From self-driving cars to living on Mars, Elon Musk has been quite aspirational. Now, the richest man on Earth has said that he will build an alternate smartphone ecosystem to Android and iOS, if needed. Musk's comments came in response to conservative commentator and former news host Liz Wheeler who said that Musk should create new phones if Twitter got banned by Apple and Google.
“If Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores, Elon Musk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?” Wheeler wrote.
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“I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone,” Musk had replied.
I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022
Wheeler’s comment comes on the back of Musk opening up Twitter for more “free speech”, as long as it doesn’t offend him personally, with Twitter removing bans from several users including former US President Donald Trump. Trump was banned from the platform in the wake of the January 6 Capitol Riots.
With a possible lax moderation policy, Twitter may fall foul of Apple and Google whose App Store policies distinctly talk about hateful and objectionable content. The two had earlier banned Parler, a smaller conservative social media platform, for its role in helping organise the Capitol Riots.
Musk may have another incentive to want a new smartphone ecosystem. The new owner of Twitter had recently been complaining about the 30 percent cut that Apple and Google take from developers for any subscription or payment made through apps on their OS. This 30 percent cut means that revenue from Twitter’s subscription service would be cut by just under a third.
But despite his reputation as a genius inventor, never mind the fact that Musk has invented very little to nothing for SpaceX or Tesla, Musk tends to promise more than what he can deliver. A list of commitments delayed or not fulfilled includes fully self-driving Tesla, brain implants that could enable human-to-human telepathy, and Tesla’s humanoid robot. The issue is severe enough that websites like https://elonmusk.today/ exist.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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