Hacker News Reader

Comment by tegmark | Hacker News Reader

this is the ignorance that drives these silly headlines. building these things is very hard. theres all kinds of crazy solvents and adhesives. the pack is structural. the product that tesla builds is fundamentally not well suited to repair or modification and tesla isnt under any obligation, on any level, to prioritize people who like to imagine they could repair or build a tesla over building the most excellent and sophisticated product possible. tesla is singlehandedly responsible for the EV explosion and they have earned the right to do what they want.

View on HN

> building these things is very hard

people buying a kit aren't building a tesla, they're building a kit car. When you buy a kit, you're not expecting the same thing you get from a dealership. You're expecting something you can build yourself, which is fundamentally different

What does earned the right to do what they want even mean. Why ought a society with pragmatic concerns ever concede those concerns based on a defective moral model where a party by doing some good somehow earns the right for society to somehow to put aside the needs of 338 million for the benefit of a dozen assholes in a boardroom.

This is a privilege that in a decent society ought not be available at any price.

It's silly to say that they are under no obligation when what we are talking about with right to repair is literally whether we ought to create such an obligation.

If you disagree you must explain why such an obligation is a net negative for the millions not the few.

I await your argument to that effect.

Being responsible for making EVs popular does not give them the right to do whatever they want.

Tesla didn't push EVs out of the goodness of their hearts. They did so because they thought they could build a profitable company. Tesla's execs and shareholders are being compensated quite well already for their investment of money/time/work. No need to give them a blank check to do anything we (as a society) don't want them to do.

yeah it does. the EV market wouldnt exist if they hadnt stuck to their guns. people were adamant that EVs could never be real cars before the roadster and model s. when somebody invents something, we allow them to have a monopoly on that invention for a time. it incentivizes innovation but it also gives power to people who actually have the right idea, see things as they could be rather than just follow the herd. tesla definitely invented the modern EV market and the modern EV drivetrain. and now the same people who called me an idiot in 2011 are here saying that tesla is morally obligated to make their cars “hacker friendly” or whatever nonsense? all i can say is if youre so smart then why werent you asking for this in 2012 and 13? you could have asked musk directly at the shareholder meeting.

Well Musk believes otherwise and explicitly stated Tesla's patent pledge https://www.tesla.com/legal/additional-resources#patent-pled...

lol. am i supposed to type out a response to this? yes, i am aware of musk opening the patents. it doesnt conflict with or negate anything ive said. it certainly isnt an indication that elon musk believes teslas products should be subject to the will of the idiotic masses.

Take it easy on the paint fumes there bud. You are aware that other electric vehicles exist and work just fine, right?

would someone please flag this comment?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com