this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
15 points (82.6% liked)

Technology

1163 readers
368 users here now

Which posts fit here?

Anything that is at least tangentially connected to the technology, social media platforms, informational technologies and tech policy.


Rules

1. English onlyTitle and associated content has to be in English.
2. Use original linkPost URL should be the original link to the article (even if paywalled) and archived copies left in the body. It allows avoiding duplicate posts when cross-posting.
3. Respectful communicationAll communication has to be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
4. InclusivityEveryone is welcome here regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
5. Ad hominem attacksAny kind of personal attacks are expressly forbidden. If you can't argue your position without attacking a person's character, you already lost the argument.
6. Off-topic tangentsStay on topic. Keep it relevant.
7. Instance rules may applyIf something is not covered by community rules, but are against lemmy.zip instance rules, they will be enforced.


Companion communities

!globalnews@lemmy.zip
!interestingshare@lemmy.zip


Icon attribution | Banner attribution

founded 9 months ago
MODERATORS
 

When Helixx co-founder and CEO Steve Pegg looks at Daisy — the startup’s 3D printed prototype delivery van — he sees a second chance. And he’s pulling inspiration from McDonald’s to get there. The prototype, which made its global debut this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, is an interesting proof of concept.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] sonori@beehaw.org 1 points 2 months ago

Not 3d printing the final components makes it even more strange to be farming out final assembly, as the expensive part is the tooling and molds for making components in the first place, but said tooling can make a functionally unlimited number of parts once set up, so it really doesn’t make sense to try and sell it out when you could just fulfill all the orders with one set of molds at a central location, but at that point what are they left with? A kit car built by small shops with a subscription model and a hope that the small shops fall into the sunk cost fallacy instead of realizing their at best nowhere close to earning minimum wage and more likely losing money on net?

It’s extremely predatory, but I’m not really convinced it’s set up like an MLM though, since I can’t really see much incentive for the assemblers/middlemen to set up a proper downline. Feels more like an attempt at an Uber but for car manufacturering? or at least to make money off of would be entrepreneurs trying to set up a car assembly company.

Honestly though, mostly it feels like an attempt to grift investors in the standard silicon valley startup way, where you promise the moon to try and get established companies and venture capital to give you free money just in case you make it big, maybe IPO or get bought out completely, and worse case you just get to keep the extravagant salary you pay yourself and your friends for as long as you can keep the grift going.