2023
@KarlBode Also why I have absolutely zero time for the "tech press". Or the "finance press" for that matter (they are prey to many of the same failings: CEO-worship, caring more about "access" than understanding, ...)
Show threadsxpertApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode the starship explosion itself is not the issue.
This however is as it is a solved problem, has been since 1941 or so
Show threadMalcApr 22, 2023

@KarlBode Umm, the launch was intended for April 17th, it was fueled and everything. Then a valve stuck, so they had to recycle, replace the valve, restart, get new fuel which takes 2-3 days.

There was no weed joke.

Show threadKarl Morant 🇨🇦  🖖Apr 22, 2023

@KarlBode

I'm actually mostly OK with the "rush to launch".

Not OK with the lack of a sound and concussion suppression system.

Only Elon would this this is OK. Like his cyber "truck".

Show threadGraham LampaApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode @mmasnick Maddening that our government is relying on this man to get us to space.
Show threadRandomsomeApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode Does anyone know if they blew it up intentionally because they knew it was going to crash in a potentially residential area?
Show threadChris DanielApr 22, 2023
@Randomsome @KarlBode That’s generally what the explosives that destroyed the rocket are for — to reduce the hazard to the ground. However this flight was directed east from the southern TX coast over the Gulf of Mexico. Most (I’m pretty sure all) orbital rocket launches in the US occur over water. For more information look up range safety, and automated flight termination systems (AFTS).
Show threadRoy GreenhiltApr 22, 2023

@KarlBode Oh yes, the rush to launch on a dumb weed joke - you do realized the launch was scheduled for Monday? You know, 4/17? And was down to 20 seconds when a hold was put on due to a pressure problem.

There was no weed joke rush.

Look, I'm not a Musk fanboi. I find the man absolutely abhorrent, egotistical, and a walking example of the Dunning Kruger effect. But if you're going to lambaste him, at least do it with fact, not snarky innaccurate mudslinging.

Show threadMike MerrittApr 22, 2023

@KarlBode I don't understand this line of argument since it was scheduled earlier. Not having the diverter system in place when it's been standard was definitely a mistake.

Whatever stupidity he's brought to Twitter and his childish character, SpaceX is actually one of his successes, not just a fluke.

Show threadKevin SoursApr 23, 2023
@mikewmerritt @KarlBode Largely because he got heavily involved with Tesla during the crucial time period. The landing pad issue was pure amateur hour and likely impacted the data they got from the flight.
Show threadSarahApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode what’s worse is that I don’t think it was rushed, Musk just never had any intention of creating a water system. So it was a problem of conception, not implementation
Show threadimbouApr 22, 2023
@SarahOestreich correct. They were trying to save money by doing this. As wile e coyote said “back to the drawing board”
Show threadSarahApr 23, 2023
@imbou I’m not sure of Musk’s reasoning, but it clearly was faulty. And who knows if some of the failures of the launch had to do with the debris
Show threadimbouApr 23, 2023
@SarahOestreich cost, they are trying to make each launch cheap and they can launch for 1/20 the cost for each Artemis launch but at some point some things are just necessary.
Show threadSarahApr 23, 2023
@imbou in everything Musk does, he doesn’t seem to be able to distinguish between old features that are superfluous or need updating and standards have been shown to be necessities through years and rigorous study. It is apparent that he thinks he can do better in all areas and discounts anyone to tells him otherwise. The story of the egotistical, myopic “genius.”
Show threadimbouApr 23, 2023
@SarahOestreich very well put. Totally agree.
Show threadcd ~Apr 22, 2023
@KarlBode ❤️
Show threadimbouApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode I’m not sure which press you have been looking at. That’s not sarcasm I’m being serious, I only get my news from some limited number of outlets and the coverage I have seen, none is positive, many downright were poking fun at the ridiculous spin SpaceX put in afterwards. Now the usual suspect sycophants were saying the usual and they are loud idiots.
Show threadNikApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode there are many, many things wrong with Musk, but the launch date wasn't a weed joke. The launch was planned for the 17th, but scrubbed at approx T-9 minutes (https://www.space.com/spacex-scrubs-first-space-launch-starship)
SpaceX scrubs 1st space launch of giant Starship rocket due to fueling issue

The new launch target is April 20.

Space
Show threadAngus Apr 22, 2023
@KarlBode This idiotic mistake was not because of a rush job to launch on 4/20. It was never intended to have any type of flame diverter. Which I think makes him look even dumber.
Show threadKevin SoursApr 23, 2023

@L0RDANGUS @KarlBode Especially since now somebody has to figure out if the worrying number of engine failures were due to an engineering problem or because debris got kicked up into the vehicles.

And the dumbest part is that they had a failed test fire a couple years ago where the *same damn thing* happened and scrubbed the test.

Show threadSusan LewisApr 23, 2023
@KarlBode were those staff members whooping and hollering as the thing was obviously about to fail, under orders to cheer no matter what happened?
I wonder what nasa must be thinking, having shackled themselves to a clown car when they ordered a Rolls Royce?
Show threadMattApr 22, 2023

@KarlBode

“A person who has talked to each man about the other put it more succinctly: “Musk thinks Peter is a sociopath, and Peter thinks Musk is a fraud and a braggart.””

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/peter-thiel-silicon-valley-contrarian-max-chafkin.html

Show threadSunset & FireApr 22, 2023

@MattFerrel @KarlBode

And for once, they're both right

Show threadTane Piper ⁂Apr 23, 2023
@KarlBode I have certainly had pile on's from his fans when I suggested he was an idiot. My favourite was when I managed to piss of a large proportion of right-wing Argentinian twitter.
Show threadDanApr 22, 2023

@KarlBode “nobody knew he was actually lying this entire time!”

“Shocked. Shocked we, the media who refused to ever ask him a single question, are. “

Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
@Danielsand there were like four or five tech journalists who called bullshit on him from the start and most of them were rewarded with marginalization, ridicule, and death threats (especially if they were women)
Show threadDanApr 22, 2023

@KarlBode yup. And his cult still does it and nobody in big media calls him out for enabling and encouraging them to do it.

He knows the power of his voice and he seems to revel in sending his cult after those people.

Show threadDanApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode that’s honestly what I find most frustrating about the coverage of him. He is a bully and they handwave away all of that.
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
@Danielsand and now he owns one of the most important modern media platforms on the planet. Good job, everybody!
Show threadBarbara MonacoApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode I remember my techie niece and nephew strongly defending Musk as a beneficent world changing genius when I tried to call him out on his BS a couple years ago. My nephew had invested heavily in Tesla and was over the moon about stock prices.
Have not said anything to them about Musk since then. Hope they saw the writing on the wall and got out with minimal losses.
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
@Barbramon1 I've had a few decent people initially put off by my criticisms of him come to me and say some mea culpa, but most of them just like to pretend none of this is happening
Show threadBarbara MonacoApr 22, 2023
@KarlBode I have not brought up the subject, because I love them, and don't want to say I told you so.
Seeing their stock worth $162 today after a high of $400 less than two years ago will hopefully be enough of a lesson, and it will expose the man behind the curtain.
Show threadKarl BodeApr 22, 2023
@Barbramon1 yeah I think history will likely speak for itself without the news to fight with family and friends about it. I expect there will be more than a few excellent documentaries that aggressively expose him for what he is in the next 5 years