Tesla Model S as a software innovation platform

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iphone version 1Back in 2007, I was fortunate to be in the audience in San Francisco’s Moscone Center when Steve Jobs stood up and released the first version of the Apple iPhone.

That device genuinely raised the bar. It was a watershed in the design and interaction model of a portable computing device. No mobile device company has designed a mobile phone or tablet device since then, without some level of reference to and comparison to the iPhone.

Model S is the product of a company lead through the rare talents of another visionary entrepreneur, Elon Musk.

When looking at this vehicle, it becomes immediately clear that this product – and its design team –  will have a comparable impact in the transport sector over the coming few decades.

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Tesla Model S arrival

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Its been a long time coming. Back in 2012 I ordered a Tesla Motors Model S, on the day they were announced. I believe that my car was order #69 in the world, and at the time there was no guarantee when – or if – they’d be sold in Australia.

A few weeks ago, and around 60,000 Model S vehicles later, my shiny new Pearl White and Carbon Fibre Black P85+ is finally in its home in Adelaide, South Australia.

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15 Megabits Is Not Enough

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There are a lot of bogus memes – false statements claimed to be statements of truth – that are doing the rounds about the Australian National Broadband Network.

In addition, as this classic xdcd cartoon says, it is always the case that… Someone Is WRONG On The Internet.

This post is about one particular bogus meme that I have noted in respect of the NBN. Continue reading →

The Art of the Investment Proposition (Form) Letter

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Since I happen to have done reasonably well in business, I receive semi-regular pitches from companies seeking my interest in the potential of investing in them.

I got one the other day that I loved, but for the wrong reasons.

I loved it because it looks like its author found a generic ‘please invest in me’ form letter somewhere, filled in the blanks, and just fired it off to lots of people he’d read about somewhere on the Internet, expecting money to fall out of the sky in response.

I’ve turned it back into a generic form letter by simply putting generic field names back into it.

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Driving Model S in the UK

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I had a really fun trip back in May 2014 with my friend Robert Llewellyn, where we got to borrow a Tesla Model S and take a road trip to Cornwall. We visited a very cool place called The Eden Project.

Robert has recently turned this into part of ‘Tesla Road Trips’ edition of Fully Charged show on Youtube – here it is!

 

RMIT Talking Technology podcast

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I had a nice chat with Garry Barker for an RMIT University Podcast series called “Talking Technology”.  We talked (yes, again 🙂 ) about my favourite hot-button items – startups, innovation and investment cycles and electric cars.

The release date for the podcast is 14 August 2014, and here it is:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/itunes-u/talking-technology/id463655283