X Adds Recent Live Stream Chat Display for Gaming Streamers

A thing that concerns me about Elon Musk’s vision for X is that he doesn’t seem entirely realistic concerning the platform’s current state, which doesn’t bode well for its future development.

Well, that’s one concern of many, I suppose. But take, for instance, this recent update to X’s game streaming display.

X has today announced that you could now view the related stream chat on the identical screen because the playback within the desktop version of the app. Which is high quality, it is smart, etc.

Nevertheless it looks pretty lame, right? Like, it’s a far lesser version of how streaming + chat is presented on, say, YouTube or Twitch.

Which is smart, X is just starting out on this front, and as such, it’s a basic setup to start with, which can evolve over time. I get that, but in a recent staff all-hands meeting, this statement from Elon raised some eyebrows.

“We’re rapidly reaching parity with YouTube and should exceed them.”

Again, X is just starting out with more advanced video features, and it’s not even near reaching any form of parity with YouTube’s offering, which it shouldn’t be at this stage. However the proven fact that Elon even thinks that X could soon exceed the web video giant is a priority, right? Like, his perception here isn’t near reality.

Which appears to be a running theme for Elon, in that his optimism, and/or idealism, tends to get ahead of him. He’s been promising self-driving cars for years, he vowed to have humans land on Mars by 2026, while he’s also talking about Neuralink implants that can solve many common impairments.  

None of these items are close, and yet, Elon continues to speak about them like they’re a sure thing, and inevitability that can occur inside his perceived, original timelines.

In fact, there are various other aspects that play into each, and it’s to not say that Musk is entirely accountable for failing to realize these ambitious targets. But by way of X, it does suggest that it is best to probably take his proclamations with a grain of salt. Because even when X can create a full payments system, or an improved streaming service, or whatever else it’s that they’re working on, they likely won’t be that great.

Elon seems to imagine that minimum viable product is sufficient to compete, and for some reason, he seems convinced that by X simply providing the capability to post jobs, or discover a date, that can get people flocking.

But basic functionality isn’t going to do it. Which is similar on this instance. While it’s interesting that X has added a stream chat display, I don’t see why any streamers would make the switch.

Possibly it’ll all come together, and Elon could have the last laugh. But there does appear to be some perceptual gaps that time to flaws in his approach.