Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In probably the worst interview I have seen, the interviewer is ridiculous, Musk says other auto makers have contacted to use their patent they opened to the public a few months back.
"We have had a number of inquiries from other car companies and we've told them to go ahead and use them," Musk says.
Really? If Tesla put the patents into the public domain for all to use, then why would anyone need to inquire or ask to use them? If the light is green, you go, you don't ask the police if it is okay.
And then this from the article: "Musk said at the time he made the move that he is counting on his engineers to come up with team with new innovations that will stay ahead of the company's existing patents."
In other words, the patents aren't particularly useful moving forward, Musk knows it and why they were put into the public domain. No one really needed them.
PR at work. Although there are comparisons to the Silicon Valley/Hi-Tech, it is nothing like that. Take Linux for example. Torvalds didn't go out and try to create something akin to Microsoft and then put the patents into the public domain. Musk simply said in effect, this patents aren't worth much in the future, here, have a go at it.
In probably the worst interview I have seen, the interviewer is ridiculous, Musk says other auto makers have contacted to use their patent they opened to the public a few months back.
Well, several other manufacturers were already consulting with Tesla before the startling patent announcement, and paying for licenses to use Tesla's patents, so why wouldn't they continue to do so once Musk announced they could use their patents for free?
I thought the most significant part of the article was this...
Quote:
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne, in an appearance Monday on CNBC, said that the auto industry has taken Tesla's accomplishments "incredibly lightly."
"I think he deserves more attention that we have given him," Marchionne said of Musk. "In terms of the underlying business model and what he's doing, it's something we need to understand much better."
For perspective, this is the same CEO who recently ordered Fiat to stop manufacturing electric vehicles because he couldn't figure out how to make any money from them.
Really? If Tesla put the patents into the public domain for all to use, then why would anyone need to inquire or ask to use them? If the light is green, you go, you don't ask the police if it is okay.
He didn't put them in the public domain. He said they wouldn't charge for licenses or prosecute companies who wanted to use them. Big difference.
If I were another company who wanted to use them, first thing I'd do is sit down with the folks at Tesla to be sure we all understood exactly what the deal was. And maybe even get some signatures on some agreements. That would be a smart thing to do.
Quote:
And then this from the article: "Musk said at the time he made the move that he is counting on his engineers to come up with team with new innovations that will stay ahead of the company's existing patents."
In other words, the patents aren't particularly useful moving forward, Musk knows it and why they were put into the public domain. No one really needed them.
Not so. Matter of fact, if he can get other companies to standardize on the ways Tesla does things, it can help move the whole industry forward, and put Tesla smack in the middle of new development.
Quote:
PR at work. Although there are comparisons to the Silicon Valley/Hi-Tech, it is nothing like that. Take Linux for example. Torvalds didn't go out and try to create something akin to Microsoft and then put the patents into the public domain. Musk simply said in effect, this patents aren't worth much in the future, here, have a go at it.
No, he said nothing of the kind. That's just your blatantly obsessive bias against Tesla at work twisting the interpretation. If you read the whole announcement in context, what he actually said was more along the lines of "let's work together to move the entire electric vehicle segment upward."
Don't forget, the more EVs sold, of all makes, the more batteries he can sell them from the new Nevada Gigafactory.
Basically, Tesla gave away nothing of any real interest or commercial value.
Illogical. Companies like BMW were paying for licenses, consulting with Tesla, then Tesla said the technology was available to all, they're still consulting with Tesla.
OBVIOUSLY the patents are still valuable. But Elon Musk is out to transform the industry, not just sell cars. I think that's why the Fiat Chrysler CEO said the industry should be paying closer attention to what he's doing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
