So little? I'm testing the most advanced driving system available to the public. It does things no other available system even attempts to do. It's pretty cool to be able to try it first, and I don't consider that 'little'.

Also, FSD was $3k when I bought it, so that helps, and it came with a guaranteed computer upgrade too. I wouldn't pay the $15k it costs today.

> I'm testing the most advanced driving system available to the public.

Why can't the most advanced driving system park the car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsb2XBAIWyA

I'd say you've been suckered into doing Tesla's testing work for them. Worse than that, you're even paying them for the very great privilege of being an unpaid intern.

It's perverse. They advertised at you and I think we have to say the manipulation has worked.

Because the parking code hasn't been touched in years. All their effort right now is on driving, and that part is improving rapidly, far ahead of other car manufacturers, obviously with a long way still to go.

Being an early adopter of technology always involves paying to test unfinished work. Even the first iPhone (which I also bought) was deficient in many ways. And yet being an early adopter has brought me personally a lot of benefits. The world is not zero sum, turns out.

> Because the parking code hasn't been touched in years.

So.. the most advanced driving system is so far ahead that it's years behind?

> Being an early adopter of technology always involves paying to test unfinished work.

It really doesn't.

Toyota isn't even really offering something "new" though? People often throw money after random gimmicks to see what things are like as an early participant. I know people who had early VR headsets and I remember my father getting early portable computers (that weren't quite portable enough ;P). You learn what works and what doesn't and maybe it helps you in your job or maybe it just gives you something to talk about over dinner, but it can be fun to see a car almost (but not quite ;P) drive itself.

I considered working in the self driving field for a while. Being an early adopter puts you in a great position for that kind of thing.

While I didn't take advantage of it for self driving, or the iPhone (though I did buy the first one), I did for VR (backed the Oculus Rift Kickstarter and then made a career in VR) and deep learning (jumped in early and also made it part of my career) and Bitcoin (not part of my career, but still good).

I consider the cost of being an early adopter of things like FSD money well spent given the opportunities it can create for you. I think a lot of people are making money on YouTube simply recording themselves driving around with FSD Beta on.

> I think a lot of people are making money on YouTube simply recording themselves driving around with FSD Beta on

And the videos with the most hits are the ones where it almost gets the driver or nearby drivers or pedestrians killed.

I have a hard time putting FSD in the same category as VR or the iPhone, because those can't kill you. When you bought your first iPhone, I would bet you had high hopes that it would be a nice project and do what it said it would do, in contrast to your admitted low expectations when you paid for FSD.

> Funny how Tesla is able to pull this off. I can't think of another brand that so easily gets people to throw large sums of money at it while expecting so little in return.

The tech-bro -- basically us here -- crowd thinks that they're immune to marketing. But they get suckered in just as well as anyone, it's just a matter of playing to different preconceived notions.