[teachrdan]

Billionaires could trivially fund uncontroversial projects like planting trees or solar electrification, especially in the developing world, both of which would help stop global warming. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for Elon or Larry to start doing either of those things, or anything else that would actually help mitigate or reverse climate change.

[WalterBright]

There are a lot of complaints about the environmental consequences of data centers. Musk is investing heavily in putting data centers in space.

[brendoelfrendo]

Which is, it should be said, also a dumb idea and a waste of money.

[WalterBright]

Which has also been said for every one of his enormously successful businesses.

[teachrdan]

Musk could spend 10 or even 100 billion on more down to Earth efforts without affecting his quality of life in the slightest. Instead he's promoting a self-serving idea, one that relies entirely on his own rocket-company infrastructure.

Putting data centers in space is also a dumb idea due to the difficulty of dissipating heat, solar radiation, maintenance challenges and more.

[Robotbeat]

I don’t understand this. Elon thought of a way to virtually eliminate the land, heat, water, and energy impacts of datacenters, and because it makes his companies money instead of being non-profit, this is bad?

Maybe I do get it. It’s not about the actual impact. It’s entirely about performing. Profit (which is literally just a measure of whether the return on something is greater than the inputs) is somehow evil, but losing money on something (ie it costs more in inputs than its outputs) is good.

[brendoelfrendo]

> Elon thought of a way to virtually eliminate the land, heat, water, and energy impacts of datacenters

He has yet to do any of this. He had an idea that plenty of others have had, and have mostly dismissed due to concerns with feasibility. Granted, orbital DCs could one day be feasible with enough investment; I will not pretend that it is impossible. But for him to pretend that it is a solution for today's problems is at best the folly of a wealthy idiot and at worst a cynical attempt to juice the value of SpaceX before its IPO.

[WalterBright]

Elon has been called an idiot for every single one of his ventures. Again and again and again.

Maybe he'll fail this time. Maybe he'll figure it out.

But I like the fact that he is trying rather than spending his money on mansions and yachts.

[brendoelfrendo]

> But I like the fact that he is trying rather than spending his money on mansions and yachts.

Don't worry, he's doing that, too. And I'd dispute that he's trying; I've seen the SpaceX S-1, and it's looking like he took a successful business and rolled some failures into it to move money around. Everything is just a vehicle to make him wealthier; I don't believe anything he says in regards to helping humanity with his ventures.

[WalterBright]

I wish I was as "dumb" as Musk is. Long before Musk, I fantasized that if I was a billionaire, I would blow it all on a mission to Mars. Musk is living the dream. I bought shares in his companies just to share in the dream a bit!

[Robotbeat]

Yes, Elon Musk, famous for not being interested in solar electrification projects.