A Look Under the Hood of Tesla Motors

Re: A Look Under the Hood of Tesla Motors

I remember when the Tesla was first unveiled in 2006, I ran (drove) to the Petersen Museum to see a prototype in person, and it was gorgeous.

Regarding the NYTimes blogpost, Tesla does not have other income sources it is much more committed to creating and selling electric cars sooner than the big companies which can take their time to do so. It is a matter of survival for Tesla. Ultimately their success will depend on their (and partners') ability to make the technology leaps and their management ability.

As such the giants also have learned to deal with such disruptive innovation by creating launching new vehicles (BMW MiniE, Nissan Leaf...), but not separate groups/divisions/companies that deal with all electrics while being aligned with the market. And the giants target the mainstream/existing usage market right from outset, while Tesla and others will start with specialty markets (like sports cars, golf carts...) that allow the technology to develop while giving themselves cashflow to survive and establish position (standard disruptive innovation theory you can say).

But it has taken a lot of time for Tesla to sell more of their Roadsters and the giants seem to be catching up a little - but they are still going for the mainstream market where the technology is atleast 3 to 5 years away from being mature for regular usage. The mainstream usage technology may not be ready for a while and it will be interesting to see how long the giants continue their "investment". It may give one of the all electric companies an equal or better chance of beating the existing giants or just vanish!

Air Travel Sucks! Trains Rule!

Why air travel sucks:

• Airports are damned far away. Planes are noisy and so usually outside or far from cities. So travel by car, metro/subway, bicycle... takes time, especially during the morning rush hour (I just missed an 8:50am flight even though I started 2 hours earlier from home [which means I woke up at 6am]- so I shall complain!).
• You have to arrive atleast 40 minutes in advance or they will not issue you a boarding pass because you may not clear security in time. (once they give you a boarding pass they have to wait a few minutes past departure time if you don't board - I believe).
• Severe restrictions in the number and size of luggage. (I sometimes have 2-3 laptops and you will hate me when you're behind me in the line. I know of someone who flys every week and has a metal plate in his knee/jaw/somewhere... he has spent more time flapping his arms in a single year than a normal human does in their lifetime).
• The security rules on what you can/cannot bring are always changing or are different in every country/airport so even seasoned travelers can be caught off guard. Take your shoes off, don't take 'em off; no lighters, but matches are ok; remove belts, don't remove belts; only 1 carry on allowed, including purses & laptop bags (come on Luton... you can't be serious), or $25-50 for an extra bag (go to a different queue to pay for that if you didn't in advance - 'thanks Easyjet, you make it real easy')... I am almost in favor of the full body scanners where they can see everything over/under your clothes/skin/bones. There is little privacy anywhere, everybody's beach photo's are online, young people wear skimpy clothes anyway... 'why so serious' about this?
• Road warrior, not! Plus a lot of passengers are casual travelers so they don't know the rules and at 7am in the morning everyone is going to be stupid . 'madam, take your jacket off'; Lady: 'huh?'; 'put the toiletries in a clear x ounce bag' (I really pity the guy/gal who has to repeat this a 1000 times everyday and still be vigilant); 'put your laptop in the tray, put the shoes separately'; 'don't put the jacket on top'...
• For a 1 hour flight, here's the total time spent: 1 hour of driving to airport + 1 hour in checkin/security + 1 hour flight duration + 30 mins to collect bags + 1 hour driving away from airport = 4.5 hours. Talk about efficiency!
• Congested seating... its not that airlines are now like buses, they are worse! If you are a premier/gold member (thank you Austin Powers)... you get 5 extra inches! or pay $50 for that privilege. 3rd class has just been re-introduced!
• Germ factories... 100's of people in a confined space: breathing, sneezing, touching, kissing... for hours. Have fun CDC! (and perhaps Joe Biden was right atleast about airplanes... hard to stand those who put on no deodorant and those who put on 2 liters of their favorite eau de toilette - just do the literal translation)
• Crappy service. Budget airlines have proliferated and lowered the rates and services. So for business travelers at small to medium companies (which have way more employees than the F500 biggies) there is no choice... since everyone is trying to save, the dept admin will book your travel on the cheapest one. And crews at budget or traditional airlines, with some exceptions, are just tired of unruly/rude passengers, nearing retirement, hate their job, dream of days gone by...
• "Please switch off your electronic devices... we are going to take off/on/up/down/sideways...". Has any of this been proven with scientific testing... or we've decided to just bore everyone? Shutting down communications is welcome (during the entire flight), but why can't I listen to my iPod, watch video or read my Kindle ebook or write an email (offline)?
• Disgusting food or whatever it is. Almost everyone has no free food (fine, no problem), but the ones that sell you food... what am I paying for? (Air Canada sells 6" Subway sandwiches for $5. When someone opens a 2 hour old sandwich like that... there are going to be sick people).
• I've got plenty more... but am preserving my fingers for the next section.

Why trains (like in Europe and parts of east coast US?) are awesome!

• Show up 5 minutes before departure! Yeah, it only saves 55 minutes in the morning... but at that time of the day every second counts.
• The train station is in the city and connected to the local train/subway station! Sweet! Takes only 30-40 minutes to get there. They have a park-n-ride or bike stand (good luck at the airport) and other options as well.
• Full-sized bathroom!
• Cafeteria/bistro/dining car! Wow... decent food, real espresso... freedom of movement!
• No body searches you! And nobody needs to see what toiletries you you use.
• Bring as much luggage as you can lift/push around! Nobody's stopping you.
• Walk around... jump around, sleep... play music, video...work whatever you like!
• Stretch your legs in a real human sized seat!
• If the train is late: just sit around & relax, eat a banana, read a book... (If a plane is late you sit on the floor near the gate with a million people cursing or worse on a cramped airplane).
• I could go on... but this is a first draft.

Anyone else with opinions on this?

Someday when I have more time to waste than this post... I'd like to survey which one of the above is the most hated thing about air travel. I can't blame Michael O'Leary for trying to run a profitable business, but no thanks... ('yeah, Mr. Expense Report Checker... that's 50 cents for 1 visit to the loo', 'What? You want a receipt?' BTW: lots of train stations in Europe charge for using the loo) I don't object to flying his particular airline or any particular company mentioned in this post/rant or even charging for toilets (just put it on my tab when I buy the beer). I just object to flying until they fix this mess (and please bag OBL meanwhile, someone).

Anyway, this is more of a rant than a blog post. But it's time someone fixed this mess.

Paris + WiFi = Free

Here's the Google Map of all the 260+ accesspoints:

(And the above website has loads of information on what else to do in Paris, with some information available in the English version of the website as well).

And here's how to signon :

Ok, if you needed help with that... here's the Google Translate output on the useful part:

1. Identify signage Paris Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi logo Paris

This indicates that you are in the area (of) an oasis Paris Wi-Fi

2. Turn on your Wi-Fi equipment

3. Select the Orange network.

4. Start your regular internet browser and type any website address (eg http://www.paris.fr).

5. Select your pass Paris wi-fi 2h offered by the City of Paris and the Ile de France

6. Now you can surf freely on the Internet, send and receive emails, and all this without needing to be connected in any way!

Text Messaging Is Cheap?

Not sure if its the job of newspapers to spread or create conspiracy theories, but this article in the New York Times (which I love and read often) by Randall Stross is just half-baked. But it sells newspapers, so let's do it!

Mr. Stross figures out, with the help of experts, that the basic cost of text messaging alone is pretty low. A text message or SMS rides on the control channels that are used for communications between the cellphone and the base station and then go over wires from the base station to the core of the network. So we learn that, once the basic investment in the network is done... its all cream, he implies. Mr. Stross quotes another professor saying that the cost of transmitting 100 million messages is not much more than those for a million. 

Yeah, the basics about text messages are right. But are you going to build a network costing billions to send text messages? Ofcourse not, so to run a wireless network there are costs for voice minutes from initial spectrum cost of billions, tens of thousands of cell sites, cell site maintenance, equipment purchases, and many more. And now they are building faster data networks which also costs billions, and while these are growing fast - they don't make enough money. Recall the whining about the iPhone, in 2007, only having an EDGE (2.75G) connection. "Where's my 3G?" the press cried. And the $20 or $30, now, for the iPhone data connection is not enough to fund a nationwide network covering over 200 cities that, at inception, only has less than 10 million (data) customers. If we use his logic then software should only cost 50 cents - the cost of burning a CD with the software. 

Its strange to see an article by a business school professor/teacher in the country's most prominent newspaper to not even mention the entire economic picture of running a company. Text messaging is a cash cow, one that helps funds other parts of the business. If you really want to do cost accounting, then let's put the partial cost of towers, spectrum, SMS servers, employee costs, billing systems and lots of other things also on its account. Obviously, the operators are making good money on it, but they may be losing money in other parts of the business. But why should they open it up to scrutiny? Also if casual or non-plan texting (sounds like sex!) is a very low percentage of the revenue and number of total messages sent - then what's so wrong with charging higher for it?

I am not advocating that the senator or FCC or the responsible regulatory body or a journalist  should not query or check this; they should certainly probe it - but don't make it another conspiracy theory or another way we are cheated!

It really makes me believe that even the best guys want to use controversy and half-baked ideas to sell their product. This is similar to the way newspapers and magazines use/report numbers to make them sound more interesting but miss the point.

Disclosure: I have never worked for a mobile operator/carrier. I have worked as an engineer for an equipment manufacturer and understand some aspects of a cellphone networks' working and cost structure.

Better mousetraps, I mean Ethernet switches

Sometimes a better mousetrap is just super useful!

Our technical sales guys do a lot of traveling with demo kits and (obviously) want the lightest, most compact gear possible (ofcourse that doesn't reduce the stares at the airport security line).

One of the things he found is a USB powered 5-port Ethernet switch. Just connect a small cable to the switch and hook the other end to the USB port of a computer, and voila!

I have been using it for a few days and love the little black box. Its 2 in x 3 in x 1/2 in and can fit in my pocket!

Plain old benefits:
- saves an extra power jack on the strip
- no need to go down under the desk to find a power jack (at work)
- quick ability to switch connections between various machines (very essential for testbeds and demo kits)
- small and light enough to carry a few in my backpack or demo kit.

The one I've got is from Bytec BT-555. I haven't seen it at a Fry's or Best Buy, only online.

iPhone 2.0 Software - Push

Everybody knows that iPhone 2.0 software supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. But the devil details are as follows (based on my experience):

• Exchange email & calendaring works beautifully - just like the preview videos Apple showed and like BlackBerry and ActiveSync users have been enjoying for a while. And setup is a breeze using the iPhone Configuration Utility. It does feel a bit strange to email the config file instead of just dowloading it to an attached iPhone. But it'll work well for enterprise users - "one profile to rule them all".
• Cisco VPN setup with Group authentication is a bit awkward.
  
• If you get a lot of emails, like 1 every 5 minutes, because someone put you on a jillion lists then enabling 'Push' will drain your iPhone's battery enough to require daily charging even with minimum use. Plus your phone vibrates every 5 seconds and makes you look like a twitching retard. Use Fetch with settings of 15 min, 30 min or 1 hour - depending on how desperate you are.
• Someone tells me that there are specific push-related rules, i.e. set a rule to determine which email messages get pushed. But apparently it is only available, for setting, through Outlook. I use a Mac and checked Outlook Web Access using IE on Windows XP under Fusion, but could not find it. Need more research!
  

• Below are relevant documents & links on the subject.

1. Apple's docs on implemented/omitted features: http://support.apple.com/manuals/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf
2. MSFT blog comparing the implementations: http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan/archive/2008/07/18/iphone-2-0-windows-mobile-for-push-email.aspx
3. Exchange ActiveSync FAQ: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/bb288524.aspx
   

iPhone 2.0

So it seems that lots of existing iPhone (1.x) owners had serious problems in either downloading the new 2.0 OS or installing it ("got bricked") or activating their phone after installation. My experience was different. It did take iTunes a while before it was ready to update the iPhone OS. Around 5pm it allowed me to download and in 15 minutes the new OS was installed, 5 more minutes to restore settings from backup.

First review:
Very good set of usability improvements. Location-finding (even without A-GPS) seems to work a whole lot better (better than 1.1.3 atleast). But the App.Store is amazing. Find an app, select it for download, enter your iTunes Store password and in minutes it flies! Ofcourse this works best in WiFi covered areas. Have to see how long it takes to download a few megs over EDGE.

The range of app's seems pretty impressive for day one. It's hard to believe what will come in the next few months and years. All the promises and potential from the iPhone SDK preview are going to be true. This is the mobile platform of choice. The best developers are or will be flocking to produce iPhone apps.

Multi-Touch is Key
One thing is clear - the bold and courageous choice Apple made in using a touchscreen and forgoing any keys (except 'home', volume, vibrate & 'sleep') is paying off bigtime. Applications are free to define user interaction in a very very customized way. No crazy remapping or multipurposing (using alt/shift...) of the numeric keypad or other buttons; no need to cramp 3 letters of the tinniest font on/around each key. The slight loss of speed is replaced by the elegance of a well-defined, aesthetic and colored interface. App. developers have better freedom than PC's to create a new way for user interaction. Make no mistake, the new way is and will be more impactful to the consumer adoption than anything else.

iPhone meet IT
The addition of MS Exchange support, Cisco VPN and iPhone Configuration Utility to iPhone is as big as the switch to Intel for Mac's. These new features are basic product features to compete against Blackberry and Windows Mobile in the corporate market. The rest will be in continuous courting of corporate IT. Ofcourse employees bugging IT and the attraction of CXO's to the iPhone will push IT to start supporting the iPhone.

PC vs. Mac all over again?
The iPhone and its OS togather unquestionably form the best mobile platform today. Windows Mobile came out years before iPhone OS (unlike Mac OS vs. Windows), but has yet to mature in terms of user experience. WM has all/most of the needed functionality, but is defiicient in other areas. It took Windows almost 10-15 years to mature into a stable and, relatively speaking, usable form (with 2000 and XP). But the story of licensing OS' is worth considering. Will Apple license iPhone OS? No it won't! Not with the success of the Mac, iPhone and iTunes. They are more confident than ever of their beliefs, innovation and capabilities.

More on the following in later posts.

Real Challenger #1: Nokia/Symbian
Nokia/Symbian clearly see the challenge and their recent changes are interesting to say the least.

Real Challenger #2: Google Android

Wake up time: Microsoft Windows Mobile

No Hope #1: Pure Open Source/Linux-styled mobile OS's

No Hope #2: Blackberry OS/devices