Update 07 July: crowd funding period has ended, with over half a million dollars raised, but you can still pre-order on Indiegogo – see below.
● Short enough to fit into your backpack – 7 fret version is just 18 inches (45.7 cm) long – but if you’d prefer, the 12 fret version is 24.5 inches (66.23 cm)
● Length is OK, but where’s the body? – add on body available for both models
● Teaches you to play with software for iOS & the Chrome browser
● Never needs tuning – overcoming a significant barrier for many beginners – & very unlikely to ever need strings replaced
● Already a player? ‘Jamstik 12 is designed as a no-compromise MIDI controller that simply, “works” with the studios & production software producer-guitarists are used to. Finally, a way for guitarists to express themselves the way keyboardists & drummers have been able to for years.’
At the Q&A following the Tesla Shareholders’ Meeting on Tuesday, some interesting questions were raised & some even more interesting answers were forthcoming. See the video below, or more briefly:
Will Tesla build a compact car – around the 00:30 mark – “... compact car in less than 5 years …”
Autopilot remains a work in progress, with no promise of a major improvement any time soon – 00:45
Steering wheel – 13:16 – “Model Y ... will not have any leather in it … in the steering wheel, even if it does have a steering wheel.”
Battery energy density – 13:45 – “Twice as much is tricky, but we can certainly see a path to about a 30% improvement, maybe a 40% improvement in energy in the same size battery pack, that’s technology we are confident does work & needs to be scaled up & made very reliable … 2-3 years to get to about a 30% improvement in volumetric energy density … 6 to 8 years to get to a doubling … highly dependant on … lithium anode …”
Tesla time estimates – “Elon time” – 23:37 – “I think I do have like an issue with time [laughter & clapping] … my brother used to, like when we were catching a bus to school, he would lie to me about the time … & then we’d actually be able to catch the bus.”
Will Tesla make a motorcycle – 25:30 – “… used to ride motorcycles when I was a kid … dirt biking … had a road bike until I was 17 & was almost killed by a truck, so we’re not gonna do motorcycles.”
Improvements in Model S1 – 29:45 – “One thing we haven’t been good at educating people on is that the Model S ... has improved very dramatically from 2012 … arguably on version 3 or 4 of the Model S right now ... really a gigantic improvement … I really encourage anyone who’s got an early Model S to test drive the current version. I think you’ll be blown away by how much it has improved.”
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1 It’s easy to forget that the Model S has been in production since 2012 – partly because the original aesthetics were so good (after 6 years, it still looks as fresh as tomorrow). To the casual observer, the only change has been the revised nose in 2016.
Credit: fau4u2.wordpress.com
For anyone following the Tesla story, there have been many improvements, including:
● Supercharger network – wasn't even promised when the first owner took delivery – not a change to the car per se, but as important to the long-range driving experience as petrol stations (gas stations, service stations – what ever they are called where you live) are to a fossil car
● Greatest available battery capacity has jumped from 85 kWh to 90 & most recently, 100 kWh
● 4 wheel drive
● Software, including Autopilot has seen many upgrades,2 which has necessitated;
● Computer upgrades – more than 40 times increase in computing power in October 20163 & a further upgrade in February 20184
● Autopilot hardware upgrade – increase in the number of cameras (8 cameras provide 360° vision) & other sensors3
