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The Mythical Man Month and The Phoenix Project.


I've had The Phoenix Project recommended before. Listening to the Audio Book now - hoping it's good.


A couple of hours of listening in here, it feels a lot like "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" - a made-up story about a made-up company with made-up problems that are simple and self-contained enough to have solutions, and where colleagues are able to work together, despite turbulence.

It's hard to relate to, honestly. It's likely that the target audience is just not "me", but I think somebody with very limited experience dealing with operations would enjoy it. Questions like "why is IT Change Management important" and "how do we prevent people from making mindless changes in production on a Friday afternoon". If you know this already, so far this book is nothing but a "good story about work" - if anybody ever miss this part of life.


Threatened… or informed them about what would happen? What’s the difference?


I suppose Swedish Tesla workers have the same beneficial stock buying agreement that other countries have. No more of that if they are unionized.


Maybe. That has not been the case for the big American companies I have worked for here in Sweden. We always got the same benefits, including stock options etc, as everyone else in the companies. Not sure what the unions would say if a company tried to punish workers for being unionized, but I suspect they would not be happy about it, and there may very well be something in the collective agreement they want signed that already covers this.


Ah, even the unionized Amazon workers in Europe get RSUs.

To cite Ellen Ripley: I don't know which species is worse, but I'm sure they wont let themselves get killed forba percentage". And not everyone, especially outside the US, is willing to do so neither.


I’m not sure if you find that a bad trade, in my opinion having a proper work environment beats buying stock at a good price


The margins were inflated during the pandemic, though. Musk even called their prices "embarrassingly expensive".

https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/teslas-prices-are-embarras...


Tesla’s gross margins were much higher in 2011 than 2022. But yea, this is why I said it’s hard to separate how much of this was Tesla specific vs industry wide. However, the need to cut prices despite high inflation was unusual in the car industry and suggests a Tesla specific issue.


It is easy to explain when you consider that 2 car models are representing ~1.7M cars this year.

Their strategy is a little nutty and has basically required them to underprice their vehicles.

Any other mfg would cut back production to maintain margins.


Most non-Tesla auto manufacturers are taking a loss on their new EVs ATM as they try to optimize supply and recoup R&D costs.


Yeah, but I bet that changes once they get to ~400k per year. That isn't much different from Tesla's path.


First of all, the mission of Tesla is to transition the world to sustainable energy. If you believe them, that should be enough.

But, second of all, this also makes business sense. Everyone will have to use the Tesla app, where they can get targeted offers and become a kind of "Tesla Light" customers. People wonder why Tesla doesn't advertise. Well, with these deals, the need for advertising is a lot less than without them. Also, Tesla is essentially becoming a platform for EVs. How long before some OEM license Tesla software?

And, remember that there are over 17000 superchargers in the US alone and the deal with Ford and GM only allows access to 12000 of them in the US and Canada together. To get the full Supercharger experience, you still need a Tesla.


Not so sure I believe this strategy.

An app isn't going to make me buy a car or Tesla equipment. Aesthetics, utility, and cost are my main purchasing decision dimensions, and Tesla isn't winning those for me. I'm not buying something shaped like a prune that can't haul gear and equipment.

The ads on Uber and other delivery apps are irrelevant to my daily life. Uber claims advertising has generating $500M in ARR, but that's co-mingled with restaurants seeking placement on Uber Eats. Ads for movies and McDonalds on Uber is probably generating a small pittance of that sum.

Furthermore, lots of businesses will get into EV charging when it takes off. Existing gas stations, restaurants, and shopping will undoubtedly join when they believe the timing is right.

FWIW, I'm dreading having to buy an EV. Gasoline works better for my use cases. I don't have a place to charge at home, and I don't want to wait for on-demand fill ups.

I think the push to EVs has been a function of worldwide market and regulation, not necessarily consumer choice.


> FWIW, I'm dreading having to buy an EV. Gasoline works better for my use cases. I don't have a place to charge at home, and I don't want to wait for on-demand fill ups.

Yeah, if you don't have home or workplace charging, EVs really don't have significant advantages at the moment.

They tend to be pretty aggravating, tbh.


> An app isn't going to make me buy a car or Tesla equipment. Aesthetics, utility, and cost are my main purchasing decision dimensions

The interesting thing is: There's confirmation bias in this, but every single person I've talked to who owns a Tesla might have said this before owning one, but would now never say it afterward. It does things you never know you needed, until you have it, and then you're shopping for cars afterward and your standards go up. Wait, the infotainment still has a resistive touch-screen which runs at 45fps? The maps won't automatically route me to nearby chargers and give me a battery charge prediction for arrival that learns from my driving habits?

Oh, here's an interesting one: Teslas have (configurable) cabin overheat protection. Maybe some other brands have this as well, I don't know, but: the cabin never gets above 100F, if you have more-than 20% battery, and it doesn't cause that much drain (maybe ~3%/day, maybe more in Arizona or Texas). In other words; you never have a hot car, and you don't fuddle with remote start / "turn the AC on 10 minutes before I leave" / whatever. Its just... never all that hot; and you don't notice it until you get in a traditional car that's been sitting in the parking lot all day, sticky leather seats and its 120F inside.

All I can say is: Your mindset is probably more a reflection of your environment than any more foundational principals; and if you want to keep it that way, I'd recommend that you don't spend any significant length of time driving a Tesla.


Couldn't disagree more. We really wanted an ev. Even bought it when there were no incentives available. Nothing to do with the global market or regulation.

It's a superior experience in every way. From the performance, to the software, to the charging. I just plug it in and never think about charging. On long drives it needs a topup when our family does.


I live in place where the parking is super weird. Historical building with historical grounds. We're literally not allowed to resurface the parking because it's all historic. Part of an old steam power plant between cotton mill buildings from the 1800s.

How am I going to fuel my vehicle? We won't be able to install power at limited distribution sites for everyone. 300 residents with their own EVs is going to make shared charging stations a nightmare, and everyone will fight. I know this because we installed a few charging stations and it has already became an issue for the six Teslas on campus. Multiply that by 60.

It's easy to spend five minutes at a gas pump on my way somewhere. No impact to my day. Having to schedule time slots with neighbors is a nightmare.

I don't like any of this.


You can still buy a new ICE well into 2030s in the US, if you truly need one, meaning you can keep driving it until 2050s. By that time window the majority of cars on the road will be EVs, and the charging infrastructure will have changed substantially. I doubt it'll take that long for it to be upgraded though. I bet many people in your building will drive an EV by 2030. Most of them even.


> I live in place where the parking is super weird. Historical building with historical grounds. We're literally not allowed to resurface the parking because it's all historic. How am I going to fuel my vehicle?

You're in luck.

The historical registry always had exemptions for upgrading mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems to make a building functional. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/secretary-standards-treatment-...

Recently these exceptions were extended to EV chargers. You can thank Biden and the Democrats for that. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/11/02/2022-23...

Once the basic infrastructure is in, adding additional chargers is only a nominal cost.


> People wonder why Tesla doesn't advertise.

They don't advertise because their word of mouth and media presence is incredibly strong. It's also the same reason I basically had to strong arm the sales center into selling me one of their cars -- the demand is incredibly high.


Basically, the iTunes on Windows strategy.


Yup sounds like it. Tesla has always positioned themselves as the apple of cars.


Not sure about other OEMs but at least Ford's CEO has clarified Ford customers will be able to use the FordPass app to use the tesla chargers.


> Everyone will have to use the Tesla app, where they can get targeted offers

Sounds like a nightmare. Want to go on a road trip? Either subject yourself to target advertising on your phone or pay a monthly fee. Hard pass!

I don't want to have to use an app at all if I want to charge. And yes, plug and charge is still using an app, you need to use some kind of app somewhere to manage the payment. I'd much rather have the option to just choose what payment I'd like to use before I start charging. Sure, optionally support plug and charge as well, but at least give me the option to not need to go to an app to choose this this card or that card and what not.

> remember that there are over 17000 superchargers in the US alone and the deal with Ford and GM only allows access to 12000 of them in the US and Canada together.

From what I understand, the ~5k chargers that aren't included are the older ones which don't speak CCS and they're usually the lower power ones. Those will probably be replaced over the next few years. Meanwhile all their newer ones will work with all the other compatible cars, so this percentage (~29% currently) will shrink over time, probably pretty rapidly given they're increasing the rate of new charger installation.

And in the end, for a lot of people it probably won't even actually matter. I've spent 2 years so far with a non-Tesla EV and it hasn't been any kind of difficulty for me in the slightest. Will it be nice to get access to another 1,500ish charging locations with a basic adapter? Sure, there's a few more charging locations on the road trip routes I take which will be open to me. Will it actually impact me day to day? Not in the slightest.

Oh no, there's a few thousand old chargers which charge at slower speeds than the new ones a several hundred miles away that my car can't charge at? Guess my car is worthless :'(


Also worth noting: I don't hear people talking about this. Tesla allows non-Teslas to access a very small portion of the supercharger network already. They offer a two-tiered plan; pay-as-you-go, or a $13/mo subscription which activates the lower charging rates Teslas already get. I don't know if its been announced yet how this applies to the deal Tesla has signed with Ford (and GM/Rivian?); will it look more like how EA/evGo operate, where there's a plan you sign up for to get the more market-rate charging prices? Or are they doing away with that?


> Everyone will have to use the Tesla app, where they can get targeted offers

This sounds like a dystopian nightmare. I have no interest in charging an EV where using an app is a requirement.


I think they don't use ads because they already get a ton of money with green credits. I recall all the Tesla doomsayer a few years back saying Tesla was going broke then Tesla sold these credits to other companies for millions. If Tesla loses these edges, which will happen if other car companies go 100% green, then we'll see a more hate-able Tesla with ad-ware.


Less than x [time unit] since y released z.

Here are n [jawdropping|amazing|stunning] examples of what people has done with it.


But you gotta admit, some of these fillings were impressive


The work done by the Photoshop devs is extraordinary. The artistry by some of the people creating these illustrations is similarly excellent.

These bullshit copy-paste threads from AI "influencers" and devrel hacks are a scourge - bandwagon "content" from people who produce nothing of value themselves other than tricking people into buying what I can only assume is $500 video courses repackaging 6 month old blog articles from someone else.


Blame the Twitter algorithm.

There are courses about "how to go viral on Twitter" that work, because the algo is so cookie-cutter and easily gamed. Back in 2022, it was the "collect list of useful links, add 5 of them to a tweet at a time, and make it a viral thread with that annoying finger pointing down emoji"


I have about 20 AI influencers blocked which cuts down the noise a ton, and of course this one showed up.

I think they are all created Nov 2022 or later, or were previously "here's a list" hustlers and pseudo entrepreneurs.


i see lots of theft too, even on Linkedin under their name they just post someone else's AI montage videos to score a like or two for their own worthless self. people are nuts.


Not to be all hipster, but outpainting was available in Dall-E in April 2022. Impressive, yes, but not really all that novel. I did this a year ago: https://www.artstyle.ai/uncropping-movie-posters/


Or cherry picked by influencers paid by Adobe


Probably for all the unimportant NPCs running around in a game, AI does a good enough job. But for the main characters and the plot, I suspect a human touch is still needed. Climb up the value chain. If you're cranking out monsters in volume, you're at the bottom.


> I suspect a human touch is still needed

This is the motivated reasoning of a comfortable person.

AI will eat the Protagonist Jobs too, sooner rather than later.


Intelligence Augmentation?


Yeah. Clearly no one goes there anymore. The place is too crowded.


"Developers! Developers! Developers!"

He wasn't kidding.


Brings back the fond memories of Ballmer and his sweaty shirt.


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