# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 79
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1561 "2022-11-26T02:15:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In a normal time for a normal employee review that wouldn’t be the case, because you’d want to try to educate them and get them doing things the right way first. But in the context of having to lay off half the coding work force in a fairly quick manner, this would be a reasonable way to go, given the difficulty of any method you chose. If the need to cut staff is so dire that H1-B visa employees who were promised they had survived the layoffs and recently agreed to waive the severance packages they used to have need to be fired at midnight the night before Thanksgiving, then Elon may as well fire people completely randomly because there’s no way the people who remain will be the good programmers. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1562 "2022-11-26T02:17:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Elmo says if Twitter gets kicked off the app store, he’ll make his own smartphone. With blackjack! And hookers! No, with full-time, worldwide connectivity through Starlink. This is not a wild idea Musk just came up with - there have been discussions about it at both SpaceX and Tesla for a couple ov years now. Depending on who you believe, the phone may be available as soon as this Christmas. As it is, SpaceX has already cut a deal with T-Mobile to switch their phones over to Starlink instead of roaming when they are out of the service area. A Tesla branded ‘PI Phone’ has been rumored for a while. Mashable thinks it’s more than a rumor, and is in production. It would seriously disrupt the cell business. and probably make Elon another $100 billion richer. So he’s not making an idle threat. > **[Elon Musk’s Tesla Set To Give Tough Fight To Apple, Samsung With The New...](https://in.mashable.com/tech/39956/elon-musks-tesla-set-to-give-tough-fight-to-apple-samsung-with-the-new-tesla-pi-phone)** > > The Pi Phone has an oleophobic coating and scratch-resistant glass for added protection. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1563 "2022-11-26T02:20:37Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So it looks like the lost advertisers represent about 20% or so of total advertising. Thank you. I did read the whole cite looking for a total ad revenue number but must’ve skipped right over it. Hence my fall-back to Pareto. I admit to being surprised that their ad revenue is so non-skewed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1564 "2022-11-26T02:21:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Elmo says if Twitter gets kicked off the app store, he’ll make his own smartphone. With blackjack! And hookers! Silly Elon, everyone knows hookers are useless without blow. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1565 "2022-11-26T02:25:42Z")
> [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#): > > then Elon may as well fire people completely randomly because there’s no way the people who remain will be the good programmers. I’m sure he’ll filter down to only [the best programmers with the smartest ideas](https://youtu.be/sDEL4Ty950Q). > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > No, with full-time, worldwide connectivity through Starlink. This is not a wild idea Musk just came up with - there have been discussions about it at both SpaceX and Tesla for a couple ov years now. Depending on who you believe, the phone may be available as soon as this Christmas. [https://gfycat.com/cooperativeboldgermanspaniel](https://gfycat.com/cooperativeboldgermanspaniel) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1566 "2022-11-26T02:52:35Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Depending on who you believe, the phone may be available as soon as this Christmas. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FUCPD8zWYAAZT0g?format=jpg&name=900x900) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FUCPD8zWYAAZT0g?format=jpg&name=900x900) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1567 "2022-11-26T02:58:31Z")
It was Mashable that said that, not me. I have no idea what state the phone development is in, but if a regular or modified T-Mobile phone can connect to Starlink, there’s no reason Tesla or SpaceX couldn’t spin off its own phone if it wanted to, and give it full Starlink access. That would bypass the need for ground infrastructure, which is the real stumbling block for new entrants in the phone business. A phone with a relatively low-cost, worldwide, low latency/high bandwidth connection would be a serious game changer. I would have thought everyone would be excited at the potential for breaking the phone monopolies and doing away with roaming hassles and charges when you travel, etc… But I guess the Elon hatred now overrides everything. The main thing standing in the way of Tesla’s phone is probably regulatory and lobbying pressure from the big current cell providers who like their monopolies/oligopolies and don’t want anyone disturbing that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1568 "2022-11-26T03:07:25Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So it looks like the lost advertisers represent about 20% or so of total advertising 50 of the the top 100 doesn’t say anything about the next 100 (or the 1000 after that). It will be more than 20%. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1569 "2022-11-26T03:07:27Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > . I would have thought everyone would be excited at the potential for breaking the phone monopolies and doing away with roaming hassles and charges when you travel, etc… But I guess the Elon hatred now overrides everything. “At least he makes the trains run on time!” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1570 "2022-11-26T03:07:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > A phone with a relatively low-cost, worldwide, low latency/high bandwidth connection would be a serious game changer. It sure would. But a Muskphone wouldn’t be that. > According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, connectivity speed will be “2 to 4 Mbits per cell zone,” which should be enough for texting and voice calls, but not high bandwidth content such as high-resolution video and gaming. > **[SpaceX and T-Mobile say your phone will connect directly to Starlink satellites](https://mashable.com/article/spacex-t-mobile-satellite-phone)** > > Beta version of the service is coming late in 2023. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1571 "2022-11-26T03:09:00Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > It was Mashable that said that, not me. I have no idea what state the phone development is in, but if a regular or modified T-Mobile phone can connect to Starlink, there’s no reason Tesla or SpaceX couldn’t spin off its own phone if it wanted to, and give it full Starlink access. That would bypass the need for ground infrastructure, which is the real stumbling block for new entrants in the phone business. You know, there is this thing called a “search engine” and you can use it to find all kinds of super-secret information on the interwebs like this: [TL;DR: it’s a VoiP application that connects through WiFi, possibly using an existing _fixed_ Starlink base station.] > **[SpaceX has plans to start a Starlink phone service](https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-has-plans-to-start-a-starlink-phone-service)** > > It's not meant for your smartphone. or this: > **[SpaceX plans Starlink phone service, emergency backup, and low-income access](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/02/spacex-plans-starlink-phone-service-emergency-backup-and-low-income-access/)** > > SpaceX's latest petition to the FCC details some of its Starlink plans. > _To be clear, SpaceX isn’t about to beam gigabytes of data to your smartphone — it’s more of a landline solution that uses existing connections, including the public switched telephone network, existing phone circuitry operated by local telecoms._ > > _SpaceX outlined plans for VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) services in addition to its existing broadband services. Such a service would allow consumers to make voice calls through their Starlink broadband connection._ > > _“Consumers will have the option of using a third-party, conventional phone connected to a Session Initiation Protocol standards-compliant analog terminal adaptor or a native-IP phone selected from a list of certified models,” the filing reads._ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1572 "2022-11-26T03:21:19Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > it’s a VoiP application that connects through WiFi, possibly using an existing _fixed_ Starlink base station Yeah, but it’s gonna be available by Christmas! 2026 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1573 "2022-11-26T03:40:30Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > It was Mashable that said that, not me. Nobody forced you to repeat it, so basically…you said it too. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1574 "2022-11-26T03:41:57Z")
Thing is that based on what I have read before, there were a lot of issues with tweeter early on, there were years when reliability was an issue. In an environment like that, getting well paid and working at Twitter for years was the result for getting things to work as reliable as it was until recently. IOW, this explanation of yours could be valid for a company that was still dealing with the whales, there is less justification then for what Musk is doing now. > **[How Twitter Slayed the Fail Whale | TIME.com](https://business.time.com/2013/11/06/how-twitter-slayed-the-fail-whale/)** > > On Friday, August 2, two very surprising things happened on Twitter. At 7:21 PM Pacific Time, users sent 143,199 tweets in a single second, a new record for Twitter activity. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1575 "2022-11-26T04:16:48Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Lots more like that. These aren’t ‘formatting’ errors. They aren’t trivial. They speak to a lack of clear thinking, or laziness, or failure to adhere to standards, or poor education. Youy’ll never see a really good programmer making errors like this. I highly doubt any programmers of that quality have gotten anywhere close to working at Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1576 "2022-11-26T04:23:15Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “At least he makes the trains run on time!” [Well, sorta…](https://thenextweb.com/news/the-boring-company-fails-to-excite-with-cars-in-tunnels) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1577 "2022-11-26T05:15:28Z")
Librarian: I suggest you reread my post: the relevant numbers are $750 million so far this year for those advertisers who have left and $4.5 Billion for ALL advertisers in 2021 (many tens or hundreds of thousands of advertisers)–and then doing some estimating/extrapolation. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1578 "2022-11-26T05:57:49Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > There are a lot of pretty fundamental errors you can spot in a code review - which is why code reviews are a thing. Do you also think the practice of giving a coding test to potential hires is a useless thing? Ater all, what can you learn from a few lines of code, right? > > As someone who has literally done hundreds of code reviews, let me give you a very short list of examples of red flags you can find in a review: I don’t want to get too bogged down in this or get into a pissing contest with you over it, but I just want to highlight a few things that are pertinent to why what Musk is allegedly doing is so stupid. First of all, what he’s apparently doing, if it’s being accurately described, is not a code review. It’s a cursory, random examination of an arbitrary piece of code in isolation, free of context, and in the absence of the coder to provide explanation and context – if indeed it could even be attributable to any single coder. Beyond that, I note that you failed to quote or to comment on the rest of my post, namely this part: > As long as minimum basic standards of reliability, maintainability, and reasonable efficiency are met, the “quality” of the code in some random module isn’t even particularly important, compared to the importance of a well-structured and extensible system architecture. And you don’t determine that by scrutinizing lines of code. If I had concerns about the quality of a software team, I’d want to review their design documents and development methodologies, not goddam lines of code. I question the value – or at least the priority – of code reviews as a routine, ongoing practice in most cases when designing large, complex systems (again, it’s worth remembering that code reviews are not what Musk’s flunkies are allegedly doing here). Sure, code reviews are absolutely essential for critical components, especially things like avionics or spacecraft software. I’ve not been involved in any of those, but a couple of times I’ve been the system architect for fault-tolerant systems that had to achieve a stated level of (high) availability, and we certainly did code reviews for key functions associated with failover. But in most cases, IMO, routine code reviews are often a poor use of precious resources compared to some of the other priorities I mentioned. You say you’ve done hundreds of code reviews. Fine, and you don’t have to explain to me the difference between “good” code and “bad” code. You know what I’ve spent a good portion of my career doing? **Design** reviews. Creating the architectures of large, complex systems, ensuring that system components are logically structured and independent and communicate only through well-defined interfaces, ensuring that they’re developed and tested in conformance with rigourous methodologies, and ensuring that they would fully meet requirements for functionality and performance. Design reviews are essential to supporting those objectives. In large enterprises, design reviews also help to ensure seamless integration with the rest of the IT infrastructure. In that larger context, scrutinizing lines of code has about the same predictive value for overall system quality as scrutinizing the stitching of a car’s upholstery and making predictions about the car’s performance and long-term reliability. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1579 "2022-11-26T07:45:28Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I tried the link, and get a ‘this page does not exist’ from Twitter. Can you check it? The link does seem to point to a deleted tweet. However, multiple media are reporting on the story … > **[Elon Musk’s Delusional Fixation at Twitter](https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/elon-musk-twitter-code-fixation.html)** > > Please, Elon, hire a CEO. * * * On a different topic, Elmo has said that if the Apple and Android stores drop the Twitter app, he’ll just develop his own smartphone. I’m now anxiously awaiting an announcement that he’s going to solve all the ongoing Twitter problems by moving Twitter HQ to Mars. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/1580 "2022-11-26T13:13:26Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’m now anxiously awaiting an announcement that he’s going to solve all the ongoing Twitter problems by moving Twitter HQ to Mars. That might be a good thing. In fact it probably would. Although that thought immediately reminded me of the gazillionaire wacko in > **[Icehenge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icehenge)** > > Icehenge is a science fiction novel by American author Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 1984. > Though published almost ten years before Robinson's Mars trilogy, and taking place in a different version of the future, Icehenge contains elements that also appear in his Mars series, such as extreme human longevity, Martian political revolution, historical revisionism, and shifts between primary characters. > Icehenge is set at three distinct time periods, and told from the perspective of three diffe... who’d gotten so detached from humanity she was hardly human and certainly didn’t care in the slightest for the entire rest of humanity. Seems to me maybe Musk read that book as a kid and decided what he wanted to be when he ~~grew up~~ got older. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=80)