March 11, 2025 • 11 mins
On the Tuesday March 11 2025 edition of The Armstrong & Getty One More Thing Podcast...
- Jack goes on a test drive that goes awry!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heylon take some of those freaking billions in higher on receptionist.
It's one more thing.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm all for elon loss taking games for all directions
these days.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
So quick stock thing I am. I'm very young, in
many years from retirement, so I don't follow the stock
market on a daily basis. I mean, I got my
four one K, I got my you know, my investments
and I assume I don't need to touch them are
quite for quite some time.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The way Joe shuddered at the way you said that, very.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Young, But how many people know this? The economic growth,
the stock market gains of the last couple of years
are almost entirely because of the magnificent seven stocks seven stocks,
although the records that we set on a regular basis
are because of Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsauce and video.
(00:59):
And that's it. I mean, that's almost the entirety of
the giant stock market gain that's made everybody feel wealthy
and all to talk about the successful economy and blah
blah blah. All the ripple effects of the stock market
records and how great things are going, are really these
seven tech stocks?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
That is sobering.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I'd say, given that, for instance, Tesla's dropped by fifty
percent since December, and it was built on a gesture anyway,
so it could fall on a gesture. I would think
sentiment much more than earnings, right, I think that's interesting, Okay,
which leads me into Elon Wanst. I hire a freaking receptionist.
(01:46):
So I was test driving some Tesla's the other day,
and everything that comes out of Silicon Valley, they're trying
to get away from human beings as much as possible
and have everything be on line or an app. We
all know that noticed and for some stuff that works,
but not everything, and maybe someday all will work, but
(02:08):
it's not there yet, and it's driven me crazy as
a Tesla driver that you can't get a hold of
a human being ever. It's just impossible. If you actually
have a question about something, you can do all kinds
of really cool things, like I can you know, I
could go in and order a car the way I
want it and have it delivered to my home like
in a couple of days without ever talking to anybody.
(02:29):
Or everything you do online in the PaperWorks, I mean,
so many service appointments, all kinds of stuff that's just
amazingly efficient, but like, if you have a question outside
of that, you can't talk to a human being.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now, well, I tell I tell you what this is
strictly apocketphal tale made up from my fertile imagination. But
say you had a I don't know a company series
of companies that eliminated like all the HR people, and
you had a portal instead, you had a website right
post to click on, and the only blank way anything
ever happens is when you give up because it never works,
(03:04):
and you call the number and the human who is
a backup to the main system says, oh, yeah, we
can take care of that.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's exactly the example, except for with the Silicon Valley crowd,
including right Elon and Tesla, they don't have that human backup.
That doesn't exist point exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So that takes some balls.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So if you end up in one of those things
where it's not accepting your password or it says we
already have that address, please you to create a new
account or whatever, you know, just one of those things
that drive you there's nobody to call. Along those lines,
I booked a test drive with a couple of different
Teslas because I'm thinking about getting out of mine is
my Behemoth son is too tall to sit in the
(03:42):
back seat now, and I need a car that they
all fit in. So I'm either going to get the
X with more legroom or the cyber truck. So another
one of the examples of it working well went on
the app booked a demo gazillion different times, but multiple
locations book demos, show up car is there ready for
(04:02):
me to go as soon as I walk, as soon
as I park and walk up to it, and then
and a salesperson just logs me in and I'd drive off.
It's I mean, it could.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
It's so amazing And the only human interaction is the
salesperson logging you in.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And I wouldn't even have to do that if I
didn't want to. But I'm interested in buying these vehicles,
and uh, nobody rides with me. You got a half
hour to do whatever you want. You just go driving
around because if you put all your information in there,
it's really really cool. Anyway, on this particular one, he said,
we can't find the key. It's the key for a
Tesla is like a credit card unless you have the app.
(04:34):
And we can't find the key, he said, I'll unlock it.
For you. You can go driving around, just don't get
out or you'll be locked out. Okay, I don't need
to get up. I get in the truck. Me and
Henry are in the cyber truck. We're out driving around.
I really love this thing. The stereo is awesome. But
I'm driving around, but my seat's too far back and
the steering wheels too far up. So I pull over
to adjust that stuff. And it won't let me drive
(04:57):
after that for some reason because I don't have the
key and I.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
He didn't get out, You just like put it in part.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Right, But and you didn't turn the car off. No, Well,
you don't really turn a Tesla on, right, don't. It's
always on basically anyway.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Also, that drained the battery.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
I pull over. I just my stringle whenever like that,
and then I can't put it back and drive again.
And uh. And We're a long way from the dealership
on Interstate eighty in the Bay Area and I'm just
pulled over to the side of the road, cars driving
by that sort of thing, and uh, And I think, okay, well,
and I knew this is going to be a problem.
(05:33):
I got to try to call the dealership. It is impossible.
I've tried this before alongside the road with a flat
tire or various things. It's impossible. And I tried for
twenty minutes, and I finally told Henry, I said, we're
gonna gett We're gonna get a lift. So I order
a lift, you know, the uber type company, only it's
(05:53):
called Lyft. And he comes and picks me up alongside
the road and they take me back to the test
of dealership and they dropped me off and I said,
your cyber truck is about ten miles that way along
eyeside to I eighty. You might want to go get it.
And they looked all panicked and everything like that. I said,
I wouldn't let me drive, and I couldn't call anybody.
I was so freaking mad, and I thought, have a
GD receptionist. How much would that cost you? One human
(06:17):
being that can answer the phone, make a minimum wage
throughout the day, elon one freaking human being. But it's funny.
The Uber driver who picked me up, and this is
what made me really think about it. It's the Silicon
Valley myopic view of the world. The Uber driver guy,
I said, I told him what happened. He said, that's
the way it is with this company. I said, it's fine,
(06:38):
you can do everything through the app. You log in
your hours and you pick up your car and blah
blah blah, and you get paid in your fun. But
if you ever need to talk to anybody, impossible. They're
no human beings anywhere. And it's so the Silicon Valley's
got this view that we just flat don't need humans.
You can do everything through the app. And I wish
they'd recognize that we're not there yet. Maybe we bill
(06:59):
be some day with AI that can solve more complicated problems,
but we're just not And it makes me not makes.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Me yeah, yeah, there their self regard their belief that
they can code their way to solve anything confronting humanity,
and it's it's hubris.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
There is there is a There is a Hubris and
we're smarter than the world thing going on with the
Silicon Valley crowd. That scares me a bit.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Combine that with the U is there a name for this?
We've talked about it through the years. You have somebody
who already understands the system, use the system, and then
they say, yep, consumers will be fine with this. You know,
the guy like wrote the programming is clicking around the website. Yeah,
this website perfect. Then you was somebody who has no
idea what you jump on the website, and it's utterly
(07:47):
unclear to you where to go? Where where am I
supposed to click? What's what's? None of these menu items
are like real world terminology for what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Well, that's a UI problem because I know somebody who
used to do that for various companies in Silicon Valley
User interface and there are people that that's their job.
But like the person I know who did that was
such a brainiac computer nerd. I mean they didn't they
didn't think about it the way normal people think. Sit
down and look at an app. You know, so it's
the dropdown menu. Where's the drop done up there? You
(08:20):
click on this and you bring it. I would have
never known that unless you showed me. I would have
never figured that out.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, you have these companies that like assume they know
the problems you're having. Like I had this issue with
DoorDash recently where something went wrong with you.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Another example, good luck trying to called door dash.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, and you go on there and you click help
and then they have a series of options of what
they think might have gone wrong, and you're like, it's
none of these.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Ye oh, that makes me insane. Here are the seven
things that could have happened to you? No, and then
they send you.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
They send you to the frequently asked question did this help? No,
it didn't help, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
God. We had a funny video we were all enjoying
the other day of Larry David screaming it's Siri in
his car because they couldn't book a restaurant or something
like that. But I have I have actually done that
many times when they when when the nice computer voice
lady says to you, are you satisfied with your experience?
Not having satisfied with my experience? You got? It makes
(09:18):
you so mad?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
You know, I got an example, but I don't. I
find myself not even wanting to bring it up because
I feel the texhaustion flood over me. And that's some
you know, fairly complicated music recording software that I use.
There's something you know, I'm trying to figure out how
to do. And if you even Google like her search, sorry,
(09:41):
I don't Google anymore. They're evil.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
If you do a search on this software, this problem.
It'll take you to like a message board that has
videos posted by anonymous yeaus, right, some of which are
conceivably relevant to the problem, but most of which are not,
And you'd have to watch every single one of them.
And it's just, how do you not have some sort
(10:05):
of in essence as searchable manual?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Why do you know?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Is that not cool these days? Better to have a
forum of users who may or may not have any
idea what they're effing talking about.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yes, now, I suppose any of these Silicon Valley geniuses
would say to me, there's a reason where the seven
most valuable companies in the world. We know what we're doing.
Trust us. But god dang it, Oh, I just I
can't imagine you can't call a human being at the location.
I mean, it's just it's not physically possible. That's nuts,
(10:40):
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That's exhausting.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I think you went above and beyond the call of
duty going back to the dealership and telling them what happened,
although you know you don't want to be have the
red and blue lights in front of your house.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Just take a left home, leave there underrest.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
For grand theft. Auto mccuay whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Well, the car I drove was still at the dealership,
so I had because I showed up in a car,
so I had to go back to get my car. Otherwise, Yeah,
I would have just gone home. This is your problem.
Sounds like a you problem to me.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, exactly, exactly. Elon, have one of your many children.
Man the Swiss board. Huh, get a little shot. Labor
gone why not?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Well, I guess that's it.
Heylon take some of those freaking billions in higher on receptionist.
It's one more thing.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm all for elon loss taking games for all directions
these days.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
So quick stock thing I am. I'm very young, in
many years from retirement, so I don't follow the stock
market on a daily basis. I mean, I got my
four one K, I got my you know, my investments
and I assume I don't need to touch them are
quite for quite some time.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The way Joe shuddered at the way you said that, very.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Young, But how many people know this? The economic growth,
the stock market gains of the last couple of years
are almost entirely because of the magnificent seven stocks seven stocks,
although the records that we set on a regular basis
are because of Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsauce and video.
(00:59):
And that's it. I mean, that's almost the entirety of
the giant stock market gain that's made everybody feel wealthy
and all to talk about the successful economy and blah
blah blah. All the ripple effects of the stock market
records and how great things are going, are really these
seven tech stocks?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
That is sobering.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I'd say, given that, for instance, Tesla's dropped by fifty
percent since December, and it was built on a gesture anyway,
so it could fall on a gesture. I would think
sentiment much more than earnings, right, I think that's interesting, Okay,
which leads me into Elon Wanst. I hire a freaking receptionist.
(01:46):
So I was test driving some Tesla's the other day,
and everything that comes out of Silicon Valley, they're trying
to get away from human beings as much as possible
and have everything be on line or an app. We
all know that noticed and for some stuff that works,
but not everything, and maybe someday all will work, but
(02:08):
it's not there yet, and it's driven me crazy as
a Tesla driver that you can't get a hold of
a human being ever. It's just impossible. If you actually
have a question about something, you can do all kinds
of really cool things, like I can you know, I
could go in and order a car the way I
want it and have it delivered to my home like
in a couple of days without ever talking to anybody.
(02:29):
Or everything you do online in the PaperWorks, I mean,
so many service appointments, all kinds of stuff that's just
amazingly efficient, but like, if you have a question outside
of that, you can't talk to a human being.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now, well, I tell I tell you what this is
strictly apocketphal tale made up from my fertile imagination. But
say you had a I don't know a company series
of companies that eliminated like all the HR people, and
you had a portal instead, you had a website right
post to click on, and the only blank way anything
ever happens is when you give up because it never works,
(03:04):
and you call the number and the human who is
a backup to the main system says, oh, yeah, we
can take care of that.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's exactly the example, except for with the Silicon Valley crowd,
including right Elon and Tesla, they don't have that human backup.
That doesn't exist point exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So that takes some balls.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So if you end up in one of those things
where it's not accepting your password or it says we
already have that address, please you to create a new
account or whatever, you know, just one of those things
that drive you there's nobody to call. Along those lines,
I booked a test drive with a couple of different
Teslas because I'm thinking about getting out of mine is
my Behemoth son is too tall to sit in the
(03:42):
back seat now, and I need a car that they
all fit in. So I'm either going to get the
X with more legroom or the cyber truck. So another
one of the examples of it working well went on
the app booked a demo gazillion different times, but multiple
locations book demos, show up car is there ready for
(04:02):
me to go as soon as I walk, as soon
as I park and walk up to it, and then
and a salesperson just logs me in and I'd drive off.
It's I mean, it could.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
It's so amazing And the only human interaction is the
salesperson logging you in.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And I wouldn't even have to do that if I
didn't want to. But I'm interested in buying these vehicles,
and uh, nobody rides with me. You got a half
hour to do whatever you want. You just go driving
around because if you put all your information in there,
it's really really cool. Anyway, on this particular one, he said,
we can't find the key. It's the key for a
Tesla is like a credit card unless you have the app.
(04:34):
And we can't find the key, he said, I'll unlock it.
For you. You can go driving around, just don't get
out or you'll be locked out. Okay, I don't need
to get up. I get in the truck. Me and
Henry are in the cyber truck. We're out driving around.
I really love this thing. The stereo is awesome. But
I'm driving around, but my seat's too far back and
the steering wheels too far up. So I pull over
to adjust that stuff. And it won't let me drive
(04:57):
after that for some reason because I don't have the
key and I.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
He didn't get out, You just like put it in part.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Right, But and you didn't turn the car off. No, Well,
you don't really turn a Tesla on, right, don't. It's
always on basically anyway.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Also, that drained the battery.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
I pull over. I just my stringle whenever like that,
and then I can't put it back and drive again.
And uh. And We're a long way from the dealership
on Interstate eighty in the Bay Area and I'm just
pulled over to the side of the road, cars driving
by that sort of thing, and uh, And I think, okay, well,
and I knew this is going to be a problem.
(05:33):
I got to try to call the dealership. It is impossible.
I've tried this before alongside the road with a flat
tire or various things. It's impossible. And I tried for
twenty minutes, and I finally told Henry, I said, we're
gonna gett We're gonna get a lift. So I order
a lift, you know, the uber type company, only it's
(05:53):
called Lyft. And he comes and picks me up alongside
the road and they take me back to the test
of dealership and they dropped me off and I said,
your cyber truck is about ten miles that way along
eyeside to I eighty. You might want to go get it.
And they looked all panicked and everything like that. I said,
I wouldn't let me drive, and I couldn't call anybody.
I was so freaking mad, and I thought, have a
GD receptionist. How much would that cost you? One human
(06:17):
being that can answer the phone, make a minimum wage
throughout the day, elon one freaking human being. But it's funny.
The Uber driver who picked me up, and this is
what made me really think about it. It's the Silicon
Valley myopic view of the world. The Uber driver guy,
I said, I told him what happened. He said, that's
the way it is with this company. I said, it's fine,
(06:38):
you can do everything through the app. You log in
your hours and you pick up your car and blah
blah blah, and you get paid in your fun. But
if you ever need to talk to anybody, impossible. They're
no human beings anywhere. And it's so the Silicon Valley's
got this view that we just flat don't need humans.
You can do everything through the app. And I wish
they'd recognize that we're not there yet. Maybe we bill
(06:59):
be some day with AI that can solve more complicated problems,
but we're just not And it makes me not makes.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Me yeah, yeah, there their self regard their belief that
they can code their way to solve anything confronting humanity,
and it's it's hubris.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
There is there is a There is a Hubris and
we're smarter than the world thing going on with the
Silicon Valley crowd. That scares me a bit.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Combine that with the U is there a name for this?
We've talked about it through the years. You have somebody
who already understands the system, use the system, and then
they say, yep, consumers will be fine with this. You know,
the guy like wrote the programming is clicking around the website. Yeah,
this website perfect. Then you was somebody who has no
idea what you jump on the website, and it's utterly
(07:47):
unclear to you where to go? Where where am I
supposed to click? What's what's? None of these menu items
are like real world terminology for what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Well, that's a UI problem because I know somebody who
used to do that for various companies in Silicon Valley
User interface and there are people that that's their job.
But like the person I know who did that was
such a brainiac computer nerd. I mean they didn't they
didn't think about it the way normal people think. Sit
down and look at an app. You know, so it's
the dropdown menu. Where's the drop done up there? You
(08:20):
click on this and you bring it. I would have
never known that unless you showed me. I would have
never figured that out.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, you have these companies that like assume they know
the problems you're having. Like I had this issue with
DoorDash recently where something went wrong with you.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Another example, good luck trying to called door dash.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, and you go on there and you click help
and then they have a series of options of what
they think might have gone wrong, and you're like, it's
none of these.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Ye oh, that makes me insane. Here are the seven
things that could have happened to you? No, and then
they send you.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
They send you to the frequently asked question did this help? No,
it didn't help, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
God. We had a funny video we were all enjoying
the other day of Larry David screaming it's Siri in
his car because they couldn't book a restaurant or something
like that. But I have I have actually done that
many times when they when when the nice computer voice
lady says to you, are you satisfied with your experience?
Not having satisfied with my experience? You got? It makes
(09:18):
you so mad?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
You know, I got an example, but I don't. I
find myself not even wanting to bring it up because
I feel the texhaustion flood over me. And that's some
you know, fairly complicated music recording software that I use.
There's something you know, I'm trying to figure out how
to do. And if you even Google like her search, sorry,
(09:41):
I don't Google anymore. They're evil.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
If you do a search on this software, this problem.
It'll take you to like a message board that has
videos posted by anonymous yeaus, right, some of which are
conceivably relevant to the problem, but most of which are not,
And you'd have to watch every single one of them.
And it's just, how do you not have some sort
(10:05):
of in essence as searchable manual?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Why do you know?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Is that not cool these days? Better to have a
forum of users who may or may not have any
idea what they're effing talking about.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yes, now, I suppose any of these Silicon Valley geniuses
would say to me, there's a reason where the seven
most valuable companies in the world. We know what we're doing.
Trust us. But god dang it, Oh, I just I
can't imagine you can't call a human being at the location.
I mean, it's just it's not physically possible. That's nuts,
(10:40):
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That's exhausting.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I think you went above and beyond the call of
duty going back to the dealership and telling them what happened,
although you know you don't want to be have the
red and blue lights in front of your house.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Just take a left home, leave there underrest.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
For grand theft. Auto mccuay whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Well, the car I drove was still at the dealership,
so I had because I showed up in a car,
so I had to go back to get my car. Otherwise, Yeah,
I would have just gone home. This is your problem.
Sounds like a you problem to me.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, exactly, exactly. Elon, have one of your many children.
Man the Swiss board. Huh, get a little shot. Labor
gone why not?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Well, I guess that's it.
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Joe Getty
Jack Armstrong
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