🛻 The Nouns of January 31, 2025

1. NEW SPACE TRUCK

2. NEW OLD QUOTE

3. NEW WEE LITTLE BABY BASS

In defense of the Cybertruck

There are two little mental tests I often run when deciding if someone is generally on my naughty or nice list.

Test 1: Do I want to have a beer with them?

I don’t think George W Bush was a great president. I would love to have a beer with him. Nice list.

I think Steve Jobs was an amazing CEO. He’s also kind of a narcissistic ass. I don’t really want to have a beer with him. Naughty list.

Look, it’s not a perfect system, but it usually gives me a quick sense of how… human someone is.

Test 2: Would I let them watch my dog for the weekend?

This feels like it goes without saying, but there are some people I just wouldn’t trust to watch my dog.

I say all of this because Elon Musk is a solid no to both tests.

That being said, I still can’t decide if he is a genius or not.

Obviously setting aside that he seems like a pretty awful human who I wouldn’t let have a beer with my dog.

BIG HUGE CAVEAT THAT NONE OF THIS IS AN ENDORSEMENT OF ELON MUSK AS A DECENT RATIONAL HUMAN BEING

Caveat aside, it’s hard to reconcile that he has accomplished so much that we all forgot most of it.

Did you know he founded a company called Zip2 when he was 24 that he sold in 4 years for $307m?

Did you know he founded x.com the same year (way before the whole twitter thing), which would merge with another company to eventually become PayPal?

If you ask the average person what Elon Musk did, they will forget about PayPal.

Like, PayPal.

Regardless of your opinions of him as a person (see above caveat), it’s hard to deny Elon Musk has accomplished a lot.

To my main point:

Elon Musk keeps doing things that seem to work despite my thinking they are stupid. Case in point: the Cybertruck.

A LOT OF CAVEATS TODAY. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS YOU CAN POINT TO THAT HE HAS DONE THAT ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL, INCLUDING THE CYBERTRUCK. I’M TALKING ABOUT ONE SPECIFIC THING THANKS.

The pickup truck market is basically the Ford F-Series and everyone else.

Oh, and it’s not just the best-selling truck. The F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in America for over 40 consecutive years.

Most other truck brands must follow Ford’s lead in what America wants in a truck.

Sure, they have different features and might have one or two variables, but most look like an F-150.

If you took the logos off, could you tell the difference between an F-150, a Toyota Tundra, and a Dodge Ram in the wild?

As we’ve moved into this new age of EVs, there was an opportunity to innovate.

But besides the headlights, most EV trucks look just like your standard pickup.

Except the Cybertruck.

The Cybertruck looks like an F-150 that hasn’t loaded yet.

Forever buffering.

It’s stupid.

And ugly.

And I hate it.

In fact, I think most people hate it.

But, unlike the F-150 Lightning, you notice when one rolls by.

More importantly, it gets a lot of attention.

Which meant everyone preordered it.

By generating over 2 million $100 pre-orders, Musk could secure a loan to manufacture a truck that otherwise would never have been made.

And those preorders only happened because people were talking about it.

Because it was stupid.

Maybe I should rename this issue In Defense of Stupidity.

The only way the Cybertruck works is by being stupid. 

By getting the attention of every American.

And leveraging that attention into money.

What I am arguing here is that the awful look of the Cybertruck was a conscious, strategic choice by a crazy person team who was willing to let the ends justify the means.

The very fact that it sucks is why it works.

And, with a net worth over $400 BILLION DOLLARS it’s hard to argue it doesn’t work.

Is that brilliant or stupid or morally repugnant?

I don’t know. But it does seem to work.

Okay, now replace “Cybertruck” with “Donald Trump.”

Martin 000C JR Bass

My darling wife picked me up this wee little baby acoustic bass for Christmas and I absolutely love it. Like, I love it.

I play a mini Martin acoustic a lot. Sounds great and is easy to play sitting in an office chair. This little baby bass is the perfect partner to it.

Good overview: