Anyone else not care about video games and farts in their car?

[Johnstac]

Maybe I don’t get it. I don’t play video games in my car. I dont own any gaming consoles at home either. Yes, my kids have them but I don’t get why this is being added to a car. Seems like they could make better use of their time then calibrating which seat will have a fart sound. Maybe at 52, I’m too old to get the humor. I’d rather have a look at the stock market or breaking news. Actually, I use my phone for that. Am I alone here?

 

[jjrandorin]

This probably takes VERY little time and is more likely done in some people spare time. Its part of the fun. If you dont like them, nothing is making you click on it. I am 51, but I am also an IT person by trade, and a lot of IT professionals are "silly". We play video games, watch Marvel movies, and stuff like that.

Tesla is a tech company, that happens to make cars (and other stuff). This stuff is in the "T" menu that you dont have to access, so it doesnt really effect you. The "They should be doing something better with their time" argument is the same one everyone makes when someone does something they dont like.

I have had people tell me that I should be "doing something better with my time" than playing video games when I want to on the weekend. I dont judge people who go out and party every weekend, I dont want someone judging me because I choose to play video games sometimes.

I will likely never use those games in the tesla, but I dont think it took more than 1-2 people a few man hours to put them in there. It also helps Tesla keep up their "tech bro" appearance that they absolutely have, and is one of the reasons they got off the ground in Nor cal.

TL ; DR

Doesnt hurt anything ,doesnt take a lot of time, is "funny" and light hearted, and is not taking away from anything else.

 

[Big Earl]

Who is the little one in your avatar? I’ll bet he thinks the whoopie cushion app is funny. My dad is 73 and he got a good laugh out of it and romance mode.

 

[notAnExpert]

I am with the OP on this. I don’t care for them either.

I am not sure these apps are there because Tesla programmers need an escape. I think they are there because Musk is silly and he wants it. And maybe because he is a marketing genius and the buzz from these apps sells more cars. Who knows? Whatever the reason, I have no use for them.

 

[Unpilot]

Then don't use them They are only there for fun. It's like outrage talk radio...I can find it if I want but I choose not to use it.

 

[GSP]

Maybe I don’t get it. I don’t play video games in my car. I dont own any gaming consoles at home either. Yes, my kids have them but I don’t get why this is being added to a car. Seems like they could make better use of their time then calibrating which seat will have a fart sound. Maybe at 52, I’m too old to get the humor. I’d rather have a look at the stock market or breaking news. Actually, I use my phone for that. Am I alone here?

They are not for people our age, they are for your kids.

I think this is a super smart move by Tesla, since kids will grow up loving their parent’s Teslas. They will grow up fast and buy their own, long after we are gone.

GSP

 

[scaesare]

Maybe I don’t get it. I don’t play video games in my car. I dont own any gaming consoles at home either. Yes, my kids have them but I don’t get why this is being added to a car. Seems like they could make better use of their time then calibrating which seat will have a fart sound. Maybe at 52, I’m too old to get the humor. I’d rather have a look at the stock market or breaking news. Actually, I use my phone for that. Am I alone here?

 

[David29]

This probably takes VERY little time and is more likely done in some people spare time. Its part of the fun. If you dont like them, nothing is making you click on it. I am 51, but I am also an IT person by trade, and a lot of IT professionals are "silly". We play video games, watch Marvel movies, and stuff like that.

Tesla is a tech company, that happens to make cars (and other stuff). This stuff is in the "T" menu that you dont have to access, so it doesnt really effect you. The "They should be doing something better with their time" argument is the same one everyone makes when someone does something they dont like.

I have had people tell me that I should be "doing something better with my time" than playing video games when I want to on the weekend. I dont judge people who go out and party every weekend, I dont want someone judging me because I choose to play video games sometimes.

I will likely never use those games in the tesla, but I dont think it took more than 1-2 people a few man hours to put them in there. It also helps Tesla keep up their "tech bro" appearance that they absolutely have, and is one of the reasons they got off the ground in Nor cal.

TL ; DR

Doesnt hurt anything ,doesnt take a lot of time, is "funny" and light hearted, and is not taking away from anything else.

Disagree. Of course the effort on games and Easter Eggs takes away from something else! Developers don't work for free, even if it is for something "fun." The idea that it only takes a few hours to create one of these Easter Eggs might be true, but it might also take only a few hours to fix some of the nagging problems in the audio app that have caused thousands of complaints for several years! Or to fix any of a number of other issues people have identified with their cars.
No, I do not buy the argument that these types of effort are effectively "free" and don't undermine the effort available for other work. It is all work, and there are only so many hours in the day. They might be more fun to do than than fixing issues with the USB player, I will grant you that. And that might be the real reason these get done -- the boss (Elon) and the developers would have more fun putting out a new "Easter Egg" (and bragging about it) than they would by fixing what should have been fixed long ago.
This argument is not about what people do in their spare time -- it is about Tesla resources and how they are being applied. The company has every right to do what it wants, of course, but let's not pretend the fun stuff is somehow free.

 

[jerry33]

I would much rather have them work on real improvements, such as larger fonts for the map, fixing the audio app, making sure that the instrument cluster can be read in bright light (the reduced contrast is horrible).

 

[1.21GW]

I’m a millennial and I think it’s great that they do this stuff. It’s part of the Tesla Brand DNA.

Had a great time driving around looking at Christmas lights while in Santa mode

 

[Chickenlittle]

Maybe I don’t get it. I don’t play video games in my car. I dont own any gaming consoles at home either. Yes, my kids have them but I don’t get why this is being added to a car. Seems like they could make better use of their time then calibrating which seat will have a fart sound. Maybe at 52, I’m too old to get the humor. I’d rather have a look at the stock market or breaking news. Actually, I use my phone for that. Am I alone here?

Yes you don’t get it. Too old no sense of humor no kids, I don’t know why. That’s your choice. Just enjoy driving and not use options. How much did they cost you?

 

[mkspeedr]

So what...do you need 0-60 in under 3 seconds? Do you need falcon wing doors? Do you Apple Play? Do you need....

I like it the easter eggs. I dont even use them but it sure shows everyone Tesla is computer on wheels and the crazy guy running it has changed the industry. So let him have his James Bond romance fart mode.

 

[TT97]

Disagree. Of course the effort on games and Easter Eggs takes away from something else! Developers don't work for free, even if it is for something "fun." The idea that it only takes a few hours to create one of these Easter Eggs might be true, but it might also take only a few hours to fix some of the nagging problems in the audio app that have caused thousands of complaints for several years! Or to fix any of a number of other issues people have identified with their cars.
No, I do not buy the argument that these types of effort are effectively "free" and don't undermine the effort available for other work. It is all work, and there are only so many hours in the day. They might be more fun to do than than fixing issues with the USB player, I will grant you that. And that might be the real reason these get done -- the boss (Elon) and the developers would have more fun putting out a new "Easter Egg" (and bragging about it) than they would by fixing what should have been fixed long ago.
This argument is not about what people do in their spare time -- it is about Tesla resources and how they are being applied. The company has every right to do what it wants, of course, but let's not pretend the fun stuff is somehow free.

The programmers (and other employees) are not robots, a motivated employee will work better. Those "nagging problems" don't always have easy fixes and can involve countless hours to correct. Allowing your employees to get distracted working on fun projects gives them better motivation and prospective in solving the nagging problems.

Would you want to go to work every day knowing you will spend 12 hours on the same one nagging problem?

 

[Eno Deb]

I partially agree with the OP, but some eastereggs make more sense than others. I'd rather have a working USB audio player or a dashcam that can record the rear camera and saves the video files more reliably than a fart app or a virtual fireplace. Or, for that matter, a browser that doesn't stop working so @Johnstac can check the stock market and breaking news. I did enjoy wasting a few minutes with the Atari games while sitting at a supercharger though.

 

[nicholb]

52, like the Easter Eggs. They are fun to show people but beyond that would rarely use them.

One other aspect of this is that Tesla does not advertise in the traditional sense. Each time they release one of these fun little Easter Eggs hundreds of articles get posted about them and thousands of people see the name Tesla. Intended or not this generates a lot of low cost advertising for them in social media and headlines. I've had several non-Tesla owning friends and family ask if I've got the fart update yet. These people are seeing articles and posts about these and it is keeping the name Tesla in people's minds in a positive post.

 

[CapnLoki]

Disagree. Of course the effort on games and Easter Eggs takes away from something else! Developers don't work for free, even if it is for something "fun." The idea that it only takes a few hours to create one of these Easter Eggs might be true, but it might also take only a few hours to fix some of the nagging problems in the audio app that have caused thousands of complaints for several years! Or to fix any of a number of other issues people have identified with their cars.
No, I do not buy the argument that these types of effort are effectively "free" and don't undermine the effort available for other work. It is all work, and there are only so many hours in the day. They might be more fun to do than than fixing issues with the USB player, I will grant you that. And that might be the real reason these get done -- the boss (Elon) and the developers would have more fun putting out a new "Easter Egg" (and bragging about it) than they would by fixing what should have been fixed long ago.
This argument is not about what people do in their spare time -- it is about Tesla resources and how they are being applied. The company has every right to do what it wants, of course, but let's not pretend the fun stuff is somehow free.

Total Nonsense!! As a developer with 30 years experience I can say that "frivolous" projects were encouraged at every place I worked. I got my first job after explaining my "hacks" of the operating system, and I ended up re-implementing them a few years later as part of a major data processing system. Thinking back, pretty much every major achievement of mine was preceded by some "frivolous" hack that showed the way. We viewed "hacking" as part of the continuing education of a coder - a necessary part of developing talent. As a manager I always encouraged my team to spend some time on whimsical projects, many of which became features, and all contributed to team esprit.

If you want to pick on wasted effort, what about the box the key fob comes in - a very extravagant package that goes into the garbage within seconds of realizing they didn't bother to include the advertised lanyard.

 

[jjrandorin]

Disagree. Of course the effort on games and Easter Eggs takes away from something else! Developers don't work for free, even if it is for something "fun." The idea that it only takes a few hours to create one of these Easter Eggs might be true, but it might also take only a few hours to fix some of the nagging problems in the audio app that have caused thousands of complaints for several years! Or to fix any of a number of other issues people have identified with their cars.
No, I do not buy the argument that these types of effort are effectively "free" and don't undermine the effort available for other work. It is all work, and there are only so many hours in the day. They might be more fun to do than than fixing issues with the USB player, I will grant you that. And that might be the real reason these get done -- the boss (Elon) and the developers would have more fun putting out a new "Easter Egg" (and bragging about it) than they would by fixing what should have been fixed long ago.
This argument is not about what people do in their spare time -- it is about Tesla resources and how they are being applied. The company has every right to do what it wants, of course, but let's not pretend the fun stuff is somehow free.

The company I work for (A major biotechnology company) allows the scientists "free" time during work to work on their pet projects (anything that interests them in the realm of science.

Our company has had at least 2 major drugs discovered that way. The scientists get to (actually are almost ordered to) devote XX percent of their work time to scientific projects that are not assigned to them.

I dont work at Tesla, but the feeling I get is that these things are done because people thought they were fun / funny... and these types of things sometimes bring out new features, and other times let technical people blow off steam (and get paid doing it). Its likely that they did these things for themselves at first, to prank each other, and some manager saw it and said "OMG that would be funny, Tesla customers might like that too!!"

People can go on and on about "devoted resources to other things" but technical / scientific people sometimes need a break, and like I said, I dont work there but have seen similar work culture. It is not taking away from fixing your bug. Its enabling people who will be fixing your bug an opportunity to do something fun so they dont quit, and can actually focus on fixing your bug.

 

[jjrandorin]

Total Nonsense!! As a developer with 30 years experience I can say that "frivolous" projects were encouraged at every place I worked. I got my first job after explaining my "hacks" of the operating system, and I ended up re-implementing them a few years later as part of a major data processing system. Thinking back, pretty much every major achievement of mine was preceded by some "frivolous" hack that showed the way. We viewed "hacking" as part of the continuing education of a coder - a necessary part of developing talent. As a manager I always encouraged my team to spend some time on whimsical projects, many of which became features, and all contributed to team esprit.

If you want to pick on wasted effort, what about the box the key fob comes in - a very extravagant package that goes into the garbage within seconds of realizing they didn't bother to include the advertised lanyard.

Typically, the people complaining about "this is wasting time from something else that should be fixed!!!" dont understand how developers / scientists generally work in tech forward companies. Thats why you get people saying "They are wasting their time when they should be doing XXXX" when the person saying that has no clue how development or "Fixing XXXX" actually happens.

 

[commasign]

To quote Youtuber Emgo316, “You don’t stop playing cause you grow old; you grow old cause you stop playing.”

 

[traxila]

OP is a grinch.

No laughing for him is not enough. He wants to try and stop everyone else from laughing too.

I am 49 and laughed hard with the stupid farts and the fireplace. Guess I am stupid too. Should be worried about the stock market instead.