Elon Musk likes to provoke.
The billionaire is a professional provocateur who likes to shock, and to make people talk.
It amuses him.
His latest provocation will not fail to make people talk and undoubtedly provoke mockery from all sides. This is probably the desired effect.
The CEO of Tesla (TSLA) has just announced a big change for customers of Starlink, the satellite internet service offered by his rocket company SpaceX.
"We’re changing Starlink’s default wifi name to Stinky," Musk posted on Twitter on June 18.
He added that: "I’m pretty sure that unique," the world's richest man said.
Musk himself anticipates the bad jokes and puns that this new name will spark.
"This will encourage people to change it haha," he added.
The first comments were not disappointing.
"Unforgettable," posted Changpeng Zhao, founder of crypto trading platform Binance. "What is the default password then?"
"Tofu?" he added.
"What's ur wifi password? Is it still 'martian911' 🤣" another user posted.
"will you be changing Tesla's name to Firetrap," another tweet read.
Starlink Is Available in Africa Since Last Month
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX.
This first consumer product from SpaceX is high-speed internet powered by a network of thousands of small low-orbit satellites.
It provides access to the internet for residents of areas that are poorly served by the fixed and mobile networks of telecom operators. The thousands of small satellites circulate in low orbit -- mainly 342 miles (550km) above Earth.
The system also needs ground stations worldwide to communicate with the satellites. Recently, SpaceX launched a second set of about 50 Starlink satellites intended to provide internet connections to customers worldwide without going through terrestrial infrastructures.
SpaceX has already launched more than 2,400 Starlink satellites, with an overall goal of launching about 12,000.
The service is currently available in more than 32 countries, mainly the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
The past few months have been busy for Starlink.
The service became a critical communications factor in Ukraine after Russia on Feb. 24 invaded the country.
Musk, who chose Ukraine over Russia, sent Starlink terminals to enable the country to stay connected to the rest of the world after the Russian army destroyed its communications infrastructure.
And on May 20, Musk said that Starlink would connect 19,000 schools in rural areas in Brazil after SpaceX was cleared to operate in the country, with rights running until 2027.
Starlink is also available in two African countries -- Nigeria, Mozambique -- since the end of May.
