Hacker Cinema
Tesla
2020 · Film · 102 min
Directed by Michael Almereyda
The story of the Promethean struggles of Nikola Tesla, as he attempts to transcend entrenched technology—including his own previous work—by pioneering a system of wireless energy that would change the world.
2 positive6 neutralfrom 8 commenters
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8 comments on Hacker News
> In isolation, that would be both a reasonable and commendably planned exchange. However, the context is important.
The context is that these requirements were put in place in an era when China had a large, cheap labor pool to offer, but was sorely lacking in technical know-how. Trading access to that labor pool for IP was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
As China has developed economically, it has reduced IP transfer requirements. Half of Tesla's production is now on China, but they completely own their own factory and don't have to transfer IP. The IP transfer requirements were a stepping stone on the way from an agricultural economy to a modern industrialized economy.
> Trading partners need to grow in the same direction.
Trading partners don't have to like one another. They just both have to gain from the transaction.
> China's tight control has their populace locked down from each other, and from the U.S.
Ironically, Chinese people generally know a lot more about the United States than Americans know about China. There is censorship in China, but a good chunk of the population speaks English at some basic level (whereas very few Americans speak Mandarin), American movies and TV shows are popular, and people can get around the censorship with a little bit of effort (installing a VPN).
> while anti U.S. rhetoric rises in China Party Statements.
Having experienced both Chinese coverage of the US and American coverage of China, I can tell you that American coverage of China is far more negative than vice versa. The level of hatred and vitriol in the US towards China is reaching astronomical levels. CCP rhetoric about the US is tame in comparison to what you'd hear on the floor of the US Congress - Chinese government statements come across as conciliatory, in comparison. In the US, even people who know nothing about China have strong opinions and profess hatred or fear of the country. It's been very alarming to see.
I liked "A Beautiful Mind" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/ too, but it is not about Physics, but Mathematics.
Also "Tesla" - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5259822
The problem is this is a dangerous strategy. As in dangerous to people’s lives. We know how distracted drivers are without any advanced features in cars today. The more “it does some things on its own” options you add, the more likely people are to over-rely on those features and assume the car is capable of more than it actually is, which leads to accidents. Tesla is a perfect example of this, with people assuming it’s Level 3ish capabilities are really Level 4 and then happily taking naps or watching movies in the drivers seat while the car plows into a stopped vehicle.
Waymo is doing the right thing for safety here by skipping 3 entirely.
Saudi Arabia has the whole Vision 2030 plan in motion. The general thrust is they want to diversify the country away from being a petrostate. The headline numbers for state investment in renewables are nothing to scoff at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-16/saudi-arabia-plans-up-to-7-billion-of-renewables-this-year
I can’t find the link right now, but Bloomberg did a short ~30 minute documentary 4-5 years ago on Saudi efforts to build a biofuel research center.
I’d also posit that now is the ideal time to take money from the Saudis, if there ever was a time. The Aramco IPO is going nowhere fast, so a key pillar of Vision 2030 is dead in the water.
I’d humbly suggest that you read up on the Saudi youth bulge. Every Saudi receives an annual Alaska-style oil dividend. A huge portion of the youth population is unemployed. The thousands of US dollars paid out to each idle youth is not sustainable long-run, even if oil prices were to increase.
Assuming this Saudi deal is some kind of preferred stock or hybrid equity-debt structure, Tesla can probably get the most favorable terms possible from the Saudis because they are somewhat desperate at this point.
There are a lot of ideas that are great and people will say they love them. There are very few ideas that are great and people will pay for.
The real test of these people you talked to is whether they will pay and not whether they like it. Is a Tesla a great car? Yes, but I won't pay that much for a car. Would it be great if someone made a documentary about me? Yes, but I won't pay for it. It's not a matter of bullshit, it's just the difference between whether someone likes something vs. willing to pay for it.
Then there's Tesla - The Movie
Have a look at this movie based on life of Nikola Tesla - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNGSOCzXv80
"The Miracle Factory"
Great name for a movie honoring Tesla.
Well, "Tesla" has more punch, I guess.