Comment by brookst

1 day ago

A “truck” that’s can’t haul, tow, or offroad is a very interesting product decision. Right up there with a two-person taxi.

It’s like they completely forgot the “what do people need” phase of product management.

Two-person taxi is actually reasonable for the modal journey, but absolutely doesn't cover all use cases or accessibility.

The cybertruck was an early example of what someone on bsky called the "everyone is twelve now" theory: it looks like it was drawn by a small boy's idea of "cool", with zero further thought.

There's a comparison that's been making the rounds on social media for a while.

In once panel, there's the Cybertruck whose owner bragged about it carrying a large round hay bale (weighs around 1,500lbs) with the suspension looking like it was about to die. Next to it is a shot of a circa-1980 Ford F250 carrying three of the same bales and sitting perfectly level. TBF, the F250 probably had air bags in the rear suspension, but still...

That thing is only a "truck" because they decided to call it that.

  • Even modern trucks have turned into giant "luxury" vehicles that can't haul much more than the smaller trucks of 30 years ago. For most trucks bought by families, the heaviest thing they lug around is cat litter.

    Most people should just buy a sedan. :-/

Somehow everything turns into a misdirection with Elon, where failing to innovate yields ridiculous distractions. When the Cyberjunk was clearly a poor product, they pivoting to "doubling as a boat" and being bullet "proof". And also you can play shitty ports of video games, awkwardly, on your in-car screen.

At some point this gimmick misdirection nonsense has to stop working.

Oh look, if you have a transport-truck sized massive compressor in your garage and use 100kWh to spend a day filling a tank, your ComingSoonNow(TM wink) Roadster can do some silly stuff if you dedicate much of the interior to a giant explosion hazard.

  • Another prediction from the Simpsons comes true. The 1991 episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" where Homer designs a car with zero input from anybody besides himself. The result is an overpriced behemoth with random features nobody needs and nothing customers want (fuel efficiency, affordablility).

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=gRBDLE06qNY

    Today, we'd called "founder mode".