In regards to the "media team must hate him" and comparisons to Apple's PR machine and how they announce product innovations, I actually think this is all very planned. Yes, Tesla is Apple-like, but not an Apple clone. They are more like a Pear. Close, but not identical. To that point, they shouldn't be. Their products have a very different consideration and purchase cycle and also are a much more involved emotional jump than iPad to iPad Mini for the uninitiated and EV doubter. Simply, Tesla is more challenging than Apple has had to be since around 1984 and the first Macintosh.
I think these tweets and tips are all about owning the conversation and momentum. I am massively impressed with the finesse and skill that Tesla and Musk use with product announcements and hints via social media, especially Twitter, to drive interest.
Does all this help the stock price? Of course. Then again, any important or financially relevant product announcement from a public company will impact the stock price. To call it manipulation is a little far fetched in my mind. As CEO his job is also investor relations and driving a share price that improves cash flow. Tim Cook, Ginny Rometty and many other tech CEOs do the exact same thing all the time.
As to the implications of swapping as a use case, I'm not ready to pass judgement. If I've learned one thing in my five and a half year relationship with Tesla it is that they think about things in a very different way. They use disruption as a lever for progress. Thus, it is really hard to predict what they will do, or how they will leverage either new or existing technologies. The Tweets and other build up are also an effective manner of managing the fear, uncertainty and doubt that investors, owners and prospective owners hate.
