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German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

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271–280 of 632 posts

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tesla goofed from the beginning by calling tech like "Autosteer" and "Traffic Assisted Cruise Control" under the moniker "Autopilot" I am not accusing you specifically of using weak language, but let's call a spade a spade: it's not a "goof," it's a dangerous and deceptive business practice. It's one that Elon Musk is directly responsible for and directly encouraged with misleading statements where he deliberately…

> It is true that highly knowledgeable people know that Musk is an idiot conman The same "highly knowledgable people" who have been shorting TSLA and parroting that the company is going broke any moment now, surely. I'm actually surprised people aren't ashamed to write such utter nonsense in a place like HN.

Well, shorting Tesla was a bet. As was investing in it. A bet that had serious foundations, with Tesla potentially running out of money.

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bit misleading. Musk was a part of Tesla from day 1 and provided most of the funding. He served as Chairman since 2004. When he took over in 2008, Tesla had just started producing the first roadster, which was really just a conversion kit for a lotus. After musk became CEO, Tesla became the world's most valuable car company...

There is a difference between "funding a Roadster" and "designing and fully understanding the physics and mechanics of the Roadster".

> designing and fully understanding the physics and mechanics of the Roadster.

I've never seen anyone claim Musk did that. What are you on about?

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you don't believe in the concept of false advertising at all. Telling the truth after you buy the thing doesn't absolve you of the initial fraud. To my mind it exacerbates it, because it demonstrates that you know that your advertising is fraudulent.

I think some of the comments here are specific to the German market, and others are more general. My original comment was "in general" and not specific to the German market. False advertising may be wrong, but it might not always be criminal. Is "Fat Free" really fat free....? If we held politicians to the same standard there would be a lot more of them in jail. Ceveat Emptor, but at least Tesla does let you return i…

> False advertising may be wrong, but it might not always be criminal

Here, you got it exactly right. I am delighted to see that Germany makes sure that wrongdoing (at least this particular case) is a crime there, and I can only wish other markets make these two words more synonymous as well. I mean, this is pretty much exactly what law is supposed to do.

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#274
post #241

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I thought the narrative was a $1 million dollar loan from his father? Do you have a source for "100's of millions"? Sure, a $1 million dollar loan from family is pretty generous, and an amazing starting place - certainly not a "from nothing" tale. However, it's not outlandish money for a business loan to a top-rated business school graduate with extensive industry experience either. I'd also wager if you gave most pe…

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/d...

You cannot really trust a source as biased as NYT on anything about Trump.

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#275

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I want to address this because in spite of Elon (whether punching down with Twitter or COVIDiocy, etc) burning up a lot of the goodwill he had accumulated in the past, these things remain: The reason people think Elon may do level 5 autonomy is because his companies have accomplished several things that industry experts said were either infeasible or impossible. Fast charging, large-battery electric cars that are fas…

What exactly did his companies deliver, that experts said was impossible, in the technological sense I mean? Reusable rockets, deemed possible but not economic due to the low number of launches. SpaceX delivered amazing stuff, so, but nothing impossible. EVs were a thing already 100 years ago, so technically totally feasible, as is mass production. And the battery tech is to large part Panasonic. Still impressive wha…

> What exactly did his companies deliver, that experts said was impossible, in the technological sense I mean?

Landing the Falcon 9 booster on a droneship. As a physicist, I never believed it was impossible (the bar for “impossible” is rather high in physics) and yet an expert in the field told me it was!

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#276

I agree with this wholeheartedly, even as a Tesla owner. Tesla goofed from the beginning by calling tech like "Autosteer" and "Traffic Assisted Cruise Control" under the moniker "Autopilot" while shifting everything above that to "Full Self-Driving". They should have called it "CoPilot" since that infers that you're still the driver in charge of controlling the vehicle and it would have had exactly the same reception…

There is precedent for using the word auto-pilot[1], even in a plane the pilots are required to pay attention. It’s only the deceptive claims of the system’s ability that should be banned.

1. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/history/automotive-hist...

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#277
post #64
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't he claim the same last year and the year before?

Really? You're guna bet against Elon Musk? You really think that's wise? XD

Seems the odds would be in my favor https://elonmusk.today/

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#278

I agree with this wholeheartedly, even as a Tesla owner. Tesla goofed from the beginning by calling tech like "Autosteer" and "Traffic Assisted Cruise Control" under the moniker "Autopilot" while shifting everything above that to "Full Self-Driving". They should have called it "CoPilot" since that infers that you're still the driver in charge of controlling the vehicle and it would have had exactly the same reception…

> Tesla goofed from the beginning by calling tech like "Autosteer" and "Traffic Assisted Cruise Control" under the moniker "Autopilot" I am not accusing you specifically of using weak language, but let's call a spade a spade: it's not a "goof," it's a dangerous and deceptive business practice. It's one that Elon Musk is directly responsible for and directly encouraged with misleading statements where he deliberately…

Some of your points are valid though saying he is an idiot and a conman undercuts your statement.

The man is no idiot, and while some of the things he has said have not come true, or not been true to begin with, i do not think it is not reasonable to describe him as a “conman.”

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They should have called it "CoPilot" [rather than "AutoPilot"] Huh but a co-pilot is much more capable than an auto-pilot system. An auto-pilot mostly keeps you level, going the right speed, and pointing in the right direction, and can do some limited landing and things. That sounds to me exactly like what Tesla's system does? A co-pilot is a human who can take complete control from you for the rest of the whole fl…

But autopilot in a plane doesn't require the pilot to take over in a split second. Keeping you level, at the right speed, in the right direction, etc. is enough to keep the plane safe. Pilots have tens of seconds to reorient themselves to avert any disaster. In contrast, Telsa "autopilot" requires constant vigilance since you might have to take over without any warning.

> In contrast, Telsa "autopilot" requires constant vigilance since you might have to take over without any warning.

Neither version eliminates the need for the pilot/ driver to cease situational control. Pilots have absolutely flown into the side of mountains while on autopilot. (Ironically called "Controlled flight into terrain"). The big difference between the two is in an aircraft there is less to collide with when the pilot screws up.

The big problem isn't whether the two are actually similar or not, the problem is most people assume that autopilot on an aircraft does a lot more than what it actually does. In most cases, autopilot in an aircraft maintains heading and altitude, that's pretty much it.

Adding to all the confusion is the fact that "Autopilot" in aircraft can mean a giant pile of different things, but the term was originally coined quite a while ago to refer to basic altitude/ bearing hold.

Re: German court bans Tesla ad statements related to autonomous driving

#280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They should have called it "CoPilot" [rather than "AutoPilot"] Huh but a co-pilot is much more capable than an auto-pilot system. An auto-pilot mostly keeps you level, going the right speed, and pointing in the right direction, and can do some limited landing and things. That sounds to me exactly like what Tesla's system does? A co-pilot is a human who can take complete control from you for the rest of the whole fl…

"All Tesla cars come with Full Self Driving Capability" they even replaced - hardware to - capability to be even more ambiguous.

It is insane that that is allowed. I'm not sure if it is more or less insane that there are Tesla fans that would defend that.
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