A Tesla phone would have at least one good point
Elon Musk’s hugely expensive purchase of Twitter saw him firing 75 per cent of staff. With them, a huge amount of institutional knowledge in the very difficult area of content moderation is gone.
That Twitter reboot is going as well as expected.
Take Apple’s main Twitter account which was set up in 2011, and has over 8.7 million followers. It used to have ads and announcements, but is now devoid of tweets.
Elsewhere, Musk is complaining that Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter which is a remarkable admission by itself.
That’s bad, but far worse for Musk is that Apple and Google are considering dropping Twitter from their respective app stores.
Although both security and content vetting at the tech giants’ app stores can be lacking, they understandably draw a firm line at objectionable content such as hate speech, disinformation and worse being projected onto users’ phones.
Not doing that would put both Apple and Google in regulators’ sights worldwide. It’s not something they can ignore. Nothing Musk does or says will change that.
If Apple and Google decide to remove Twitter from their app stores, it would be a catastrophe for Musk. Around 80 per cent of Twitter users access the birdsite from their mobile devices. Losing them would sink Twitter instantly.
In response, Musk has defiantly stated that he is considering launching a Tesla Pi phone if the Twitter app is banned. His cheerleaders are wetting themselves at the thought, and committing to quickly drop Apple and Google devices, and buying Tesla phones instead.
This is primarily an issue of ensuring Twitter stays on users’ phones, A Twitter app independent of Google and Apple’s approval would make subscriptions to the social network easier to sell, and avoid the up to 30 per cent cut that the two United States tech giants take from developers.
At first glance, a Tesla phone isn’t such a bad idea. It could be sourced from Chinese manufacturers, and sell at a premium just like Musk’s electric vehicles do. Well, Musk couldn’t ask Huawei or ZTE to make the phones as both Chinese conglomerates are banned from launching new devices in the US but there are other makers.
Hardware-wise, even if Musk manages to source great hardware for the Tesla Pi, the smartphone product refresh cycle is brutal. Samsung,
Google, Apple and BBK’S different divisions launch new devices every year, leapfrogging each other with improved features. Any vendor that can’t keep up with that product cycle will disappear fast.
There’s been commentary floating around that the Tesla Pi phone would have unique features such as connecting to the Spacex Starlink satellites, and “mining” crypto currency. From a technical perspective, that’s comically unrealistic. Any Tesla phones also have to be approved by communications infrastructure regulators in a myriad of countries. This probably won’t be a problem as Tesla already sells cars with built-in data connectivity to mobile telcos around the world.
Nevertheless, the recent smartphone past is littered with big name companies spending billions on developing devices, only to see them quickly wither on the wine. To name a few, Microsoft, Facebook, Blackberry, Nokia, even browser vendor Mozilla dipped their toes in the smartphone waters and fell by the wayside. Apple and Google have obsessively and resiliently continued to develop their software and hardware which billions of users have bought into.
Huawei has tried to exist outside the Apple/google duopoly, but despite great hardware like excellent camera systems, quality software is all-important. There’s not much traction for the Chinese telecoms giant in Western markets without Android Play store access.
To be clear, the Tesla Pi is dead in the water if it doesn’t run Android with the Play store and Google security updates. An alternative app store that targets mainly right-wing users and developers will be a lame duck.
Musk can complain as much as he likes about Apple and Google’s market power but it won’t get him anywhere.
The two tech giants only need to show some of the “free speech” Musk has re-enabled on Twitter for any sane regulator to dismiss the complaints and most likely investigate the social network and its chief executive in the process. Which is not to say that Musk shouldn’t try to release a phone. Further costly fiascos that speed up Musk’s exit at Twitter, where he’s flailing and wrecking a business that has been an important communications tool for people, are more than welcome.
It also can’t hurt to have Qanon, fascists and other unsavoury “free speech” trolls congregate onto a short-lived “Fashphone” platform on which their extremist conspiracy views can be monitored more easily.
All in all, a Tesla phone is not a silly idea, so get it done, Elon.